tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/druze-18300/articlesDruze – The Conversation2024-02-09T13:32:17Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2219262024-02-09T13:32:17Z2024-02-09T13:32:17ZIsrael is a Jewish nation, but its population is far from a monolith<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574200/original/file-20240207-20-yzcpod.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Israeli soldiers attend the funeral of Staff Sgt. Emanuel Feleke, an Ethiopian Israeli who was killed in Gaza in December 2023. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/5320f5473bf34946bebeeaba8ea7f0ec/preview/AP23341614355104.jpg?wm=api&tag=app_id=1,user_id=904438,org_id=101781">Ohad Zwigenberg</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the toll of the Israel-Hamas war continues to mount, <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/authorities-name-44-soldiers-30-police-officers-killed-in-hamas-attack/">Israeli military casualties</a> are shedding new light on a topic that rarely gets international media attention – Israel’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/israels-mosaic-of-jewish-ethnic-groups-is-key-to-understanding-the-country-217893/">ethnic diversity</a>. </p>
<p>In Israel’s single largest casualty event since the Gaza invasion began in October 2023, 21 Israeli soldiers were killed in an explosion on Jan. 22, 2024. </p>
<p>Among the dead was reserve soldier Sgt. 1st Class <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/cedrick-garin-filipino-idf-reservist-killed-in-gaza-laid-to-rest-in-tel-aviv/">Cedrick Garin</a>, a 23-year-old Filipino-Israeli whose mother came to the country to work before he was born. </p>
<p>Earlier in the war, Staff Sgt. <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/staff-sgt-aschalwu-sama-20-told-commander-hed-take-a-bullet-for-him/">Aschalwu Sama</a>, an Ethiopian Jew, saved his comrades after being fatally wounded in an explosion at the entry to one of Gaza’s tunnels. </p>
<p>Other Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza include reserve Sgt. Maj. <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-783355">Rafael Elias Mosheyoff</a>, born in Colombia, and reserve soldier Sgt. 1st Class <a href="https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/384034">Yuval Lopez</a>, who moved to Israel from Peru at the age of 6. </p>
<p>I am a scholar who examines the roles of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Insurgent-Women-Female-Combatants-Civil/dp/1626166668/">minority groups in armed conflict</a>. I find the ethnic diversity of people fighting in and otherwise affected by the Israel-Hamas war exceptional. </p>
<p>Hamas’ roughly 240 hostages, for example, were nationals of 25 different countries, including Thailand, Nepal, the Philippines and Tanzania. Hamas kidnapped <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/two-bedouin-teens-still-held-in-gaza-with-father-and-older-brother/">Muslim citizens</a> of Israel alongside Jewish Israelis, Americans and other dual nationals. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574203/original/file-20240207-31-e6lple.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman screams and cries as she kneels down and people reach out to touch her. She appears to be looking toward the ground." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574203/original/file-20240207-31-e6lple.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574203/original/file-20240207-31-e6lple.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574203/original/file-20240207-31-e6lple.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574203/original/file-20240207-31-e6lple.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574203/original/file-20240207-31-e6lple.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574203/original/file-20240207-31-e6lple.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574203/original/file-20240207-31-e6lple.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The mother of Israeli-Filipino soldier Cedric Garin, killed in Gaza on Jan. 23, 2024, grieves during his funeral in Tel Aviv.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-mother-of-israeli-filipino-soldier-cedric-green-one-of-news-photo/1952644228?adppopup=true">Marco Longari/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Israel’s diversity</h2>
<p>Israel <a href="https://en.idi.org.il/haredi/2022/?chapter=48263#:%7E:text=Consequently%2C%20the%20ultra%2DOrthodox%20population,13.3%25%20of%20Israel's%20total%20population">has close to 9.7 million</a> residents. About 75% of these people identify as Jewish. Almost 80% of Israeli Jews were born in Israel. Much smaller groups of Israeli Jews were born in Africa and Asia, in countries including <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/since-hamas-atrocities-bnei-menashe-jews-face-enemies-on-two-fronts/">India</a> and <a href="https://www.economist.com/asia/2023/09/07/uzbekistans-bukharan-jews-are-disappearing">Uzbekistan</a>. </p>
<p>Roughly 20% of Israelis are Arab, including Muslims, Christians and <a href="https://theconversation.com/solving-the-1-000-year-old-mystery-of-druze-origin-with-a-genetic-sat-nav-68550">Druze, a group of people</a> who observe a distinct monotheistic religion. </p>
<p>Israel is also home to Muslim ethnic minority communities. This includes the Bedouins, formerly nomadic Arab herdsmen who have lived in the area for centuries, and the Circassians, <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/150-years-ago-Sochi-was-the-site-horrific-ethnic-cleansing-180949675/">Muslims who were expelled</a> from the Caucasus region of the Russian Empire during a period of ethnic cleansing in the 19th century. </p>
<p>Another 5% of Israeli residents are neither Jewish nor Arab, including more than 25,000 <a href="https://apnews.com/article/sudan-israel-migrants-netanyahu-overhaul-39e0fe73d268055f630bc567760dafdb">African migrants</a> who live in Israel. </p>
<h2>Military service requirements</h2>
<p>Israel has different rules for military service for its citizens, depending on their background. </p>
<p>Every Israeli citizen over the age of 18 who is Jewish, Druze or Circassian must serve in the military, unless they are religiously observant and/or married when conscripted. Israeli Arabs are not required to serve but can volunteer to do so. Women serve for a minimum of two years, while men must serve for 32 months. </p>
<p>The Israel Defense Forces has long been considered the <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/622865/an-army-like-no-other-by-haim-bresheeth/">central institution</a> that unifies Israeli society. Mandatory service brings together Israelis of all backgrounds, forces them to work together and instills a sense of obligation to the broader society. </p>
<p>While military casualty figures are not broken down by religion or ethnicity, my analysis of <a href="https://www.idf.il/59780">death notices</a> shows that Israel’s minorities, both Jewish and non-Jewish, are prominent among those killed fighting for the world’s only Jewish state. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574191/original/file-20240207-24-c9zg4q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A large group of men, some of them wearing dark jackets and white hats, surrounding a coffin that has an Israeli flag draped over it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574191/original/file-20240207-24-c9zg4q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574191/original/file-20240207-24-c9zg4q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574191/original/file-20240207-24-c9zg4q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574191/original/file-20240207-24-c9zg4q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574191/original/file-20240207-24-c9zg4q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574191/original/file-20240207-24-c9zg4q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574191/original/file-20240207-24-c9zg4q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Relatives and friends attend the funeral of Maj. Jamal Abbas, an Israeli-Druze soldier killed in Gaza in November 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/family-and-friends-grieve-for-israeli-druze-soldier-major-news-photo/1791240226?adppopup=true">Amir Levy/Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Minorities in Israel</h2>
<p>Ahmad Abu Latif, a Bedouin Israeli who previously served in the military as a sergeant major, wrote a <a href="https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/society/1706016133-before-joining-reserves-fallen-israeli-bedouin-soldier-shared-his-idf-experience">social media post</a> in October 2023 highlighting Israeli Arab contributions to the war effort. </p>
<p>“Unfortunately, among the casualties of war are Bedouin and Druze soldiers, Muslims and Christians, who fell as heroes during the defense of the country,” Abu Latif wrote. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-783336">Abu Latif</a>, who was called up as a reserve soldier, was killed in the Jan. 22, 2024, blast in Gaza. </p>
<p>The vast <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/knesset-demands-answers-after-some-negev-bedouin-have-citizenship-revoked">majority of the 370,000 Bedouins</a> in Israel are citizens and identify as Muslim. Thousands of Bedouins also live in neighboring countries such as <a href="https://www.jordannews.jo/Section-106/Features/Not-recognized-The-stateless-of-Jordan-s-Badia-wait-for-citizenship-26357">Jordan</a> and <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.5042/ijmhsc.2011.0061/full/html">Lebanon</a> but do not have citizenship there. Their tribes failed to officially register with these countries when they became independent in the 1940s. </p>
<p>Unlike Jewish Israelis and Druze men who are required to serve in the Israel Defense Forces, Bedouins volunteer. In 2020, a record number of <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/record-number-of-bedouin-drafted-into-idf-in-2020-681319">600 Bedouins joined the Israel military.</a> They are typically placed in scouting or tracking units because of their familiarity with the Negev Desert.</p>
<p>Another minority group in Israel, the <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/03/21/5-facts-about-israeli-druze-a-unique-religious-and-ethnic-group/">Druze people</a>, have a <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/loyal-to-the-state-of-israel-tiny-druze-community-punches-above-its-weight-to-help/">long history</a> of Israeli military service.</p>
<p>Twenty-three-year old <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/maj-jamal-abbas-23-grandson-of-prominent-druze-officer/">Jamal Abbas</a>, a major in the military and a member of the Druze community, was killed in combat in southern Gaza on Nov. 18, 2023. Abbas’ grandfather was one of the first Druze soldiers to attain the rank of brigade commander. </p>
<p>Another Israeli Druze soldier, Lt. Col. <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/lt-col-salman-habaka-33-responded-to-hamas-assault-fell-in-gaza/">Salman Habaka</a>, responded to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. When Habaka was killed in Gaza only a month later, the 33-year-old was the highest-ranking Israeli soldier killed in the war. </p>
<p>Although they make up only 1.5% of Israeli households, roughly <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231112-arab-druze-village-proud-to-serve-in-israel-s-war">40 Druze civilians have been killed</a> since the start of the war, representing roughly 3.5% of Israeli deaths (including the Oct. 7, 2023, victims). One reason is that their community’s traditional location near the <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231112-arab-druze-village-proud-to-serve-in-israel-s-war">Lebanese border</a> has made them vulnerable to incoming fire from the Hezbollah militant group. </p>
<h2>Jewish minorities</h2>
<p>Even the deaths of Jewish soldiers reflect the complexity of Israeli society. In all, Jewish soldiers killed in the conflict have ties to at least 12 countries in addition to Israel. </p>
<p>Soldiers killed in Gaza include Staff Sgt. Yonatan Chaim, <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/staff-sgt-yonatan-chaim-25-lone-soldier-who-converted-made-aliyah/">an American</a> who converted to Judaism after taking a college course on the Holocaust and then moved to Israel. </p>
<p>Fallen members of Israel’s 170,000-person Ethiopian community include Staff Sgt. <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/staff-sgt-emanuel-feleke-21-predicted-he-would-die-for-homeland/">Alemnew Emanuel Feleke</a>, a 22-year-old commando who was wounded on Dec. 5, 2023, in southern Gaza and died the following day. Staff Sgt. <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-12-23/ty-article/idf-names-five-israeli-soldiers-killed-in-gaza-strip-fighting-over-weekend/0000018c-97bb-d9e3-a5be-fffb03210000">Birhanu Kassie</a> died in an explosion in late December. </p>
<h2>Equal in war?</h2>
<p>The visible presence of Israel’s minority communities in the military is partly a result of a long-standing military policy called the Haredi exemption. This exempts ultra-Orthodox Jews, who make up approximately <a href="https://en.idi.org.il/haredi/2022/?chapter=48263#:%7E:text=Consequently%2C%20the%20ultra%2DOrthodox%20population,13.3%25%20of%20Israel's%20total%20population.">13% of the country</a>, from military service. Women as well as men studying at a yeshiva, a Jewish religious college, are excused from service so they can follow strict religious observances and study religious texts.</p>
<p>In 2017, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled this policy was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/12/world/middleeast/israel-ultra-orthodox-military.html">discriminatory and unconstitutional</a>. But the ruling has not been enforced because of pressure from religious conservative political parties. In August 2023, only <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/ultra-orthodox-push-for-draft-exemption-law-strains-the-coalitions-docile-unanimity/">9% of eligible ultra-Orthodox</a> men served in the military, compared with an 80% national average among other Jewish Israelis. </p>
<p>Yet even the Haredi exemption is being undermined by the war. More than <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2023/11/01/israel-hamas-haredi-idf/">2,000 Haredi men</a> have volunteered for service since the war began. At least 150 have been <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/with-israel-at-war-150-haredi-men-draft-into-idf-thousands-expected-to-follow/">formally drafted</a>. War continues to shape the relationship between Israel’s citizens and the military that protects them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221926/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Trisko Darden is Director of the (In)Security Lab at Virginia Commonwealth University and Director of the Security & Foreign Policy Initiative at William & Mary's Global Research Institute. </span></em></p>The Israel-Hamas conflict is putting a spotlight on all of the different people affected by the war, including Israel soldiers from Ethiopian, Filipino and Bedouin backgrounds.Jessica Trisko Darden, Associate Professor of Political Science, Virginia Commonwealth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1257722019-10-29T12:58:43Z2019-10-29T12:58:43ZLebanon uprising unites people across faiths, defying deep sectarian divides<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298994/original/file-20191028-113972-6ay3jw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=51%2C0%2C5760%2C3811&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lebanese protesters formed a 105-mile human chain connecting geographically and religiously diverse cities across the country, Oct. 27. 2019. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Lebanon-Protests/310a90c1b23147e1979b57a9c52ae763/55/0">AP Photo/Bilal Hussein</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Religion has shaped Lebanon since it gained independence from France in 1943. In this <a href="https://theconversation.com/lebanon-is-cracking-under-the-pressure-from-syria-and-iraq-36167">multicultural country</a> of Muslims, Christians and Druze – a <a href="https://theconversation.com/solving-the-1-000-year-old-mystery-of-druze-origin-with-a-genetic-sat-nav-68550">medieval faith derived from Islam</a> – religion defines membership and belonging. It is woven into Lebanon’s economic, political and social fabric.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/21/middleeast/lebanon-protests-explainer-intl/index.html">mass protests</a> that began in mid-October over a proposal to tax WhatsApp calls are challenging that tradition. Over a million Lebanese from all faiths have joined together in these leaderless and nationwide anti-government demonstrations, in which the agenda has now expanded from avoiding taxes to regime change.</p>
<p>“<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/lebanon-protests-latest-corruption-middle-east-revolution-tax-a9165161.html">All of them means all of them</a>,” protesters nationwide chant, demanding the ouster of Lebanon’s entire ruling class.</p>
<p>On Oct. 29, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, a Sunni, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/29/lebanons-pm-saad-hariri-resigns-amid-angry-protests">resigned</a>, elating demonstrators. Protesters blame Hariri, along with Lebanon’s Christian president and Shiite parliament speaker, for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/20/cracks-appear-in-lebanons-governing-coalition-after-third-day-of-protests">rampant corruption, a wrecked economy and a ravaged environment</a>. </p>
<p>In repudiation of the idea that <a href="https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745334141/the-politics-of-sectarianism-in-postwar-lebanon/">religious allegiance</a> comes before national unity, they <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/23/world/middleeast/lebanon-protests.html">are demanding</a> fair elections, a stronger judiciary and more government accountability. </p>
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<span class="caption">Police remove an anti-government protester blocking a highway in Beirut, Lebanon, Oct. 26, 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/APTOPIX-Lebanon-Protests/cec27b3ca1f144dbafb1bffcfa4f464a/69/0">AP Photo/Hussein Malla</a></span>
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<h2>‘Hunger has no religion’</h2>
<p>With 18 recognized sects – including the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6932786.stm">Maronite Christians</a>; Sunni, Shiite and <a href="https://carnegie-mec.org/diwan/55663">Alawite Muslims</a>; and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/solving-the-1-000-year-old-mystery-of-druze-origin-with-a-genetic-sat-nav-68550">Druze</a> – Lebanon is one of the most religiously diverse countries in the Middle East. </p>
<p>When a class struggle broke out there in the mid-1970s, it quickly devolved into a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14649284">civil war</a> between right-wing Christian and left-wing Muslim militias. </p>
<p>To end Lebanon’s conflict, the 1989 <a href="https://peacemaker.un.org/lebanon-taifaccords89">Taif Accords</a> required all factions to relinquish their weapons and distributed government positions to politicians of different faiths. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299015/original/file-20191028-113953-1sgsrc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299015/original/file-20191028-113953-1sgsrc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299015/original/file-20191028-113953-1sgsrc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=745&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299015/original/file-20191028-113953-1sgsrc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=745&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299015/original/file-20191028-113953-1sgsrc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=745&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299015/original/file-20191028-113953-1sgsrc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=936&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299015/original/file-20191028-113953-1sgsrc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=936&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299015/original/file-20191028-113953-1sgsrc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=936&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Lebanon’s administrative divisions reflect its religious divisions, with Shiites concentrated in the country’s south and east and Maronite Christians dominating central areas near Beirut.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Lebanon_region_map.png">Globe-trotter/Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection - University of Texas Library Online</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This power-sharing agreement has kept the peace in Lebanon. But it has also given it a political order built on religious factionalism. </p>
<p>Patronage networks run by the “<a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/06/11/lebanons-fabric-is-fraying-this-is-why-it-matters/">za'eem</a>,” as Lebanon’s powerful sectarian leaders are called, protect the interests of their religious communities, doling out favors both legal and illegal. All faiths have their own za'eem.</p>
<p>Religiously based governance has given Lebanon both <a href="http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/countries-by-national-debt/">extreme national debt</a> and staggering inequality. According to the <a href="https://wid.world/country/lebanon/">World Inequality Database</a>, the richest 1% of Lebanese own approximately a quarter of the nation’s wealth. Lebanon’s infrastructure is crumbling. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/10/21/771820303/lebanon-is-crippled-by-massive-anti-government-protests">Power outages</a> are a chronic problem even in urban middle-class neighborhoods.</p>
<p>Widespread <a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/lebanon">human rights violations</a> – including <a href="https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Lebanon-Gender-Violence-Publications.pdf">domestic violence</a>, <a href="https://alefliban.org/publications/annual-report-2018/">child labor</a> and abuse of Syrian refugees – are rarely punished.</p>
<p>But, according to the political scientist <a href="http://sas.lau.edu.lb/social-sciences/people/bassel-salloukh.php">Bassel Salloukh</a>, Lebanon’s rulers “<a href="https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2016/9/30/how-neoliberalism-defeated-itself-in-lebanon">use sectarian mobilization</a> to camouflage intra-sectarian socioeconomic disparities” – a divide-and-conquer strategy meant to stop class solidarity from emerging. </p>
<p>The beneficiaries of this system argue that Lebanon’s stability hinges on this sectarian balance. And, indeed, sectarianism has been remarkably effective in forestalling dissent for the past 30 years. </p>
<p>It has also instilled a deep distrust in government. A <a href="https://www.arabbarometer.org/countries/lebanon/">recent poll</a> shows that 96% of Lebanese think political corruption is endemic.</p>
<h2>The sectarian construct</h2>
<p>As <a href="https://english.osu.edu/people/kafantaris.6">a literary historian</a>, I study the stories a nation tells itself about belonging, allegiance and identity. In Lebanon, my home country, I recognize sectarianism as a social construct.</p>
<p>Social constructs, like <a href="https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/problem-with-civility">civility</a> or <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2953734?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">money</a>, are concepts that only mean something because humans agree they do. Often, social constructs benefit the powerful. </p>
<p>By drawing the boundaries of inclusion along religious lines, Lebanese sectarianism has impeded the rise of more unifying ideologies like nationalism or secularism.</p>
<p>“Sectarianism has been depicted as a monolithic force, unchanging in the face of history,” historian <a href="https://history.rice.edu/faculty/ussama-makdisi">Ussama Makdisi</a> wrote in his 2000 book “<a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520218468/the-culture-of-sectarianism">The Culture of Sectarianism</a>. But, he continues, "sectarianism was produced. Therefore it can be changed.”</p>
<p>Since the civil war, Lebanese have been raised to see religion as the only marker of kinship and rivalry, but the Lebanese share many things: a multilingual literary heritage, for example, and a love of <a href="https://en.vogue.me/culture/fairouz-facts-singer-birthday/">Fairuz</a>, one of the Arab world’s most admired singers. </p>
<p>Lebanese of different faiths suffer together, too. As one protester told Foreign Policy, <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/10/22/iran-losing-middle-east-iraq-lebanon-protests-bad-governance/">hunger has no religion</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299001/original/file-20191028-113962-dmyszc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299001/original/file-20191028-113962-dmyszc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299001/original/file-20191028-113962-dmyszc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299001/original/file-20191028-113962-dmyszc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299001/original/file-20191028-113962-dmyszc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299001/original/file-20191028-113962-dmyszc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299001/original/file-20191028-113962-dmyszc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299001/original/file-20191028-113962-dmyszc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri, right, with President Michel Aoun before an emergency cabinet meeting, Oct. 21, 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Lebanon-Protests/cff1a70541e24d78aed19f0a1d5653a2/25/0">Dalati Nohra via AP</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sectarian politics have been dismantled before. Two decades after <a href="http://education.niassembly.gov.uk/post_16/snapshots_of_devolution/gfa">Northern Ireland’s Good Friday Agreement</a>, the divide between Catholics and Protestants there remains. But it is <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-top-down-solution-to-the-irish-border-after-brexit-undermines-20-years-of-peacebuilding-89260">official government policy</a> to foster peace-building, human rights and religious freedom.</p>
<p>Like protesters in both <a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/mec/2018/09/15/beyond-the-spectre-of-sectarianism-the-case-of-tunisia/">Tunisia</a> and, more recently, Sudan – who pushed out religiously divisive leaders in hopes of nurturing a more secular democracy – Lebanon’s protests challenge a tired western stereotype that the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15570274.2017.1354462">Middle East is an intolerant, naturally authoritarian place</a>.</p>
<h2>Hezbollah is no exception</h2>
<p>In recent days, demonstrators who support Hezbollah <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/10/25/773532482/anti-government-protests-continue-in-lebanon-and-move-to-include-hezbollah-leade">have protested</a> the inclusion of their leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in the movement’s calls for regime change. They say accusations of <a href="https://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2019/Oct-23/494113-hezbollah-party-and-leader-under-rare-street-pressure.ashx">corruption</a> against this powerful Lebanese political and social force are <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691180885/hezbollah">evidence of a conspiracy by Saudi Arabia, Israel and the United States</a>.</p>
<p>Violence <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/hezbollah-supporters-break-up-beirut-protest-camp-burning-and-dismantling-tents/">erupted</a> on Oct. 29 when Hezbollah supporters attacked demonstrators, re-opening key roads blocked by protester encampments and setting their tents on fire. </p>
<p>Still, the uprising grows. Past <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/10/25/lebanon-protests-michel-aoun-corruption-mismanagement/">violence</a> has failed to quell protests, as have <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/10/23/lebanese-protesters-dont-trust-their-government-reform-heres-why/">offers</a> from the government to cut lawmakers’ salaries by half and tax banks to relieve national debt. </p>
<p>Prime Minister Hariri’s resignation opens the door for real change in Lebanon, but protests will likely continue. The za'eem system means Hariri’s replacement may well reinforce the same power-sharing model.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299301/original/file-20191029-183107-1bv0tar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299301/original/file-20191029-183107-1bv0tar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299301/original/file-20191029-183107-1bv0tar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299301/original/file-20191029-183107-1bv0tar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299301/original/file-20191029-183107-1bv0tar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299301/original/file-20191029-183107-1bv0tar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299301/original/file-20191029-183107-1bv0tar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/299301/original/file-20191029-183107-1bv0tar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Protesters in Beirut cheer the resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Oct. 29, 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Lebanon-Protests/f6521e4ecc0c4aa6b1531a412f8ca405/16/0">AP Photo/Bilal Hussein</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The current grassroots protests build on the momentum of a 2015 uprising called the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2057047315617943">#YouStink movement</a>. Those protests began when Lebanon’s main landfill was shut down and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-33656778">mounds of trash</a> filled the streets of Beirut, but they came to embody numerous other causes: <a href="https://journals-sagepub-com.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/doi/10.1177/1461444816686321">Children</a> marched for climate action. <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/04/25/lebanon-migrant-domestic-workers-children-deported">Feminists</a> defended the rights of domestic workers.</p>
<p>In 2018, women <a href="https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2018/5/news-record-number-of-women-on-the-ballot-in-lebanon">ran for office in Lebanon record numbers</a>.</p>
<h2>Rebuilding a nation</h2>
<p>There is an academic theory I like about how nations are built, called “cultural intimacy.”</p>
<p>It holds that <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Cultural_Intimacy.html?id=zzDw3qiOYrYC">communal acts</a> like breaking bread together, say, or self-deprecating humor play a crucial role in creating a shared citizenry.</p>
<p>The 1.5 million Lebanese Sunnis, Shias and Christians who have for weeks been walking side by side, holding hands and raging against the system are not merely protesting. They’re building a society that works for them.</p>
<p>[ <em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125772/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mira Assaf Kafantaris does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Lebanon’s 1989 peace deal ended a civil war by sharing political power between religious factions. That created a society profoundly divided by religion – something today’s protesters hope to change.Mira Assaf Kafantaris, Senior Lecturer in English, The Ohio State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1141322019-03-25T10:41:22Z2019-03-25T10:41:22ZWhy Trump’s recognition of the Golan Heights as Israeli territory matters<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265391/original/file-20190322-36244-dg4zao.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, left, and U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, right, in the Israeli-held Golan Heights on March 11, 2019</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Israel-Golan-Heights/e2bdf06b2eb74b4fb9dfad543aad6cd2/1/0">Ronen Zvulun/Pool via AP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Responding to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/netanyahu-makes-first-public-appeal-to-u-s-to-recognize-golan-heights-as-israel">pressure from the Israeli government</a>, President Donald Trump has signaled via Twitter that his administration is poised to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1108772952814899200">Golan Heights</a>. </p>
<p>This change of posture over a highly disputed and strategically valuable territory between Israel and Syria is being met with <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Blue-and-White-and-Likud-enthusiastically-welcome-Trumps-Golan-recognition-584200">delight</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/22/trump-provokes-global-anger-by-recognising-israels-claim-to-golan-heights">disapproval</a> and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/22/middleeast/trumps-golan-heights-arab-reaction-intl/index.html">indifference</a> by <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Golan-Heights-Druze-members-reject-Trumps-support-of-Israeli-sovereignty-584301">various sides</a> in the broader Arab-Israeli conflict, echoing reactions to an earlier U.S. move – to treat <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-middle-east-42277073/tensions-high-in-wake-of-donald-trump-s-jerusalem-announcement">Jerusalem as Israel’s capital</a>. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C18&q=dina+badie&btnG=">scholar who teaches and writes about the Middle East</a> and is currently writing a book about the Arab-Israeli conflict, I can put the Trump administration’s controversial decision in historical and legal context. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1108772952814899200"}"></div></p>
<h2>The Arab-Israeli conflict</h2>
<p>Israel seized five territories from three countries during the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-39960461">1967 War</a>: the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, East Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. The UN Security Council responded by passing the so-called “<a href="https://unispal.un.org/DPA/DPR/unispal.nsf/0/7D35E1F729DF491C85256EE700686136">land for peace</a>” resolution, or Resolution 242, which envisioned Israel exchanging the occupied territories for peace and recognition from surrounding Arab states. All members of the <a href="https://undocs.org/S/RES/242(1967)">UN Security Council</a> approved the resolution, including the United States.</p>
<p>Prior to the 1967 War, about 150,000 Syrians lived in the Golan Heights, but many were displaced by the conflict. Today, the territory is home to about <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-israel-golanheights-protests/druze-protest-trumps-backing-of-israeli-sovereignty-on-golan-idUSKCN1R40RS">25,000 Druze Arabs</a> who overwhelmingly see themselves as Syrian citizens and roughly <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-the-nations-with-the-golan-but-for-no-more-than-a-visit-1.5380338">20,000 Jewish settlers</a> who identify as Israelis. The status of the <a href="https://www.golancoalition.org/facts/population/">territory’s residents</a>, all of whom have been eligible for citizenship since 1981, is not subject change at this point.</p>
<p>At the end of the war, the two sides of the conflict disagreed on who should act first. The Arab states refused to negotiate until Israel withdrew from the occupied territories, while Israel refused to withdraw until the Arab states negotiated a peace deal. As a result, Israel continued to occupy the five territories and constructed settlements on them shortly after the war concluded. </p>
<p>In 1973, Egypt and Syria launched a <a href="http://kochhars.com/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/6/newsid_2514000/2514317.stm">war against Israel</a>, advancing into the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights in an effort to recapture the occupied territories. With American help, Israel succeeded at retaining control over the territory.</p>
<p>At the end of the conflict, the U.S. mediated talks between Israel, Egypt and Syria in an effort to resolve the continued territorial disputes. Later, the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/middle_east/israel_and_the_palestinians/key_documents/1632849.stm">Camp David Accords</a> formally returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in exchange for peace, in accordance with Resolution 242. But the remaining four territories, including the Golan Heights, remained under Israeli control. </p>
<p>In 1981, the Israeli government declared it was <a href="https://ecf.org.il/issues/issue/90">annexing East Jerusalem</a> and the <a href="https://ecf.org.il/issues/issue/93">Golan Heights</a>, <a href="https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-annex-occupy-protectorate-and-mandate">permanently extending its own boundaries to cover the two captured territories</a>. In response, the UN Security Council passed <a href="http://unscr.com/en/resolutions/497">Resolution 497</a>, which condemned the annexation of Syrian territory, declaring it a violation of international law. </p>
<p>Israel and Syria have engaged in several rounds of negotiations over the Golan Heights, including <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/13/world/middleeast/secret-israel-syria-peace-talks-involved-golan-heights-exit.html">secret talks</a> as recently as 2010 that would have resulted in full Israeli withdrawal. The start of the Syrian civil war in 2011 cut those negotiations short.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/syria-condemns-trump-occupied-golan-heights-move-190322085625746.html">Syria continues to demand a full return</a> of the Golan Heights. <a href="https://www.apnews.com/cde1470f772f49e988574a2103590f22">No other country</a> has recognized Israeli claims to the territory until now. </p>
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<h2>A strategic asset</h2>
<p>The whole territory is about <a href="https://www.touristisrael.com/golan-heights/447/">40 miles from north to south</a>, and an average of 12 miles from east to west. Despite being roughly the same size as Jacksonville, Florida, the Golan Heights is a strategically valuable high-altitude plateau that overlooks Syria and the Jordan Valley. It is considered <a href="https://theconversation.com/qanda-why-is-the-golan-heights-so-important-96440">militarily significant</a> for both Syria and Israel, and Israel also considers the territory a “buffer-zone” that contributes to its self-defense.</p>
<p>In addition to its military value, the Golan Heights is also a strategic asset due to its water resources and fertile land. The area houses the Jordan River’s drainage basin, Lake Tiberias, the Yarmuk River and underground aquifers. Israel extracts a third of its <a href="https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-israeli-occupied-golan-heights-an-occupation-for-natural-resources-water-land-and-oil/5521207">water from the Golan Heights</a>. In a relatively parched region of the world, control over the Golan’s water supplies is invaluable. </p>
<p>The Golan Heights may also have oil. Exploratory drilling suggests that the territory’s reservoirs could potentially yield <a href="https://www.globalresearch.ca/trump-set-to-recognize-israels-claim-to-occupied-golan-heights-and-its-sizable-oil-reserves/5642166">billions of barrels</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265446/original/file-20190324-36283-19147po.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265446/original/file-20190324-36283-19147po.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265446/original/file-20190324-36283-19147po.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=774&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265446/original/file-20190324-36283-19147po.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=774&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265446/original/file-20190324-36283-19147po.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=774&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265446/original/file-20190324-36283-19147po.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=973&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265446/original/file-20190324-36283-19147po.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=973&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265446/original/file-20190324-36283-19147po.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=973&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Map of Israel and its neighbors, including occupied territories.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Israel,_neighbours_and_occupied_territories.svg#file">Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Political calculations</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-two-years-later-israelis-love-trump-more-than-almost-any-other-nation-poll-shows-1.6515377">Trump is popular in Israel</a>, particularly after recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/5/14/17340798/jerusalem-embassy-israel-palestinians-us-trump">relocating the American embassy</a> there from Tel Aviv. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is currently using the American president’s photos in his <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-uses-trump-in-election-campaign-posters/">re-election campaign posters</a> to take advantage of this.</p>
<p>In fact, some analysts and reporters have suggested that the timing of this announcement was politically calculated to <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/The-Golan-Heights-Donald-Trumps-dream-gift-to-Benjamin-Netanyahu-analysis-584197">bolster Netanyahu’s campaign</a> in the upcoming <a href="https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/elections/2019/">Israeli elections on April 9</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1108777011227619329"}"></div></p>
<p>I expect that the decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights will run into the same difficulties that afflicted the Trump administration’s change in policy with regards to Jerusalem for two reasons.</p>
<p>First, it reverses <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/03/22/705749729/trump-reverses-decades-of-u-s-policy-regarding-golan-heights">decades of consistent U.S. policy</a> that demanded any territorial recognition come as a result of direct negotiations, rather than unilateral declarations. Second, it runs counter to <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20190322-france-israel-sovereignty-golan-international-law-donald-trump">international law</a>, which does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over territories occupied during the 1967 War.</p>
<p>To be sure, Trump’s move is a symbolic, rather than legal, gesture. But given the dimensions of America’s global influence, U.S. recognition could lend some legitimacy to Israel’s controversial annexation policy.</p>
<p>And I believe Trump’s approach to contentious issues in the Arab-Israeli conflict will further undermine the U.S. government’s claim to be an <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/09/13/for-palestinians-america-was-never-an-honest-broker-israel-abbas-netanyahu-middle-east-peace-process/">honest broker</a>. In my view, it makes peace in the Middle East less likely.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114132/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dina Badie does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Political leverage aside, it’s a major source of water in a parched corner of the world that harbors significant oil deposits.Dina Badie, Associate Professor of Politics and International Studies, Centre CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/762062017-04-26T01:08:59Z2017-04-26T01:08:59ZSyria’s forgotten pluralism and why it matters today<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166688/original/file-20170425-13395-sktvg6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Syrian Christians and Muslims offer prayers for nuns held by rebels, at the Greek Orthodox Mariamiya Church in Damascus, Syria, in 2013.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Syrian Civil War has been raging for six years. It has <a href="http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/2016/04/syria-envoy-claims-400000-have-died-in-syria-conflict/#.WPO8p6K1vIW">killed</a> nearly half a million people and left over 12 million, about half of Syria’s total population, <a href="http://scpr-syria.org/publications/forced-dispersion-syrian-human-status-the-demographic-report-2016/">without a home</a>. A few weeks ago, a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/04/20/world/middleeast/ap-ml-syria-the-latest.html">devastating chemical attack</a> brought this conflict back into the center stage of global media.</p>
<p>Since fighting first erupted in March 2011, scholars, government officials, journalists and analysts have sought to explain it. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/topic/destination/syria?ref=topics">Many have discussed</a> the role of the Arab Spring, the attendant Arab Winter, Syria’s government, sectarianism and the rise of the Islamic State. </p>
<p>From my perspective as a historian of the Middle East, these factors, while important, ignore a key part of the story – Syria’s past. </p>
<h2>A history of pluralism</h2>
<p>On Nov. 11, 1918, French and British allies signed an armistice with Germany formally ending four years of devastating conflict. The following year, delegates from over 32 countries convened to negotiate the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Treaty-of-Versailles-1919">terms for peace</a>.</p>
<p>For the Ottoman Empire, which had joined the losing side in the war, the relevant document was the <a href="https://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Peace_Treaty_of_S%C3%A8vres">Treaty of Sèvres</a>, signed in 1920, that drew on a secret wartime agreement between Britain and France to carve up the Middle East. The treaty reduced the Ottoman Empire to a fraction of its size and distributed much of its territory among the victorious allies.</p>
<p>This process led to the creation of Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon as new states or “mandates” under European control. Britain claimed Palestine, Jordan and Iraq, while Syria went to France. A few years later, Turkish nationalists succeeded in <a href="https://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Treaty_of_Lausanne">establishing an independent Republic of Turkey</a>, but Britain and France maintained other states in the Middle East through World War II.</p>
<p>At the time the French took control of Syria, the territory already had a cohesive identity as well as a deeply rooted tradition of <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=hSOdBAAAQBAJ&lpg=PA234&dq=goldschmidt%20concise%20history%20middle%20east%20%22french%20stressed%20syria's%20religious%22'&pg=PA234#v=onepage&q=goldschmidt%20concise%20history%20middle%20east%20%22french%20stressed%20syria's%20religious%22'&f=false">religious pluralism</a>. Since ancient times, the contemporary states of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel all have been referred to as <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/4284441">Syrian lands</a>. </p>
<p>By the sixth century, many of this region’s inhabitants had adopted the Maronite faith, a form of eastern Christianity. In the following century, the Muslim leader Mu’awiya established Syria as the base of the powerful <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=hSOdBAAAQBAJ&lpg=PA53&dq=goldschmidt%20concise%20history%20middle%20east%20%22mu'awiya%20depended%22&pg=PA54#v=onepage&q=goldschmidt%20concise%20history%20middle%20east%20%22mu'awiya%20depended%22&f=false">Umayyad caliphate</a> and Islam came to have a stronghold in Syria.</p>
<p>Syria’s religious fabric grew even richer during the next few hundred years. First, Muslim separatists established Shi'ism in opposition to the Sunni, or orthodox, version of Islam. Over time, Shi'i Islam also split into multiple belief systems. In Syria, most Shi'ites are members of the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/02/who-are-the-alawites/">Alawite sect</a>. The 11th century witnessed the birth of the Druze faith, which grew out of Islam but became a distinct religion incorporating elements of Christianity, Islam and mysticism. Prior to the French occupation, these groups lived side by side in relative peace.</p>
<h2>The development of religious rifts</h2>
<p>The French mandate received a hostile reception in Syria. Many of its inhabitants had supported the allied war effort – <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=LYe0CwAAQBAJ&lpg=PA207&dq=history%20modern%20middle%20east%20%22600%2C000%20inhabitants%20of%20greater%20syria%22&pg=PA207#v=onepage&q=history%20modern%20middle%20east%20%22600,000%20inhabitants%20of%20greater%20syria%22&f=false">approximately 600,000 died</a> in the years between 1915 to 1918. They hoped to be rewarded with independence.</p>
<p>From 1925 to 1927, Syrians of multiple faiths, ethnicities and political ideals united against French rule, in what came to be known as the <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=Ej8ZMk1822sC&lpg=PP1&dq=great%20syrian%20revolt%20arab%20nationalism&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q=great%20syrian%20revolt%20arab%20nationalism&f=false">Great Syrian Revolt</a>. Although the rebellion was ultimately crushed, it showed the French that their colonial subjects could put their differences aside to face a common enemy.</p>
<p>In order to prevent the development of nationalist sentiment and opposition, the French deliberately pitted Syria’s ethnic and religious groups against one another. They established <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=2_JMDAAAQBAJ&lpg=PA208&dq=history%20modern%20middle%20east%20%22hinder%20the%20development%20of%20Syrian%20national%20identity%22&pg=PA208#v=onepage&q=history%20modern%20middle%20east%20%22hinder%20the%20development%20of%20Syrian%20national%20identity%22&f=false">separate states</a> for each religious group: The Maronite Christians were given greater Lebanon, Alawites, the Alawite State on the coast of present-day Syria and the Druze – Jabal Druze, in southern Syria.</p>
<p>These groups were given authority over territory that was religiously heterogeneous. Greater Lebanon, for example, was designated as a Maronite Christian state, even though Maronites comprised only <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=2_JMDAAAQBAJ&lpg=PA213&dq=cleveland%20middle%20east%20%22French%20reduced%20the%20Maronites%22&pg=PA214#v=onepage&q=cleveland%20middle%20east%20%22French%20reduced%20the%20Maronites%22&f=false">about 30 percent of the population</a>. </p>
<p>The French also <a href="https://westviewpress.com/books/a-history-of-the-modern-middle-east/">promoted sectarianism</a> by periodically shifting borders and redistributing political support. First, around 1920, they divided Syria into the two separate states of Aleppo and Damascus. A few years later, they rejoined the Alawite State and Jabal Druze to the state of Syria. This frequent reshuffling ensured that their subjects would not have time to develop national loyalties.</p>
<h2>Religious conflict in perspective</h2>
<p>French tactics so divided Syria’s constituents that only an iron fist could hold the country together. Following its independence in 1946, Syrian sectarianism filtered into politics and the military, triggering a <a href="https://westviewpress.com/books/a-history-of-the-modern-middle-east/">series of military coups</a>. </p>
<p>For the past 50 years, Syria’s government has been dominated by members of the Alawite sect, who represent less than 10 percent of its population. Its last two presidents, Hafez al-Assad and his son Bashar al-Assad, both Alawites, have collectively reigned for 47 years. But these leaders have done little to ease internal discord. </p>
<p>The war has engaged multiple factions organized along religious lines. At the start of the Syrian Civil War, <a href="https://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2008/108493.htm">Syria’s population</a> was 74 percent Sunni Muslim, while Alawites and other Muslim minorities together constituted 13 percent. The remainder was 10 percent Christian and 3 percent Druze. By pitting groups against one another, the conflict is both reaffirming religious tensions and reshaping the religious landscape. </p>
<p>While Syria’s future is not possible to see, it will likely be much less diverse. The Syrian Civil War drags on precisely because of how much is at stake: Each group is fighting for the very right to exist.</p>
<p>In this difficult time, Syria could learn a lot from its past.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/76206/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea Duffy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>For many centuries, Syrian society has included people of many faiths – Sunni and Shi'i Muslims, Christians and Druze. This past is important to know to understand the present.Andrea Duffy, Director, International Studies, Colorado State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/685502016-11-16T10:40:15Z2016-11-16T10:40:15ZSolving the 1,000-year-old mystery of Druze origin with a genetic sat nav<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146073/original/image-20161115-31129-14e99g1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There are more than a million Druze worldwide, with the vast majority residing in the Middle East.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For 1,000 years, the mysterious origin of the Druze people – who live almost exclusively in the mountains of Syria, Lebanon and Israel – has captivated linguists, historians, and sociologists. There has been much dispute over whether the Druze are of Arabian, Turkish, Caucasus or Persian origin. But thanks to our <a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/srep35837">new research</a> that mystery may now have been solved, with the use of a genetic GPS system – that works in a similar way to the sat nav in your car.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146055/original/image-20161115-31153-lqsi5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146055/original/image-20161115-31153-lqsi5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146055/original/image-20161115-31153-lqsi5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146055/original/image-20161115-31153-lqsi5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146055/original/image-20161115-31153-lqsi5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146055/original/image-20161115-31153-lqsi5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146055/original/image-20161115-31153-lqsi5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Druze are an Arabic-speaking minority who live throughout the Middle East.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are thought to be <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-middle-easts-warring-enemies-are-competing-to-win-over-the-druze-43720">around 1m Druze people in the world</a> today, whose secretive religion was developed in 986 AD as a movement within Islam. While the spiritual elements of their religion are highly guarded and known only to the elders, the known practices are made up of various religions which include Hinduism, Christianity, Islam and Judaism. This variety is most likely based on historical gatherings that are typical of nomadic tribes. </p>
<p>Previous research has always placed the origins of the Druze in the <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508182219.htm">the Near East</a> region. And by zooming in on the area, our genetic GPS <a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/srep35837">traced most Druze</a> to the region that overlaps northeast Turkey, southwest Armenia and northern Iraq. This area borders the Zagros and the Ararat mountains and is the tallest region in Turkey. </p>
<p>This was discovered by applying our <a href="http://www.livescience.com/45215-genetic-ancestry-test-predicts-ancestral-origin.html">GPS tool</a> to the genomes of over 150 Druze, along with Palestinians, Bedouins, Syrians and Lebanese to compare their ancestral origins.</p>
<h2>Mountain dwelling warriors</h2>
<p>Throughout history, the Caucasus region – which borders Europe and Asia – was subjected to political, military, religious and cultural conflict, which prompted many tribes to seek refuge in remote regions. The Druze were no different. </p>
<p>It is thought that the first Druze worshippers probably lived in Cairo, where Druzism was adopted by <a href="http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Divers-in-Caesarea-find-largest-treasure-of-gold-coins-ever-discovered-in-Israel-391319">Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah</a> who ruled in Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean – known as the Levant – between 996 and 1021. But after his sudden disappearance, his successor prosecuted the Druze ruthlessly and abolished the faith in Egypt. By that time, however, the faith had already spread outside Egypt and become accepted among several Levantine groups. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146200/original/image-20161116-13526-genqhq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146200/original/image-20161116-13526-genqhq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146200/original/image-20161116-13526-genqhq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146200/original/image-20161116-13526-genqhq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146200/original/image-20161116-13526-genqhq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146200/original/image-20161116-13526-genqhq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146200/original/image-20161116-13526-genqhq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Divers recently found gold coins from this period at an ancient port in Caesarea, that were produced in Egypt and elsewhere in North Africa. Most of the coins carry the name of Al-Hakim.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Carla Amit, Israel Antiques Authority</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Druze were first recorded by the 12th century Jewish traveller <a href="https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/tudela.html">Benjamin of Tudela</a> who described them as fearless, mountain-dwelling warriors who favoured the Jews. And by that time, because of earlier persecutions, their faith was closed to new followers and they opposed marriage outside of the Druze faith.</p>
<p>The remote mountainous regions provided the Druze with protection and allowed them to maintain the close societal structure that is integral to their religious practices. Like other <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21904933">Caucasus populations</a>, the Druze may even be genetically adapted to cope with the thinner mountain air allowing them to live comfortably in these remote parts.</p>
<h2>Druze meet the Jews</h2>
<p>Though the Druze have previously been considered to have little genetic mixing – known as a “<a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0002105">population isolate</a>” by some geneticists – this is actually incorrect. And in fact by exchanging their diverse Near Eastern genes with Middle Eastern populations – such as Syrians and Palestinians – the Druze people created a more mixed genome than their ancestors, or other Middle Eastern populations.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146080/original/image-20161115-31123-14xqn2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146080/original/image-20161115-31123-14xqn2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146080/original/image-20161115-31123-14xqn2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146080/original/image-20161115-31123-14xqn2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146080/original/image-20161115-31123-14xqn2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146080/original/image-20161115-31123-14xqn2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146080/original/image-20161115-31123-14xqn2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Druze flag.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Genetic evidence also suggests that over the years non-Druze tribes and individuals have contributed and enriched the Druze gene pool. </p>
<p>Previous research has also shown that <a href="http://medicalxpress.com/news/2010-06-dna-geographical-jews.html">Ashkenazic Jews and Druze</a> are genetically closer to one another than Middle Eastern populations – but until now, it was not clear why. Combined with our earlier research showing the <a href="https://theconversation.com/uncovering-ancient-ashkenaz-the-birthplace-of-yiddish-speakers-58355">northeastern Turkish origins of Ashkenazic Jews</a>, we can explain that genetic similarity via the shared origin of Ashkenazic Jews and Druze. Medieval Ashkenazic Jews lived in ancient villages in northeast Turkey known as “ancient Ashkenaz” – which was close to the mountainous homeland of the Druze. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146079/original/image-20161115-31135-o0rwih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146079/original/image-20161115-31135-o0rwih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146079/original/image-20161115-31135-o0rwih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146079/original/image-20161115-31135-o0rwih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146079/original/image-20161115-31135-o0rwih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=576&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146079/original/image-20161115-31135-o0rwih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=576&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146079/original/image-20161115-31135-o0rwih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=576&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Druze women in Isfiya, one of the largest Druze villages in Israel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our findings explain a 1,000-year saga of two people living side by side in these lands. And as the <a href="https://theconversation.com/uncovering-ancient-ashkenaz-the-birthplace-of-yiddish-speakers-58355">Ashkenazic Jews moved northward into the Khazarian Empire</a>, the Druze moved southwards to Palestine – only for both people to reunite hundreds of years later. And although by that time, neither one recalled their common roots, both retained the evidence in their genes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/68550/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eran Elhaik consults to the DNA Diagnostics Center. The study was partially funded by The Royal Society, MRC, and the NSF
</span></em></p>Illuminating the origins of one of the oldest peoples in the Middle East.Eran Elhaik, Lecturer in population, medical and evolutionary genomics, University of SheffieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/437202015-07-01T09:48:32Z2015-07-01T09:48:32ZWhy the Middle East’s warring enemies are competing to win over the Druze<p>In the making of the modern Middle East, minorities have often been used as pretexts and pawns for external intervention. It is in this light that the recent <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-33092902">massacre of more than 20 men from the esoteric Druze religious sect</a> by the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front must be understood. </p>
<p>As a result of the threat to the Syrian Druze by Nusra, their protection now is contested between a trio of sworn enemies: al-Qaeda-affiliated rebel fighters, the Syrian regime, and Israel. </p>
<p>So who are the Druze – and how should we understand their dangerous situation?</p>
<h2>Who are the Druze?</h2>
<p>Dispersed across the Levant, the Druze have historical roots in the 11th century Ismaili branch of Shia Islam. The sect has an estimated 1m members worldwide; the majority live in Syria and Lebanon, with smaller communities in Israel and Jordan.</p>
<p>A distinctive array of social practices, such as <a href="https://druzenews.wordpress.com/2013/01/05/endgame-endogamy/">marrying within the sect</a> and belief in an exclusive form of <a href="http://www.druzeheritage.org/DHF/The_world.asp">reincarnation</a> , have all helped create a popular image of a homogenous, tightly bound transnational community – although in reality, they are rather more politically and socio-economically diverse than this image would have it.</p>
<p>The Druze tend to be valourised as staunch nationalists almost wherever they are. They helped lead the nationalist <a href="http://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/comment/2015/5/15/syrias-deja-vu-the-revolts-of-1925-and-2011">Syrian revolt against the French Mandate</a> in 1925, are trusted to <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/01/israel-druze-conscientious-objectors-201417124820876902.html">serve in the Israeli army</a>, and have long been considered “<a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/lebanon/2011-02-16/druze-factor">kingmakers</a>” in Lebanese politics.</p>
<p>But their situation has changed drastically since Syria’s war. As the country’s social and political fabric has fallen apart, the Druze have been caught up in the ensuing struggle for power and control of geographical boundaries. </p>
<p>This is nothing new. Since Ottoman times, external powers and local elites have played <a href="https://theconversation.com/arming-the-kurds-builds-on-long-history-of-proxy-warfare-in-the-middle-east-31648">minorities</a> for their own geopolitical goals. Indeed, defining populations as minorities and majorities and “protecting” them has always been part of colonial governance, imperialist intervention, and the geopolitics of states and sovereignty in the Middle East. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, <a href="https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/17534/ISIM_8_Understanding_Sectarianism.pdf?sequence=1">sectarianism</a> has been used to explain Middle Eastern conflicts ever since the <a href="http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/exhibitions/the-druze-maronite-massacre-of-1860">Druze-Maronite massacre of 1860</a> in Lebanon, and it has become fundamental to the make-up of today’s post-Ottoman modern states.</p>
<p>Along with the continuation of the <a href="http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/984">colonial security</a> structures within the Syrian Baathist state, minorities have been instrumental to the consolidation and maintenance of the authoritarian and populist Assad <a href="http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/1759/the-marriage-of-cadmus-and-harmony-and-the-burial-">regime</a>.</p>
<h2>What now?</h2>
<p>Since 2011, most Druze areas in Syria – largely in regime-held territories – have welcomed hundreds of displaced internal refugees and attempted to maintain neutrality without challenging Damascus’s claim to state sovereignty. </p>
<p>But the town of Qalb Lawza, the scene of the recent massacre, is different. In March 2015, along with other Druze villages, it accepted a <a href="http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Life/Travel-and-Tourism/2015/Mar-02/289264-jumblatt-nusra-reach-agreement-on-idlibs-druze.ashx">truce</a> with the advancing Nusra Front. The deal included a rigid “<a href="http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/the-massacre-of-druze-villagers-in-qalb-lawza-idlib-province/">Islamisation</a>” programme setting out rules for religious minorities’ behaviour. </p>
<p>The Qalb Lawza massacre, which was allegedly triggered by a dispute with Nusra fighters over a Druze-owned property they took over, has heightened fears of sectarian retributions. Al-Nusra has issued an <a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/syrias-al-qaeda-affiliate-says-it-regrets-killing-of-druze/">apology</a>. Walid Joumblatt, the Druze Lebanese political leader opposing Assad, <a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/06/22/druze-syria-assad-israel-netanyahu/">views</a> the massacre as an “isolated incident” and has called his Druze brothers to accept al-Nusra’s apology, and to side with the Turkish-backed “moderate” Islamic opposition. </p>
<p>The Syrian regime, not wishing to lose the support of its third largest minority, has <a href="http://www.sana.sy/en/?p=44531">blamed</a> the attack on “takfiri [a Muslim who accuses another Muslim for apostacy] terrorists” from Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic Ahrar al-Sham Movement, which it claims is backed by Saudi Arabia and Turkey. </p>
<p>But the latest offensive mounted by IS and rebel forces on the fringes of the Druze province of Suwayda and Deraa in <a href="http://carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=60504&mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRons6TKZKXonjHpfsX56OgkXaa%2FlMI%2F0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4ARcBqI%2BSLDwEYGJlv6SgFSrnAMbBwzLgFWhI%3D">Southern Syria</a> has diminished the sect’s trust in the ability of the Syrian regime to keep protecting them. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, Israel has <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/06/druze-residents-israel-denounce-syria-policy-150628061812880.html">proclaimed itself</a> the Druze’s strongest bodyguard, ready to defend them as necessary. <a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-weighs-safe-zone-for-syrias-embattled-druze/">Arguing</a> that the memory of the Holocaust requires action to avert a possible genocide of the Syrian Druze, Israel has stepped up talks to establish a buffer zone along its Syrian border. This even as Israel is trying Druze resistance fighter <a href="http://breakingnews.sy/en/article/55752.html">Sudki al-Makt</a> for espionage after he filmed evidence of Israel’s support for armed rebel groups in Syria.</p>
<p>Yet, the Druze in and outside of Syria are <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/06/druze-residents-israel-denounce-syria-policy-150628061812880.html">unlikely</a> to support Israel’s policies on Syria. On June 23, a group of Golan Druze <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/06/druze-israel-syria-ambulance-attacked-150623010047887.html">attacked an Israeli military ambulance</a> carrying wounded Syrian rebel fighters, killing one and severely wounding the other.</p>
<h2>The politics of protection</h2>
<p>Combined fears of a repeat of the 2014 <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/08/15/uk-iraq-security-yazidis-killings-idUKKBN0GF1XZ20140815">massacre of Kurdish Yazidi villagers</a> by IS have now forced the Druze to confront the new wave of violent sectarian terror. Like other religious minorities, the Druze find themselves caught between the promise of authoritarian “protection”, the threat of majoritarian marginalisation, and even extinction. </p>
<p>The latest massacres have all paved the way for a dangerous escalation of violence. In the name of “protecting” the Druze, major regional powers are competing to take them under their wings at the expense of their enemies –- but the sect’s members have little to win and much to lose by picking sides.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/43720/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maria Kastrinou does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Why are Syria and Israel competing to be the ultimate protecters of the Druze?Maria Kastrinou, Lecturer in Anthropology, Brunel University LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.