A Promise is a Promise

Random Thoughts on Everything

Who are the Druze?

Druze villages in Syria are begging the Israeli army to cross the northern border and intervene in a violent conflict now forced upon them by the new Islamist regime. Whilst their friends and families are burning tyres and blocking roads in Israel to make this point, it seems a timely, if terrible moment, to understand more about their life and traditions.

In Tel Aviv my favourite restaurant is called Naifa after the charming and talented Druze chef, Naifa Molla who owns it. I shamefully admit I had never much considered her background, and was more focussed on procuring a hard-to-come-by table, than understanding her faith which, like Judaism, has always been entwined with the history of the Middle East.

Dating back to 11th century Egypt, the religion was started by a Persian missionary. The Druze broke away from Islam to develop their own philosophy of Tawhid which means unity or oneness. From this comes a strong belief in the transmigration of souls (reincarnation to you and me) which plays an important part in Druze spirituality, inner wisdom and the harmony of life and death. They tell stories of children who know intimate details of past lives, repeating names and facts they couldn’t know. A woman who lost her young son refused to mourn, insisting he wasn’t gone and would return. Years later her granddaughter gave birth to a boy. The child began asking for toys he didn’t have and had never seen … describing items that had belonged to the dead boy. The Druze community accepted him as a reincarnation fulfilling both the grandmother’s faith and their strong belief that women are the soul’s guardians, and upholders of truth.

Elements of Greek philosophy, Hinduism, Christianity, and mysticism, are present in practices so secret that only the initiated, the uqqal (wise) fully understand the teachings. Most Druze live traditionally and are loyal to their insular communities, they believe in a karmic connection to their families but the majority are juhhal (ignorant) of their sacred texts. They are not supposed to eat pork or smoke tobacco, and are forbidden to drink alcohol.

The Druze are a closed faith that hasn’t accepted converts since 1044. Unlike Judaism, there is no Liberal or Reform movement to smooth a path to inclusion, and a paltry 1% marry outside the religion, meaning that most unusually, today’s populations are all direct descendants of the religion’s 11th century followers.

As with Jewish communities the Druze have been violently persecuted for their beliefs and abilities over the centuries, sidelined, threatened and attacked by both Muslim and Christian authorities. Here in Israel they are safe and number around 150,000. Although ethnically Arab, their Elders went against the warmongering crowd in 1948, and decided to align their people’s lives with the newly independent Jewish State of Israel. They proudly serve in the military (many rising to senior ranks) and they participate in national life. The women have modernised to become lawyers, doctors and politicians, many doing so without loosing their traditions, ethics, and their all important family connection. The old rule for Druze women was silence, today, having found their voice, they outnumber the men enrolling in higher education. On October 7 Druze members of the IDF showed their commitment to Israel’s security, fighting with great bravery and loosing at least 12 soldiers in the conflict. Nareen Yousef is Druze, she lives on Moshav Yated near the Gaza border. Fluent in Arabic she deceived Hamas fighters that day by pretending to assist them. The intelligence she learned she quickly passed on to the IDF preventing a potential massacre in her village.

Let’s return to the urgent requests for military assistance from Druze villages in Syria. It seems reasonable to assume that the Israeli government currently walks a tightrope stretched taunt across the Golan Heights. Netanyahu needs to avoid further aggravating the various hornets nests who vie for absolute control of the apparently lawless land that is Syria. But the Israeli government had publicly said they would defend the Druze community from sectarian violence, and a promise is a promise. So a few days ago a strike on an extremist group that had attacked and executed Syrian Druze, was made on their behalf. Immediately afterwards the Syrian Foreign Ministry rejected “all forms of foreign intervention,” and declared its commitment to protecting every Syrian group “including the noble Druze.” Their enthusiasm for this altruistic mission saw them leaping into armoured vehicles and forming heavily armed convoys that are currently heading towards Druze villages. A plea for immediate help has gone out to the Red Cross and the UN. Good luck with that.

I hear no shouts of anger from the world’s pro-palestinians. No catchy rhymes of support. David Lammy is cloth-eared and irrelevant, too busy trying to neatly roll up his unilateral, Palestinian State flag. Last night after showing some reluctance to get further dragged in, Israel sent fighter jets to strike a warning just metres from the Presidential Palace in Damascus … a ‘clear message.’ I expect Ahmed al-Sharaa the country’s current leader, is un-cowed. Ironic that despite the heavy cost of their own war, only Israel has shown the will to intervene, so far.

Peace and love seem an unlikely ending for this conflict. No wonder the Syrian Druze take their wounded to the border, putting their trust in the IDF who transport them to hospitals in Israel.