#suwayda

I've been trying to learn about the Druze for several months and have been trying to follow the news in Suwayda as well as possible despite the disinterest of Western media outlets.

I see the videos of Druze men having their mustaches forcibly, violently shaved. This isn't really different from how the Nazi forcibly shaved the beards and cut off the peyot of Jewish men. Its not just a humiliation, it's an attempt to erase their culture and their faith.

The Druze are a small, monotheistic, Arab, ethnoreligious group which has no problem with other religions.

The Druze have been persecuted and are again being persecuted by Islamist groups who are offended by the Druze's determination to remain Druze.

It seems that all the Druze want is to be allowed to live in peace, and that they haven't historically started fights with their neighbors. When they fight, it's because they're being attacked, almost always by Islamists.

Even if the Israeli Druze weren't amazing citizens (and they clearly are) and even if Israel's government didn't value doing right by its Druze citizens (and they clearly do), would it surprise anyone that Israel is the only power in the region which cares to protect the Syrian Druze?

When Jews look at the Druze, we see ourselves and remember that nobody came to our aid.

So...I am at this moment very pleased that the Jewish nation is protecting Syrian Druze.

I can't comment on tactics. I don't know if Israel striking Damascus was a good idea. I'm just not informed enough to have a meaningful opinion on that. I don't like Netanyahu or his government, but I agree with it on this point:

If Syria’s Turkish-backed puppet government (fuck Assad too btw but still!) could STOP trying to eliminate the country’s Druze population (and ALL its other remaining minorities (Kurds, Assyrians, other Syriac Christians, Arab Christians, Armenians, and Yazidis)), that would be great.

Nymphaeum of Suwayda

Dionysias Soada (Suwayda), Syria

2nd century CE (?)

I think it's mostly a problem of scale, but let's start with what Syrian Druze want.

Suwayda Province in southern Syria is the only region in the country where Druze form a local majority. It is not just a geographic home but a cultural and religious stronghold, with centuries of history, shrines, and tight-knit community structures.

Most Druze in Syria see remaining there as a duty, tied to land, ancestry, and faith. In recent years, even with growing economic hardship, conscription attempts by the Assad regime, violent incursions by ISIS, Iran-backed groups, and other Islamists...? Calls for mass emigration have been rare. From what I can tell, Druze leaders in Suwayda have repeatedly emphasized a desire for self-defense militias and greater autonomy, not evacuation or exile from their land.

There are an estimated 700,000 Druze in Syria, mostly in the Suwayda region (but many near Damascus as well). Israel's entire population is under 10 million, and its total Druze population (citizens and those who declined citizenship combined) is only about 150,000 people.

Even if only a fraction of Syrian Druze wanted in, it would be a massive social and economic shift for a very small country.

If you scale the ratio for the US population of about 340 million, it would be like expecting the US to rapidly admit ~24.4 million refugees.

Israel and Syria are still technically at war. The border region is volatile, with Syrian territory near the Golan still often controlled by Iranian proxies and Hezbollah-linked militias. These are actors committed to Israel's destruction.

Imagine trying to rapidly background-check 700,000 refugees.

During the Syrian civil war, Israel quietly treated thousands of wounded Syrians, including Druze, in northern hospitals and field clinics. Often without identifying them, so they and their family members wouldn't be endangered back in Syria merely for having accepted help from Israel. Permanent resettlement, though, would require legal infrastructure, security screening, and housing at a scale Israel is just not equipped to handle, especially given the regional implications.

TLDR:

Letting in 700,000 people...isn't simple. Or really something Israel is capable of.

Israel can, however:

Aid the Syrian Druze in their self-defense

Make clear to Syria's new government that the Israeli military won't sit on its hands while the Syrian Druze are attacked

The clashes in Sweida in southern Syria this week focused world attention on the plight of the Druze and questions about the nature of the new Syrian government. Videos and claims of atrocities drove hundreds of Golan Druze to rush into Syria to the rescue of their brethren. Israeli strikes in Damascus against Syrian forces raised the stakes and led to questions, including in Israel itself, about how Israel can protect the Druze while not sacrificing an expansion of the Abraham Accords. Rania Fadel Dean comes from a prominent Israeli Druze family. Her organization, Covenant, seeks to teach Americans about the Druze community. She joins us to share an Israeli Druze perspective, including what she's hearing from friends and family members in Sweida.

Things which help bind the Druze and the Jews:

They're both ethnoreligious groups

Both trace their linguistic and cultural roots to semitic peoples in the Levant...and genetic studies confirm that the Druze and the Jews are cousins.

Both are closed faiths, neither proselytizes or seeks converts.

Many Druze believe themselves to be descendents of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, and he is a highly revered prophet in their faith. The Israeli government formally recognizes the annual Druze pilgrimage to Nabi Shu'ayb (Jethro's tomb), including Druze from other nations.

Both have long been minorities subject to waves of persecution and marginalization across centuries by empires, religious authorities, and modern regimes.

The Druze do not formally follow the Noahide laws, but their practices and beliefs align closely with them. The moral principles of each group do not come into conflict with the other due to their fundamental, foundational similarities.

Both cultures include longstanding traditions of communal responsibility, mutual aid, and respect for elders. Both faiths encourage endogamy. Both emphasize ethical behavior, justice, truth, and duty to community. Both view knowledge as sacred and value wisdom traditions, including esoteric traditions.

The Druze are about 1.6% of Israel's population, and their cultural belief in the value of public service has led more than 80% to do national service, a rate comparable with Israeli Jews.

Many volunteer for combat units, elite divisions, and officer training. Consequently, Druze are overrepresented (substantially more than 1.6%) in elite combat units (Golani Brigade, Paratroopers), border police, military intelligence, officer ranks, and general staff.

Druze representatives have also been disproportionately elected to the Knesset.

Israeli Druze have integrated beautifully into Israeli secular society without sacrificing or apologizing for their distinctiveness...and I think that feels very relatable to Jews who know their diasporan history.

Is it any surprise that Israeli Jews feel fiercely protective of their Druze cousins?

I'm not convinced the strike on Damascus was the right tactic, but I am absolutely convinced that defending the Druze is not only the right thing for Israel to do, but that it would be a moral failure if Israel did not.

A couple thoughts on "Greater Israel"

If someone brings up "Greater Israel" in discussing Israel's strike on Damascus, that's a good indicator that they're ignorant, malicious, or both. No serious geopolitical observer believes Israel is seeking to claim parts of Syria for itself. It doesn't want to and it wouldn't be practical.

The only times Israel has captured land was in defensive wars and Israel gave the Sinai (more square miles than Israel itself) back to Egypt in exchange for peace. Israel offered Syria the Golan Heights after the 1967 war in exchange for peace, Syria declined. Israel has twice suggested giving Gaza back to Egypt, Egypt declined. Israel floated the idea of returning the West Bank to Jordan after the 1967 war, and Jordan declined.

Even if Israel wanted to and could pull that off, it couldn't hold or defend the new territory and isn't set up to grant 700,000 Syrian Druze Israeli citizenship.

The claim that Israel is seeking more land in Syria is nonsensical.

That doesn't, however, mean that Israel's actions against Damascus are solely driven by moral concerns.

Israel doesn't (and shouldn't) trust Syria's new Islamist government. Suwayda is adjacent to the Golan Heights and an autonomous Druze zone could act as a buffer against hostile forces. Israel would love to have a more secure and peaceful Syrian border with friendly Druze on the other side as a strategic partner.

Just leaving this here.

And a statement on the recent events from the (now de facto) REAL Syrian opposition.