The Druze

When most people think about the major religions in Israel, they think of the Jews, Muslims, and Christians. However, there is another important religious group that is often overlooked, the Druze. The Druze are an interesting group, whose religion takes a different mindset than most others in the middle east. They are not Muslim, although they speak Arabic. They take great pride in their nationalism. However, they do not have their own country to be nationalistic about. Rather, their nationalistic pride lies with the country that they live in. This means that the Druze in Lebanon will be very nationalistic about Lebanon and they will serve in the Lebanese military proudly. Just the same, the Druze in Israel are proud Israelis who serve in the Israeli military.

There are many issues that come with this however. Because the Druze primarily look like Arabs and speak Arabic, they are often mistaken for being Muslims. Keeping in mind that they serve proudly in the IDF, and many make careers in the military, this can become controversial and painful for them because they serve as proud Israelis in the military, but when off duty they are mistaken as Muslims and are treated as Muslims. Being treated like a Muslim does not necessarily suggest that they will be fought against or have to deal with hate-crimes, but it does mean that they are subject to racial profiling and may not be trusted as much in terms of security, which is a slap in the face to somebody who has served defending the country. It is unfortunate that this happens, however there is the bright side. It is astounding that it is part of their religion to be so faithful to the country they reside in. Despite being the same religion and possibly even being related, Druze in the Israeli military will fight against other Druze in an opposing military, like Lebanon or Syria.

On that subject it is interesting to point out and ask the question: What if the borders around them move and they become residents of a different country as a result? An example of this would be in the Golan Heights in northern Israel, where it was previously Syrian land and then became Israeli land. This has stirred conflict. As a result, there are Druze living in the Golan Heights in Israel who are still very patriotic to Syria, even though they are technically residents of Israel now. This can be seen here:

This video gives an idea of how such beliefs can lead to conflicts between Druze. The Druze in the Golan Heights still have their patriotism for Syria because they grew up and were raised on Syrian patriotism, and will therefore not be patriotic of Israel. However, the individual in the video who is patriotic of Israel and accepted the Israeli citizenship is also following their religious belief that they should pay homage to the land they reside in.

On the opposite side of this, Rosenthal describes that in a recent poll, 75 percent of Druze high school students said that they would remain Israeli if Syria were to regain the Golan Heights. (298). Rosenthal also quotes a well-known joke that the Druze dislike, “Why does the Druze flag have an upper end and a lower end? The upper is to wave at the conqueror when he arrives and the lower end is to jab at his butt when he leaves.” (299). Although this joke is clearly not 100 percent accurate as can be seen with the conflicts between Jews in the Golan Heights, it does demonstrate how the overall belief system of the Druze is to be patriotic to the country they reside in and how that can be problematic at times.