FORTUNATELY, i was given the opportunity to write my blog post on the Druze of Israel. It's important to verify that I am refering the Druze community in Israel because after doing a little research and re-reading the chapter I discovered that there are Druze in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. Rosenthal describes the group as so isolated. The entire chapter has an isolating tone to it. There is such a vast amount of i
nformation on the internet about this group of people, I was astounded! Every website drew me closer and closer in to this religious sect. Rosenthal is not sure where the Druze originated from either. Because they were persecuted by Muslims for their extremist views, early Druze fled all over the middle east. "For centuries, they were a maltreated minority in the Arab Middle East. Many Druze Israelis stress that they are a separate ethnoreligious group that became arabized...A lot of us have names that could be Muslim or Christian, but w
e're not Arabs (Rosenthal 307)." They have in fact been identified as a separate religious sect by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Israel, but who exactly are these people? Because the Israeli government officially recognizes them they have their own religious courts which "accord" equalit
y to men and women.
There are very strict religious rules and laws within the Druze community. They have always practiced "strict endogamy (Rosenthal 305)" and no new members are allowed to be admitted. This obviously strikes some concern has far as reproduction goes. For a group that is so patriotic and in touch with Israeli politics, it is a scary thought to think they have no regard for genetic mutations. It has been proven time and time again that there is SUBSTANTIALLY high risk of birth defects when members of the same gene pool (family) pro-create. Although history is my major, I cloesly study biology as well so this outraged me. I cannot go as far to say that the decisions made by the Druze
are foolish because it is what they believe, their faith. How can you tell someone they're wrong about the way they and their ancestors have lived for centuries? Even with scientific proof, if you believe it to be God's will, which way would you decide? It's vital to remember, like many other religious denominations, children are born into this. They grow, they learn, and they imitate. My professor brought up something in class yesterday that many history book fail to recognize. Life keeps happening. Whether there's a war outside your window, thousands starving, religious strife... whatever... life goes on. R
eality doesn't stop because groups don't want to acclimate and become more modern. They will continue to live life as they always have. So, with that said, the past of the Druze in Israel and their current political standing keep them in constant struggle with Arabs. As a matter of fact, they are resented by Arabs b
ecause the Druze are "so trusted and favored by the Jews (Rosenthal 309)." They obviously do not identity as being Arab and because of an incident in 2000 as well as past events, there is a building tension and hatred between the Druze and the overall Arab community. Druze have a strong sense and belief in nationalism, which explains why so many enlist in the Israeli.
I was able to find so many articles about this group I don't even know where to start! Most of them are not dated this year and the ones that are were far too short to write on. I'll be sure to share with you what I learned from several different news sources. The third, and by far most sensational story about the Druze that I read on Haaretz.com was titles Who will appease the Dru
ze? From the get-go, I was already hooked! Appeasing the Druze? Why is there a need? Aren't these beloved citizens? Always
doing exactly what the government wants them to do and staying in their neat little box?
The article WA
S bias and had a almost a cynical/sarcastic tone to it. The author, Lilly Galili, an Israel journalist, writes for Haaretz and other Israeli news sources. I was actually able to find quite a bit of information about her work and personal life. This, to me, made her seem like a reliable source of information . Remember, reliable does not mean un-bias :) Anyway, the article talks about how the Druze are hated over the Muslims within Israel. Isn't that in contrast with what Rosenthal said about this group? I THINK SO! After the events of October 2000 and when more than three thousands Druze went to Abu Snan to honor the girl Druze major general in the IDF, Muslim owned restaurant and shops were empty. This ties back into what I said at the beginning of this post:life happens. Something occurs that makes Muslims undesirable and business plummets! This usually isn't something people care to take a look at after lives have been lo
st. However, it's vital to recognize this pattern. After the rift and tension between the Druze and Arabs only got worse, local shopkee
pers and business owners in Peki'in learned of the order: do not buy from the Druze. Unlike most Palestinians, "Druze did not become refugees and their villages and lands remained intact (Rosenthal 308)." So throughout the Arab-Israeli War (47-49) Druze were caught in the middle. Easily, you can see how the tension began. BUT BACK TO THE ARTICLE:
Many Druze believe that the Israeli police force has a huge plan to completely dispel them from Perki'in. They feel humiliated and embarrased, but how could they not? The author believes that the Druze are being pushed to extremism. I found this to be a very interesting point of view, but also very strategic. Once deemed extremist, groups/organizations lose their credibility and are completely disregarded as being...well... crazy. There is an instance in the article where she is describing how the Druze feel when outsiders come to their community. Would you believe that THEY are the onces seen as outsiders? Within their own communities even! It's as though people just want to forget their existence because they do not desire to modernize. How does this speak to Israel as a soverign nation? More specifically, what does this say about Jews? To allow one extremist group, but try to e
xpell another seems wron
g on so many levels. Are the Haridem accepted because of the influence they have over the Israeli government? Or is it because they are JEWISH? The author of the articles places a lot of emphasis on the city of Peki'in, where many Druze reside. "People [who] come for entirely different purposes...listen to the lectures about the importance of Peki'in to Jewish tradition, but don't hear a word about the Druze...It's as though we don't exist-neither in history or in the present (Galili)." Does having a Jewish nation mean that Jews discriminate against all those who are not Jews? Are those who are ot Jews beneath you? In what way? I feel all the questions concerning the different people who live in Israel all go back to fundamental principles that the country was founded on. However, many of these questions have never truly been answered. A country in constant conflict makes more sense when you grasp the diversity of people who live there and how it connects with the principles that founded the country.
I found a video on youtube about Druze who are being threatened because of their loyalty to the state of Israel. Since when is nationalism the enemy?
To change gears for a second, I would like to call your attention to women's right's within the Druze community. Unlike many ther Middle Eastern countries, women are not oppressed and forgotten. I found THIS video on youtube that talks about Druze women
I found it very intersting that a community that does not wish to add members and is very rigid in their religious ways has such a western perspective on the status of women.
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