- Title: Druze on Golan Heights reject Trump's backing for Israeli sovereignty
- Date: 22nd March 2019
- Summary: MAJDAL SHAMS, GOLAN HEIGHTS (MARCH 22, 2019) (REUTERS) DRUZE MEN TALKING DURING GATHERING IN THE CENTRE OF MAJDAL SHAMS RELIGIOUS MEN SHAKING HANDS VARIOUS OF RESIDENTS OF MAJDAL SHAMS GATHERING IN THE CENTRE OF MAJDAL SHAMS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) 66-YEAR-OLD SHEIKH NOURALDIN ABU SHAHEEN, SAYING: "I can't understand this Trump, that he considers himself a president. Whatever
- Embargoed: 5th April 2019 13:54
- Keywords: Golan Heights Druze Arabs Trump Netanyahu Israel Syria
- Location: MAJDAL SHAMS / KATZRIN / MOSHAV NOV, GOLAN HEIGHTS
- City: MAJDAL SHAMS / KATZRIN / MOSHAV NOV, GOLAN HEIGHTS
- Country: Golan Heights
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA001A73RY2V
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Druze Arabs living on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights reacted with dismay on Friday (March 22) to U.S. President Donald Trump's support for Israeli sovereignty over the mountainous plateau.
The fertile hillsides of the Golan are scattered with villages inhabited by 22,000 Druze, an Arab minority who practice an offshoot of Islam. Many still have relatives on the Syrian side of the fortified frontier.
Majdal Shams overlooks the divide between Israeli-occupied Golan and that part of the plateau controlled by forces loyal to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. Here, older residents remember being part of Syria until 1967, when Israel captured most of the area in the Six Day War, occupying and later annexing it, in 1981. That annexation was not recognized internationally, and although they have lived under Israeli rule for more than half a century and shop fronts bear signs in Arabic and Hebrew, many still regard themselves as Syrian.
Israel has given Druze residents the option of citizenship, but most rejected it.
In October last year hundreds demonstrated against the holding of Israeli municipal elections on the Golan, blockading the polling station in Majdal Shams and waving Syrian and Druze flags.
The two armies are divided by an "Area of Separation" - often called a demilitarized zone - into which their military forces are not permitted under a 1974 ceasefire arrangement.
Trump's announcement on Thursday (March 21) came as many Israelis were in festive costumes celebrating the Jewish holiday of Purim, which by tradition commemorates the survival of Jews who had been marked for death while living under Persian rule in antiquity.
Israel regards the Golan as a strategic asset, because its hills overlook towns in northern Israel. Around 20,000 Jewish settlers live in the Golan itself, many working in farming, leisure and tourism.
Many Israeli commentators saw Trump's declaration as a timely boost for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of Israeli elections scheduled for April 9, in which he has been dogged by corruption allegations.
But some Israelis living in and around the Golan said it would change little on the ground.
(Production: Avi Ohayon, Ismail Khadder, Roleen Tafakji) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None