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Druze: Druze Community
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[O]f these struggles, the Druze community was divided in the contest for Mandatory Palestine. Some were politically active in the Arab national movement and others joined the armed struggle, but the majority remained passive. Until 1948 most of the Druze villages were open to the Arab nationalist movement. However, the leaders of local Arab militias related to the Druze with scorn, acting with violence and extortion within their villages. Other Druze were kidnapped and murdered by Arab nationalists, sowing threats and fear. At a time when many Druze sought a solution to their plight, the Jewish leadership in the country, who realized what was occurring, capitalized on the anger in the Druze villages and began to develop relations with the Druze, primarily in Ussifiya, Daliat al-Carmel, and Shfaram.
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![[Druze people (Syria)]](http://retrieverimages.lycos.com/images/d/r/u/druze/i/002.gif)
The Druze flag is combined from 5 colors which represent the 5 prophets of the Druze secret religion. The Druze religion is based principally on reincarnation. The exact rules and orders, all the prayers and even books are well hidden by this community even to its own members and only when they are of a certain age are they allowed in. It all started a few centuries ago in Iran where they were persecuted by the Muslims. Their temples back there were burnt and they fled to the Middle East. The Druze people never seek their own country but are loyal to the country which holds their lands. You can find them in Israel, Lebanon and Syria and they are said to be the best warriors (since they are not afraid to die).
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The forced integration of the Jabal Druze left an ambiguous legacy. The Druze community suffered a dramatic decline in its economic and political position in Syria as a result of its opposition to Shishakli. Although Syria's military dictator succeeded in breaking the back of traditional Druze particularism, his harsh measures exacerbated Druze feelings that they were a persecuted minority and treated unfairly by the state. A new form of Druze communal consciousness took root among Druze civilian politicians and, most importantly, among Druze military officers as a result of their early experience with the policies of the independent Syrian state. The military revolt that ended Shishakli’s rule in February 1954 was due in no small part to the concerted action of disgruntled Druze officers. The ethnopolitics, which has characterized elite competition in modern Syrian politics and complicated the ongoing process of national integration, began to take shape well before the emergence of Alawite officers on the national stage in 1963.
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Druze places of worship are usually very modest and the Ajawīd lead very modest lifestyles. Prayer is usually conducted discreetly, among family and friends. The heart is considered to be the place that needs to be clean first to pray and be close to God. Druze practice praying the same way other Muslim sects do. There is little official hierarchy in the religious community except for the Shaykh al-ˤAql, whose role is more political and social than religious. A religious figure is admired for his wisdom and lifestyle.
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Support for the spread of the Seven Noahide Commandments by the Druze leaders reflects the biblical narrative itself. The Druze community reveres the non-Jewish father-in-law of Moses, Jethro (Bible), whom Muslims call Shuˤayb. According to the biblical narrative, Jethro joined and assisted the Jewish people in the desert during the Exodus, accepted monotheism, but ultimately rejoined his own people. The tomb of Jethro near Tiberias is the most important religious site for the Druze community.[22] It has been claimed that the Druze are actually descendents of Jethro.
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President Quwwatli retracted his inflammatory statement about the Druzes being a "dangerous minority," but the bitter recriminations and distrust which marked the earliest relations between the independent Syrian government and the Druze authorities only grew worse with time. Nothing was more symbolic of the differences dividing the two parties than Sultan Pasha's refusal to participate in the great Evacuation Day celebrations of April 17, 1946, the day when the Syrian people were to celebrate their independence and unity. Though Quwwatli offered the Druze leader a house in Damascus and 20,000 lira to attend the parade, Sultan Pasha refused to take part in the festivities unless President Quwwatli agreed to recognize him as the most prominent Syrian nationalist in gratitude for the leading role the Druze community had played in the Great Syrian Revolt of 1925-1927, and to attend a separate independence parade to be held in the Jabal Druze.
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