LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Druze: Israeli Druze
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The average Druze was never asked whether he or she supported this move. No plebiscite was conducted among the villagers to weigh their attitude. The co-opted Israeli Druze leadership believed that since many Druze had already served voluntarily in the IDF following the declaration of the State of Israel, the new measure would be welcomed by most Druze. Thus, beginning in May 1956, tens of Druze began to be conscripted into military service, in two groups each year, while those who avoided or refused service were very few in number. (The measure applied only to young men; Druze women are totally exempt from military service.)
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The Druze are mostly mountain dwellers, whereas the largest Israeli communities can be found in Upper Galilee and in the Golan. There are about 800,000 Druze in Syria, 500,000 in Lebanon, and 120,000 in Israel, which totals about 1.4 million in the entire Middle East. Mr. Atashi stressed the fact that the Druze people have no separationist aspirations, as each community is very loyal to its respective country.
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In the small, predominantly Druze town of Pkiin, north of Haifa, about 35 Hezbollah rockets have crashed to earth since the conflict began nearly two weeks ago, wounding at least two residents. One of the weapons plummeted through a porch railing at the home of Amar Abdullah, 50, who served three years in the Israeli army.
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In Lebanon, Syria, and the State of Israel, the Druze have official recognition as a separate religious community with its own religious court system. They serve in the army and vote in elections. Hovever, the Druze living in the Golan Heights consider themselves Syrian and refuse to collaborate with the Israeli state.
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The Druze community in Israel today numbers around 100,000 individuals, living in 16 villages and towns in the northern Galilee and Carmel regions. Until the State of Israel was founded in 1948, the Druze lived from agriculture and tightly preserved their religious and cultural traditions, coming into very little contact with other cultures. Over the past 50 years, the state has established an education system for the Druze that is accessible to all Druze children. Gradually, the leaders of the community have called for more contact and integration with the general Israeli population, which has led to new opportunities for employment, education and urban development among the Druze.
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At the same time, the Israeli government, in coordination with the same Druze chiefs, took a number of significant steps to diffuse the opposition. The Druze had never achieved recognition as an independent religious community under the Ottoman or English governments. However, at the end of 1956 and the beginning of 1957, the government of Israel recognized the Druze as an independent religious community according to law.
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Israeli Druze