Dozens of Syrian Druze make a rare visit to Israeli-controlled Golan Heights

MAJDAL SHAMS, Golan Heights (AP) — Dozens of clerics and others from Syria’s minority Druze community crossed into the Israeli-controlled side of the Golan Heights Friday for the first time in decades.

The nearly 100 Syrian Druze crossed the heavily-fortified border area in three buses, escorted by members of the Israeli military. They are expected to visit a religious shrine on the Israeli side of the border.

The rare visit comes three months after the end of a five-decade grip on power by the Assad family in Syria. Israel has said it is ready to protect the Druze of Syria if they come under attack by the country’s new rulers.

Many Druze have rejected Israel’s overtures, and critics accuse Israel of trying to weaken and divide Syria following the overthrow of President Bashar Assad.

Nevertheless, a group of Druze from the Israeli-controlled Golan heights welcomed the Syrian Druze at the crossing point who waved the multi-colored flag of the religious minority, chanting in Arabic “It is written on our doors, welcome to our beloved ones.”

Historic crossing

“This is a historic visit between families. We have families inside (Syria), and they are the same when they come. They have families here,” said Majdal Shams, resident Jawlan Abu Zed. “They are religious men who are coming to visit the holy sites, just like our Sunni brothers who go to visit Mecca, just like our Christian brothers who go to visit the Vatican.”

The Druze is one of the Middle East's most insular religious sect, beginning as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. Most Druze religious practices are shrouded in secrecy, with outsiders not allowed to convert.

Over half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel and the Golan Heights, a rocky plateau seized from Syria by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel’s 1981 annexation of the area is recognized only by the United States, with the rest of the world considering it occupied Syrian territory.

Crossing from Syria into Israeli-controlled territory was restricted in the past. The religious leadership of the Druze sect in Lebanon have urged clerics not to visit Israel, saying those who do it will be violating its orders.

Although Israeli citizenship is open for the Druze of the Golan Heights, most have opted not to take it, though they have residency rights.

Some families are split apart by what is known as the Alpha Line, the start of a buffer zone that separates the Israeli-controlled area of the Golan Heights from Syria. They navigate their historically Syrian identity while living under Israeli rule. On the Syrian side of the border, the Druze generally adopted Arab nationalism, including support for the Palestinian cause.

Recent violence in Syria

The rare visit comes days after clashes between fighters loyal to Assad and forces of the country’s new Islamist rulers in Syria that sparked the worst violence Syria has seen since December, when insurgents led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, overthrew Assad.

The clashes led to wave of revenge attacks in Syria’s coastal region by Sunni gunmen against members of the minority Alawite sect to which the Assad family belongs.

A war monitor said nearly 1,500 civilians, mostly Alawites, were killed within three days of clashes and shootings. The Associated Press could not independently confirm the figures.

Like many of Syria’s ethnic and religious minorities, the Druze are concerned about how the new transitional government will treat them, although authorities have promised to include them in the political process. Syria’s interim president, Ahamd al-Sharaa, is the leader of HTS, which was affiliated with al-Qaida’s branch in Syria.

The Druze delegation from Syria is scheduled to meet with the religious leader of the sect in Israel, Mowafaq Tarif, to discuss the conditions for the Druze of Syria.

On Sunday, Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel will allow Druze from Syria to enter the country for work although it is not clear when it will start.

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Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue contributed to the report from Beirut.