"The eyes and hearts of the Israeli Druze community are turned toward the suffering in Druze villages around Damascus,” the spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel, Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, said at the Druze military ceremony in Usfiya on Wednesday.
Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif called on Israel to act, stating, “I urge the State of Israel, the international community, and the Jewish people to act immediately to prevent a massacre. Israel must not stand idly by while this is happening in Syria. The responsibility to act lies with the nation’s leaders: you must act. The time for action is now.”
The military cemetery in Usfiya is the first of its kind established in a Druze town and currently commemorates 435 fallen Druze soldiers from the community, including 13 who died in the Swords of Iron War. Another 20 Circassians were also memorialized there.
For many years, fallen Druze soldiers and security personnel have also been buried in other Druze towns with military cemeteries. The ceremony in Usfiya differs slightly from those held in Jewish military cemeteries: Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif reads verses from Surah Al-Fatiha, the opening chapter of the Quran, which is sacred to the Druze as well.
“I want the country’s leaders and representatives to look into the eyes of the bereaved families gathered here around the graves on this mountain, which symbolizes the Druze-Jewish bond, and ask themselves, have you done enough for the sons and grandsons of the hundreds of fallen from the Druze community?” Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif declared in his speech.
Official representatives at the ceremony
Two former prime ministers, Ehud Olmert and Naftali Bennett, attended the ceremony, as well as Education Minister Yoav Kisch, who represented the government. Former Minister Ayoub Kara was also present. Representing the Israel Police was Deputy Border Police Commissioner Brig. Gen. Ami Nidam, and the IDF was represented by Maj.-Gen. Ghassan Alian, head of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).
Prior to the ceremony, Kisch held a meeting with Sheikh Tarif, former minister Kara, and other Druze dignitaries to assure them that the IDF would not remain passive in the face of attacks on the Druze community in Syria.
Later on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz announced in a joint statement that the IDF struck a gathering of an extremist group in Syria that was reportedly preparing to continue attacks against the Druze population in the town of As-Suweida in Syria’s Damascus Governorate.
"Israel will not allow harm to come to the Druze community in Syria, out of a deep commitment to our Druze brothers in Israel, who are tied by family and historical bonds to their Druze brothers in Syria," the statement read.
Kisch also addressed the situation of the Druze in Syria in his opening remarks at the ceremony, saying, “The State of Israel does not forget its moral and ethical duty to stand by the Druze there, our blood brothers, and will do everything in its power to ensure their safety and well-being.”
Criticism of the state
In addition to concern for hostages, the IDF, and security forces, speakers also raised criticism over issues such as the Nation-State Law and the Kaminitz Law.
“We must repeal the Kaminitz Law,” said Rafiq Sharuf, who stood beside his uncle’s grave at the cemetery. “It cannot be that a Druze soldier gets a draft order and also receives an order to demolish his home at the same time.”
This came just as dozens of members of Israel's Druze community protested at the Kafr Yasif junction in the Western Galilee, near Acre, in response to the sectarian clashes that took place over the past 24 hours in the city of Jaramana, near Damascus, Syria. During the protest, tires were set on fire and major traffic routes, including access to military cemeteries in the area, were blocked, causing heavy traffic congestion.
More than a dozen people were killed in the predominantly Druze town near the Syrian capital on Tuesday in clashes sparked by a purported recording of a Druze man cursing the Prophet Mohammad, which angered Sunni gunmen, rescuers and security sources said.
Half of those killed were members of the Druze community, and the rest were Syrian security personnel who were trying to break up the violence.
