The Druzes community in the Golan Heights

The Druze religion is a schism of Ismaili Shia Islam. It was born in Egypt during the reign of the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim, recognized as “mad” for some and “genius” for others. During an official ceremony in 996, he established himself as the last imam and the incarnation of God on earth. It was during this period that the split between Druze and Ismailis occurred.

Three Ismaili characters are the instigators of this new Druze religion, Muhammad bin Ismail Nashtakin ad-Darazi, will give him his name, but later he will be removed from the group whose ideas are incompatible with the new doctrine.

The Druze doctrine is rooted in a desire to synthesize the three monotheisms with ideas from Manichaeism, ancient Egypt, India and the Greek world.

The Druze designate themselves as unitary. This term is doubly justified because the Druze affirm the strict oneness of God and because they aspire to unite with him.

Al-Hakim wants to unite by force the Sunni and Shiite cults to create a new Islam, largely inspired by Ismaili Shiism with only pilgrimage place in Cairo. The vast Sunni majority living in Egypt strongly contests this ideology. In 1020, Al-Hakim disappeared during one of his usual walks, near Cairo where he found peace and serenity. His body was never found, only his clothes tainted with blood.

The death of Fatimid Al-Hakim led to a wave of persecution against the Druze. Their doctrine is eradicated from Egypt. Followers of this new religion fled and took refuge in southern Syria, Lebanon and the Galilee, far from Cairo and the Fatimid Empire. A movement of proselytizing is created in these regions and part of the local Shiite population converts to this unitary Druze religion which is then enriched by contributions of Kurdish, Arab origin and becomes a community of multiple ethnic origin.

The divine hierarchy has five ministers considered by five colors. At the top, there is Divine Intelligence, Soul, Word, Previous and Next.

These are the five colors found in the Druze flag (green, red, yellow, blue and white).

The initiates are distinguished by their moral quality, their reputation and their spiritual elevation. They renounce earthly pleasure and their long mystical journey leads them towards the purification of the soul to the level of elevation which will unite them to God and the return of the Messiah Al-Hakim at the end of time.

Reincarnation is one of the core beliefs of the Druze community. After death, the deceased’s soul immediately enters a Druze newborn.

This religion is strongly influenced by Sufism which advocates the removal of material goods to stay closer to God. Jewish and Christian religions are better accepted in Druze writings than Islam. One of the Druze doctrines is Greek philosophy.

The Druze do not follow Islamic rules such as the pilgrimage to Mecca. They do not read the Koran but the books of wisdom, they do not pray in mosques but in prayer houses. There is no rite or prayer on Friday. On Thursday evenings the Druze wishing to get closer to religion meet to listen to the conference on the books of wisdom followed by recitation of the texts of Sufi poetry. The session leader then gives a signal and only the initiated can stay and participate in the real religious session.

For a long time, the disclosure of the Druze doctrine was worth its author’s death.

The only Muslim holiday celebrated by the Druze is Id of Al-Adha which celebrates the sacrifice of Abraham which will be celebrated on the same day by other Muslims. They do not practice fasting during the month of Ramadan but during the ten days before the Id of Al-Adha. The party lasts four days. The day of ‘Id symbolizes the day of the last judgment which represents the deliverance for the druze.

Proselytism is prohibited among the Druze. We are born Druze, we cannot become one. Marriages take place within the community only. A password allows members to recognize themselves. Polygamy is not tolerated and marital fidelity is one of the rules. The woman is equal to the man and can inherit the family patrimony if the parents establish a will, if this does not exist the brother will be the heir and if there is no male in the family the cousins will inherit.

There are approximately one million druzes living in the world, 143,000 Druze in Israel, including 20,000 on the Golan Heights. Following the six-day war the Golan Heights, until then Syrian, was taken by the Israelis, the Druze population became administered by the Israeli government. Some Druze accepted Israeli citizenship while others remained loyal to the Assad regime. Trade, especially that of apples which is an important production of the region passes in Syria. Some young Druze people go to Damascus to study in Syria, where education is free for them.

Young druze girls will be promised in marriage to young boys from Syria, the border crossing will then be open the time of their passage, thanks to the thousand efforts of the Red Cross, in order to join their future husband and will never be able to return to the despair of the family and the bride. A very beautiful film was made on this subject its title “The Syrian fiancée”.

Following the war in Syria, families are torn between pro and anti-Assad, people of the past united against the Israeli occupation no longer speak from house to house, and the “hill of screams” , where families once came to exchange news via megaphones on either side of the barbed wire border between Syria and Israel, is now deserted. The means of communication have improved significantly in recent years.

The height of the Golan Heights is between 500 and 1,000 meters above sea level, its length is 55 km long, a highly strategic crossroads by location, and geography. It overlooks the kinnereth lake with the city of Tiberias, the upper Galilee and the Syrian Damascus plain. Its main source of water flowing into the kinnereth Lake is the Jordan river. It is a perfect point of observation. It has become a military field filled with antennae and sophisticated military equipment.

 

Golan height druze leaders meeting with their syrian compatriotes

The samaritan (Ha Shomronim)

The origin of the name Samaria (Shomron in Hebrew) is associated with a certain Shemer, to whom Omri, king of Israel (886-875 BC) bought a hill, which he fortified to build a city on it. 

He gave the city the name of Samaria. It became the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel. Being a lush and very wealthy city, Damascus became its rival.

The name of Samaria was later dedicated to the entire center of the kingdom of Israel, and more particularly, the mountainous region which surrounded it.

The religion of the Samaritans ( Shomronim in Hebrew ) is based on the first five books of the Bible. Therefore, their only prophets are Moses and Joshua. Until today, the Samaritans are faithful to the Law of Moses. They practice circumcision on the eighth day of the birth of a baby boy and observe Shabbat scrupulously. They celebrate the pilgrimage festivals on Mount Garizim (which means ‘sacrifice’ in ancient Hebrew), where they sacrifice the Passover lambs.

The origin of the conflict between the Jews and the Samaritans dates back to 722 BCE (before the common era) Following the conquest of the northern kingdom by the Assyrians and the inevitable arrival of foreign settlers, who would mix with the jewish local population. This combination of different people would be born as the Samaritan people. To their traditional gods they will add the worship of YHWH (Yahweh = G-d). The Samaritans are since then considered heretics by the other Jews.

Over the course of history, relations between Jews and Samaritans would gradually deteriorate. The construction of a Temple in 323 BC on Mount Garizim, recognized by the Samaritans as the site of the sacrifice of Isaac would be the beginning of the conflict with Jerusalem.

The final break between Jews and Samaritans occurred in 107 BC .Jean Hyrcan, king of Jerusalem, destroyed the city of Sichem and the Temple of Garizim.

In the Christ era, the Jews regarded the Samaritans as strangers. They did not socialize. The Jews considered the objects, animals or crops that crossed Samaria, were unsuitable for worship.

According to the New Testament, some Samaritans rally to Jesus, who gave them as an example in the Acts of the Apostles, the Church opens without discrimination to the Samaritans and John the Baptist would have exerted an influence in Samaria.

In recent history, they have even managed to get in the good graces of Christians, eager to see in them the descendants of the “Good Samaritan”.

In 1907, a family of Samaritans from Nablus settled in Jaffa, on the Mediterranean coast, still in Palestine. In 1955, a few years after the creation of the State of Israel, other members of the community, eager to find work, obtained the right to settle in Holon and south of Tel Aviv.

One of the main rules of the samaritan is the prohibition of marriages outside the “family”. This consanguinity, preserved over the centuries, has caused a degeneration of the population.

Following the 1st intifada in 1987, to avoid any further conflict, the Samaritans left the city of Nablus. They settled at the foot of Mount Garizim. In 1990, they obtained an Israeli identity card, on which they are defined as “Samaritan”. This card allows them to freely travel the West Bank and Israel. This is an undeniable advantage compared to the local Palestinians, especially during periods of tension.

There are 820 Samaritans in 2019 living in Nablus or Holon.

 

 

Samaritans celebrating pessah