Syria: The Druze’s defining moment

The Druze in the Middle East are at one of their most dangerous moments in modern history. For a thousand years, the Druze have always insisted on being an active partner in any regime that wants to control their areas. Now, they feel they are being asked to surrender their rights.

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In the past, the Druze fought bravely against such trends. Living by the motto “live free or die,” they paid a heavy price for this culture, which included the devastation of their villages and a heavy loss of life. They fought against the Ottoman Empire, Ibrahim Pasha’s Egyptian army, and the French colonial power.

The center of these events is now in Syria. The Druze demanded to be part of the new government. The new Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa government has so far insisted on not including any minority representatives, and it has all Sunni and Hay’at Tahrir al–Sham (HTS) figures. The Druze are also not willing to accept an Islamist government that will dictate their way of life.

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Druze have good reason to distrust the new government in Syria. In 2015, Jabhat al-Nusra forces massacred more than 20 Druze in Qalb Lawzeh, one of the Druze villages in Idlib province. Nusra stated that the incident was an “unjustified mistake.” The Druze in Syria are also demanding the return of Druze land and villages in Idlib after they were confiscated by HTS and settled by Sunni refugees. 

The Druze are closely watching what the al-Sharaa regime is doing in the Alawite and Kurdish areas. They have great concerns because of the way the new government has been handling these communities. They feel that they cannot hand over their weapons to a regime that relies solely on Sunni jihadists. The regime does not have a single minority leading figure.

If the regime continues to pressure the Druze to hand over their weapons and let its people control them, the Druze may enter survival mode. The battles that will begin will create a terrible bloodbath. It is better for the new regime to talk to the Druze and find a way to build trust with them rather than risk a civil war.

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Finally, the involvement of the Lebanese Druze leader, Walid Jumblatt, in the Druze issue in Syria may achieve what his sponsors in Qatar and Damascus want, which is to divide and conquer the Druze. However, it will also depend on how far Israel is going to go to protect the Druze in Syria. The Jumblatt family is about to end its historic role in the leadership of the Lebanon Druze since Walid has no Druze heirs. This is the family’s siren song.