Syrian Druze plan first pilgrimage to Nabi Shuaib Tomb in Israel's Galilee
by Naharnet Newsdesk 13 March 2025, 13:54
A delegation of Syrian Druze clerics is planning to visit a pilgrimage site in Israel on Friday for the first time since Israel's creation in 1948, a source close to the group said.
"A delegation of dozens of Druze clerics will visit Israel on Friday," the source said, adding that it follows an invitation from the Druze community in Israel.
"The delegation is waiting for the green light" from Israeli authorities, he told AFP, noting the clerics planned to cross the land border from Syria.
The pilgrimage would be to the Tomb of Nabi Shuaib in the Galilee, the source said, adding the delegation would meet the spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel, Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif.
The source said however that the visit had been met with "strong opposition" from other members of Syria's Druze community.
The Druze, who practice an esoteric monotheistic faith, are divided between Syria, Israel, Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
They account for about three percent of Syria's population and are heavily concentrated in the southern province of Sweida.
Following the ouster of longtime Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December, Israel sent troops into the demilitarized buffer zone of the Golan in southwest Syria.
Israel's Druze community has also sent food aid to their Syria counterparts twice through the land border, the same source told AFP, adding the latest delivery arrived Wednesday.
In early March, following a deadly clash between government-linked forces and Druze fighters in the suburbs of Damascus, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened military action in Syria.
A defense ministry statement quoted Katz as saying his country would not allow Syria's new rulers "to harm the Druze".
Druze leaders immediately rejected Katz's warning and declared their loyalty to a united Syria.
Having largely remained on the sidelines of Syria's 13-year civil war, Druze forces focused on defending their territory from attacks and largely avoided conscription into the Syrian armed forces.
Druze representatives are currently in negotiations with Syria's new leaders for a deal that would see the integration of their armed groups in the country's security forces.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Manar
an hour ago
- Al Manar
Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and UK Sanction Israeli Extremist Ministers Smotrich & Ben Gvir
Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on the two Israeli extremist ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, stressing, in a joint statement, that two Zionist politicians have incited violence against the Palestinians in the West Bank. Settler violence is incited by extremist rhetoric which calls for Palestinians to be driven from their homes, encourages violence and human rights abuses and fundamentally rejects the two-state solution. Settler violence has led to the deaths of Palestinian civilians and the displacement of whole communities, the statement read. We are steadfastly committed to the two-state solution which is the only way to guarantee security and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians and ensure long term stability in the region, but it is imperiled by extremist settler violence and settlement expansion, the statement added. 'Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights. Extremist rhetoric advocating the forced displacement of Palestinians and the creation of new Israeli settlements is appalling and dangerous. These actions are not acceptable. We have engaged the Israeli Government on this issue extensively, yet violent perpetrators continue to act with encouragement and impunity. This is why we have taken this action now – to hold those responsible to account. The Israeli Government must uphold its obligations under international law and we call on it to take meaningful action to end extremist, violent and expansionist rhetoric.' 'Today's measures focus on the West Bank, but of course this cannot be seen in isolation from the catastrophe in Gaza. We continue to be appalled by the immense suffering of civilians, including the denial of essential aid. There must be no unlawful transfer of Palestinians from Gaza or within the West Bank, nor any reduction in the territory of the Gaza Strip.' The Israeli occupation army intensified its military offensive in occupied Palestine's West Bank early Tuesday, launching a large-scale raid on the Old City of Nablus.
LBCI
2 hours ago
- LBCI
Zelensky urges 'concrete' US, European response to Russian attacks
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday called on the United States and Europe to respond to a fresh bout of Russian attacks of more than 300 drones and seven missiles. "It is vital that the response to this and other similar Russian attacks is not silence from the world but concrete action. Action from America, which has the power to force Russia into peace. Action from Europe, which has no alternative but to be strong," Zelensky wrote in a post on social media, adding that two of the missiles were North Korean-made. AFP
MTV Lebanon
2 hours ago
- MTV Lebanon
Greta Thunberg deported from Israel after seizure of Gaza-bound aid ship
Activist Greta Thunberg was deported from Israel Tuesday, the country's Foreign Ministry said, a day after the Gaza-bound ship she was on was seized by the Israeli military. In a post on X, the Foreign Ministry shared a photo of Thunberg on a plane, saying she had departed Israel and was headed to France before continuing on to Sweden. Adalah, a legal rights group in Israel representing Thunberg and the other activists, said Thunberg, two other activists and a journalist had agreed to be deported and leave Israel. Other activists refused deportation, were being held in detention and their case was set to be heard by Israeli authorities. Thunberg was one of 12 passengers on board the Madleen, a boat carrying aid destined for people in war-torn Gaza. Israeli naval forces seized the boat early Monday about 200 kilometres (125 miles) off of Gaza's coast, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the group that organised the journey. The boat, accompanied by Israel's navy, arrived in the Israeli port of Ashdod Monday evening, according to Israel's Foreign Ministry. The activists said they were protesting the ongoing war and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Israel says such ships violate its naval blockade of Gaza. Israel's Foreign Ministry portrayed the voyage as a public relations stunt, saying on social media that 'the 'selfie yacht' of the 'celebrities' is safely making its way to the shores of Israel". Video released Monday by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition showed the activists with their hands up as Israeli forces boarded the vessel, with one of them saying nobody was injured. Turkey condemned the Israeli interception as a "heinous attack" and Iran denounced it as "a form of piracy" in international waters. In May, another Freedom Flotilla ship, the Conscience, was damaged in international waters off Malta as it headed to Gaza, with the activists saying they suspected an Israeli drone attack. A 2010 Israeli commando raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which was part of a similar attempt to breach the naval blockade, left 10 civilians dead. Katz on Sunday said the blockade, in place for years before the Israel-Hamas war, was needed to prevent Palestinian militants from importing weapons.
