Who are the Druze, the secretive Syrian Muslim sect dragged into conflict amid regime change and Israeli attacks?
BEIRUT, May 1 — Syria's small Druze community largely kept out of the country's long civil war but since president Bashar al-Assad's ouster in December it has found itself confronting the new Islamist-led government amid military intervention by Israel.
Here is a profile of the religious minority which has been caught up in deadly clashes with armed groups linked to the government in recent days.
Secretive minority
The Druze community accounted for around three percent of Syria's pre-war population of 23 million, or around 700,000 people.
They are concentrated in the southern province of Sweida with smaller pockets around Damascus.
Druze are monotheistic and considered Muslim, but the sect is otherwise highly secretive and does not accept converts.
They are viewed with suspicion by Sunni Islamist groups, who count among the ranks of Syria's new government whose roots are in the Al-Qaeda jihadist network.
In Israel and the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, there are around 150,000 Druze.
Most of those in Israel hold Israeli citizenship and serve in the military.
By contrast, most of the roughly 23,000 who live in the annexed Golan do not hold Israeli citizenship and still identify as Syrians.
Some 200,000 Druze live in Lebanon.
Members of Syria's Druze community wave flags and chant slogans during the funeral of seven people killed during overnight clashes with Syrian security forces, in Damascus, on April 30, 2025. — AFP pic
Civil war
Syria's Druze largely stayed on the sidelines of the civil war which erupted in 2011 after Assad brutally repressed anti-government protests.
Druze forces focused on defending their heartland from attacks and largely avoided conscription into the Syrian armed forces.
Sweida province saw more than a year of anti-government protests before Assad's ouster.
The Druze formed their own armed groups during the war. Some have begun negotiations with Damascus on integration into the new national army, following similar moves by armed factions elsewhere.
Rayan Maarouf, chief editor of local news outlet Suwayda24, said some 400 Druze fighters had joined the defence ministry's forces and around 500 others had joined the General Security agency.
Druze women await the arrival of visitng Druze dignitaries fom Syria in a bus through a border barrier guarded by Israeli soldiers, near the village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, on April 25, 2025. — AFP pic
Post-Assad
Assad hails from Syria's Alawite community and as president sought to present himself as protector of all minority groups against the Islamist-led rebels.
The new government has repeatedly sought to reassure minorities that they will be protected.
But last month saw sectarian massacres in the Alawite heartland on the Mediterranean coast and this week several dozen people, including Druze fighters, have been killed in sectarian clashes near Damascus.
Since Assad's ouster, Israel has increased its overtures to the Druze, voicing support for the minority and mistrust of Syria's new leaders, whose forces it considers jihadists.
The Israeli government has said it has sent thousands of humanitarian aid packages to Syria's Druze community in recent months.
Two delegations of Druze clerics have made pilgrimages to a holy site in Israel despite the continuing state of war between the two countries half a century after a 1974 armistice.
In March, Israel warned Syria's new authorities not to harm the Druze, after clashes in a Damascus suburb.
Druze leaders rejected the warning and declared their loyalty to a united Syria.
On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military 'carried out a warning action and struck the organisation of an extremist group preparing to attack the Druze population' near Damascus.
'A stern message was conveyed to the Syrian regime -- Israel expects them to act to prevent harm to the Druze community,' the statement from the Israeli premier's office added.
Armed forces chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir ordered the military to prepare to strike Syrian government targets if the Druze community faces more violence. — AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
40 minutes ago
- The Star
South Korean military suspends loudspeaker broadcasts against North Korea in border area
FILE PHOTO. South Korean soldiers dismantle loudspeakers that were set up for propaganda broadcasts near the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas in Paju on May 1, 2018. - Photo: AFP file SEOUL: (Bernama-Yonhap) South Korea's military on Wednesday (June 11) suspended its loudspeaker broadcasts along the border against North Korea amid prospects that the new government will seek to mend strained ties with Pyongyang, Yonhap News Agency reported. The halt came a year after the military had resumed such propaganda broadcasts in June last year in response to North Korea's repeated launches of trash-carrying balloons across the border. "The decision was made as part of efforts to carry out the promise of restoring inter-Korean trust and peace on the Korean Peninsula," a Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) official said. President Lee Jae-myung, who took office last week, has vowed to suspend anti-Pyongyang leaflet campaigns and loudspeaker broadcasts against North Korea as he seeks to improve frayed inter-Korean relations. - Bernama-Yonhap
New Straits Times
an hour ago
- New Straits Times
Mexico's flag becomes lightning rod in Los Angeles protests
THE Mexican flag has become a flashpoint during protests in Los Angeles this week, waved by demonstrators proud of their heritage but cast by US President Donald Trump's administration as heralding a "foreign invasion." For five days now protesters have held small and largely peaceful rallies against immigration raids in the sprawling city, as the rest of Los Angeles carried on largely as normal with red carpet premieres, awards shows, traffic and tourists. But there have been some eyecatching – albeit isolated and sporadic – incidents of violence that produced dramatic images of protesters flying Mexican flags during clashes with law enforcement under smoke-filled skies. It is those images that Trump and officials in his administration have seized on to help justify his extraordinary step of deploying thousands of US troops to the California city over the strident objection of local officials. "The only flag that will wave triumphant over the streets of Los Angeles is the American flag – so help me God," the president told cheering soldiers Tuesday at Fort Bragg army base in North Carolina. Republicans lined up behind Trump to frame the protests as an invasion, with the Mexican flag as its symbol and the demonstrators as insurrectionists. "Look at all the foreign flags. Los Angeles is occupied territory," top White House migration advisor Stephen Miller posted on X over footage of the demonstrations. It is not illegal to fly foreign flags in the United States under the US Constitution's First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech. But the Mexican flag has at times been a lightning rod in Los Angeles, the unofficial capital of the Mexican diaspora in the United States. In 1994 the green, white and red banner was also waved by protesters as a sign of solidarity against legislation seeking to bar undocumented migrants from services including education and health care. Then as now, it was seen by some as a symbol of anti-American defiance, becoming so polarising that it helped to get the legislation passed, argues Mike Madrid, a Republican strategist who studies Latino voting trends. "So it is a little bit odd to see the same strategy being used when it misfired so badly last time," Madrid, who authored the recent book "The Latino Century", told AFP. Protesters who spoke to US media this week, including those who said they were American citizens, said they were waving the flag to show pride in their heritage and solidarity with those facing deportation. Diana Mena, a 28-year-old US citizen with Mexican parents, said she had family in the US military. "As much as I understand that we had a privilege to come here, I feel like it's very important to know where we came from," she told AFP on Tuesday. "I benefit from being in a place that has been able to provide me an opportunity to be able to advance, but that doesn't mean I'll ever forget my roots and my culture." The strategist Madrid, who himself is of Mexican heritage, argues the ability for people to be proud of both cultures presents a paradox for Trump, after the Latino community's rightward shift helped propel him to victory in 2024. That shift comes as more Latinos are born in the country rather than arriving as immigrants, transforming them into working-class voters rather than an ethnic minority, he said. "The idea that we will respond... to an ethnic appeal over an economic or pocketbook appeal, is very very misguided, it's really a relic of the 1990s," he told AFP. Many Latinos support Trump's crackdown on undocumented immigrants and illegal migration to the United States. But the Latino vote is never cohesive "unless the community perceives itself to be under attack... It's very clear who the president is attacking here," Madrid said. "The great irony is they're all moving towards him... That speaks to the dysfunction of the shrinking white Republican non-college-educated voter. Nativism animates the Republican Party's base." A police officer at the US Capitol in Washington told CBS News it made no sense for Republicans to be outraged over Mexican flags at the LA protests. He invoked the image of Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021 carrying the banner of the rebel Southern states who fought the United States during the Civil War from 1861 to 1865. "They don't remember the Confederate flags on January 6?"
Borneo Post
an hour ago
- Borneo Post
‘Cakap tak serupa bikin': SUPP Stakan chief says DAP's 30 pct Petronas stake proposal is political hypocrisy
Sim describes the proposal as a 'recycled promise in new packaging', branding it a political manoeuvre disguised as a policy proposal. KUCHING (June 11): Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) Stakan branch chairman, Dato Sim Kiang Chiok, has dismissed Sarawak Democratic Action Party's (DAP) recent proposal for Sarawak to acquire 30 per cent equity in Petronas as a political gimmick aimed at shoring up its support base in the state. In a statement today, he described the proposal as a 'recycled promise in new packaging', branding it a political manoeuvre disguised as a policy proposal. 'DAP's proposal for 30 per cent Petronas equity is just a new version of the same old tactic. In their first term in federal power, they promised 20 per cent oil royalty, 50 per cent tax return to Sarawak, and UEC (Unified Examination Certificate) recognition. 'None of it happened. Even now, in their second term in government, there's no progress,' he said. Sim urged Sarawakians to see through what he called 'empty promises and false premises' meant to sustain DAP's political relevance, rather than bring real change. He also criticised Sarawak DAP's elected representatives, accusing them of underperforming while drawing salaries from both Parliament and the State Legislative Assembly (DUN). 'The people of Sarawak have been misled before. This 30 per cent equity narrative is no different. It is simply a ploy to protect DAP's vote bank, not a genuine commitment to Sarawak's rights. 'We cannot afford to keep DAP politicians who don't deliver. Their excuse of acting as check and balance is weak because they're more concerned about ATM card designs than real issues that affect Sarawakians,' said Sim. Sim also highlighted what he sees as contradictions in DAP's stance on political appointments. While the party claims its members should not hold state agency positions, it currently chairs federal bodies such as the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB) and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (Niosh). 'DAP leaders say one thing and do another. It's the classic 'cakap tak serupa bikin' (talk does not match action),' he said. Sim pointed to a recent policy in Penang where the DAP-led state government came under fire after introducing a five per cent homeownership discount for Indian Muslims under the Madani Home Ownership Campaign. 'DAP has always sold itself as a party of meritocracy and equality, but this shows otherwise. They'll say anything to gain power, then do the opposite to hold on to it,' he said. In recent reports, Penang's Housing and Environment Committee chairman, S. Sundarajoo, defended the move, saying it was meant to increase homeownership among communities with low participation in the open market and does not infringe on the rights of others. 'This discount is offered by developers as a form of social responsibility and does not involve any financial support or subsidy from the state government,' said Sundarajoo. Sim thus called on Sarawakians to reject DAP's political theatrics and demand real action from those seeking their mandate. 30 per cent equity stake dap Petronas Sim Kiang Chiok SUPP Stakan
