Druze People - Syria
The Druze are an Arab religious sect known for its internal cohesion, living in Syria, around Damascus and Mount Hauran, in Lebanon and occupied Palestine. It was founded by Muhammad bin Ismail al-Darazi - known as Anushtakin - in the 11th century AD, and has its own banner. The number of its members, including those who migrated to Europe, America or West Africa, is estimated at about one and a half million people. Among the well-known historical figures in the sect - in addition to the founders - are Al-Hussein bin Haider Al-Farghani, known as Al-Ajda’, and Baha’ Al-Din Al-Samouqi, known as Al-Daif. On the political level, the sect was famous for Sultan Pasha al-Atrash, the leader of the revolution against the French in Syria in the 1920s, Prince Shakib Arslan, the Lebanese political leader Kamal Jumblatt, founder of the Progressive Socialist Party, his son Walid Jumblatt, and Talal Arslan, head of the Lebanese Democratic Party.
The Syrian Druze are a significant community within Syria, primarily concentrated in the southern part of the country. The most significant concentration of Druze in Syria is in the Jabal al-Druze region, also known as Jabal al-Arab or the Druze Mountain. This area is located in the southwestern part of the country, near the border with Jordan. Smaller Druze communities can also be found in Damascus and its surrounding areas, as well as in the Golan Heights.
The Druze community in Syria is tightly knit, with strong emphasis on communal solidarity and mutual support. The Druze relison is a "mystery" religion, with a social structure divided into the "uqqal" (the wise or religiously knowledgeable) and the "juhhal" (the uninitiated). Druze men typically wear baggy trousers and a white cap, while Druze women often wear long dresses and headscarves, with the more religious women wearing a white headscarf.
Syria, due to its large area compared to Lebanon, has the largest Druze population density, with more than 600,000 people. The majority of them arrived there from Lebanon in the 18th century. They were settled in Sweida in the Jabal al-Druze region (Druze Mountains). In 1925, the Druze leader Sultan al-Atrash revolted against French domination. After the success of this revolt, Syrian nationalists within the Druze community joined the revolt, which spread throughout the region and reached Damascus before being suppressed in 1927. Syrians remember this revolution as the country's first national uprising, and a number of Druze officials have been considered major political figures in the country for decades.
Another Druze revolt led to a national uprising that overthrew the government of President Adib Shishakli in 1954. In addition, Sultan al-Atrash's son, Mansour al-Atrash, became a founding member of the Syrian Ba'ath Party. He briefly served as Speaker of Parliament in 1965, before being arrested in 1966.
The Druze have historically played an important role in Syria's political landscape. During the French Mandate, the Druze region was a center of resistance against colonial rule. In contemporary Syria, the Druze have maintained a level of autonomy and have often sought to stay neutral in the various conflicts affecting the country. However, they have also formed local defense groups to protect their communities when necessary.
The Syrian Civil War has affected the Druze community, leading to security challenges and displacement for some. However, the Jabal al-Druze region has remained relatively stable compared to other parts of Syria. The Druze in Syria, like their counterparts elsewhere, place great importance on preserving their religious and cultural identity amid external pressures and changing political dynamics. A number of members of the sect were killed by the Al-Nusra Front in the village of Qalb Lawzah in Idlib Governorate (northwestern Syria), but political efforts tried to contain what happened to keep the Druze out of the circle of conflict and fighting, as Walid Jumblatt called for calming the discourse and avoiding what exposes the Druze to danger, and he said, "The Qalb Lawzah incident is individual and I will deal with it through politics." For its part, the Al-Nusra Front admitted that some of its members were involved in killing Druze villagers in the aforementioned village, and said that they had violated the directives and brought them to trial.
But the killing of 26 people - including the Druze sheikh (known for his opposition to the Bashar al-Assad regime and armed religious groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS) - in a car bomb explosion on September 4, 2015 in the suburbs of Sweida (southern Syria), revealed - according to analysts - that the Syrian regime clearly sought to drag the sect into the conflict and fight the armed opposition, especially Jabhat al-Nusra.
Although the Syrian government was quick to condemn the bombings in the city of Sweida, and spoke about confronting terrorism, Sheikh Balaous’s opposition to the Druze performing the compulsory military service imposed by the regime on Syrian citizens outside their areas, and his sponsorship of protests and demonstrations in Sweida demanding water, electricity, and an improvement in the standard of living, raised many question marks.
Walid Jumblatt accused Bashar al-Assad's regime of assassinating al-Balaous, the leader of the "Sheikhs of Dignity" group that worked to protect Druze areas and keep them out of the conflict in Syria, and considered him "the leader of an uprising that refuses military service in the regime's army." While the Druze Sheikh of the Minds in Syria, Youssef Jarbou, accused those he described as “enemies of the homeland, the state and humanity,” referring to the Al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State, gunmen from the “Sheikhs of Dignity” group responded to the killing of Al-Balaous by taking complete control of the Military Security branch in the city of Sweida. They killed more than six soldiers, including the deputy head of the branch and a number of elements, while others toppled the statue of Hafez al-Assad in the central square of the city of Sweida, and demanded revenge on the killers of Sheikh al-Balaous, who called on the members of the sect to protect their area, i.e. the borders of the mountain, and not to cross it.
On September 1, 2023, the Druze-majority Syrian province witnessed hundreds of protesters gathering in southern Syria demanding the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad after nearly two weeks of demonstrations protesting poor living conditions, but they turned again into calls for political change.
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