The Druze

I met some of the Druze community in Israel a few months back, and the response by New Zealand, the UN, and others to their suffering in Syria is both tragic and telling.

The Druze of Syria are currently being attacked and killed and yet much of the world remains silent or panglossian (there’s a word for people to look up!) that the new Syrian regime will be able to fix the solution. The head of the United Nations is doing what he always does, and that is obsess about Israel. Here in New Zealand there is political silence as this small, yet significant, religious group are being killed purely because they are Druze.

A photo I took outside Abu Ibrahim Shrine in the Druze village of Daliyat al-Karmel

This killing and persecution of the Druze is not new, and yet the usual suspects who performatively cry ‘genocide’ or ‘ethnic cleansing’, and who now find a contemporary example, are conspicuously silent.

Yesterday I saw disturbing footage of three Druze men being thrown off a balcony, as Islamic militants fired rounds to ensure they went over to their deaths. The UK-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights says that almost one thousand people have died so far, a mix of Bedouin, government troops (if you can call their jihadists forces ‘troops’), but mostly Druze.

Before I make some observations on what is happening, I wanted to quickly share my recent meeting with a wonderful, welcoming, and hospitable Druze community in Israel. They live throughout Israel, but there are two significant villages atop Mount Carmel which is south-east of Haifa. It was both enjoyable and insightful to meet the community, discuss life and faith, their traditions and food, and also why they proudly live in Israel and serve with distinction in it’s defense forces.

The theologian/philosopher in me was most taken by with an opportunity to walk through the village of Daliyat al-Karmel and talk with it’s former mayor. Their religion is quite esoteric (secret) with traditions handed down by voice and guarded by their spiritual leaders. The community is in effect split between their spiritual and secular community. A bit akin to the Christian tradition of having monks and nuns, while the rest of us focus on living in the world. They are not Muslim which is primarily why the jihadists are determined to wipe them out. Instead, they are what you might call a syncretic religion - which means they draw from a number of religious traditions but are monotheistic and Abrahamic (so do share commonalities with Judaism, Christians, and Islam).

I was most taken by their perspectives on reincarnation. There are no graves as we might think of them. There is often nothing but if anything, a simple memorial plaque usually in a central collective location. One family shared with me how they had buried their parents in the desert but can longer say exactly where. While perhaps a foreign concept to many, for the Druze, the life of these people had immediately reincarnated and so their bodies are no longer as important.

That evening, as we ate together, much talk did focus on the Druze communities in Syria and throughout the Middle East. While the Druze are grateful to live in a democratic and pluralistic society - this community on Mount Carmel was under no illusions what was likely in store for their brethren outside Israel.

And so, as this tragedy in Syrian unfolds, we can make a few observations. The first is a blindness to the nature of this new Syrian regime. Those behind the toppling of former President Assad and his regime are Islamic fundamentalists. They are avowed jihadists. They are a mix of Syrians and other Islamic fighters from around the region, many inspired by ISIS and Al Qaeda. There is no tolerance of other religious traditions and it is why Druze, Christians, and others are being persecuted and killed. These jihadists share the same worldview as Hamas and Hezbollah, and those killing Christians in Nigeria and Congo, and elsewhere around the globe.

It is without doubt that while fighting started between Druze and Bedouin, Syrian government forces have joined in. Listening to some of our mainstream media reports though, you might be led to believe these “government forces” are an organised, coherent, and disciplined group. Nothing could be further from the truth. They are jihadists and as multiple reports coming out of the southern city of Suweida are noting, are gleefully joining in the killing.

I am also deeply suspicious of the new President of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa. Up to very recently he has been a zealous and clearly successful jihadist. Yet many in the West seem to have forgotten this already and via a rather remarkable trick - he now wears a suit and not military fatigues. Just like that, he’s become acceptable and believed. Even if he has a remarkable conversion from zealotry to benign leadership, he is not in control of these ‘government forces’.

The United Nations and it’s Secretary General have simply confirmed their irrelevance and anti-Israel obsession. While giving vague comments on the conflict, the only time António Guterres got specific was in referencing Israel. No mention of the Syrian leadership, Islamic fundamentalists, or even the Druze being killed in their hundreds - but instead, only a criticism of Israel defending the Druze by striking jihadists forces.

Here in New Zealand. Silence. A religious minority are being persecuted and killed - deliberately, specifically, and intentionally. And crickets from political leaders and human rights groups. A bit like the UN, the only comments appear directed at a Israel for intervening to stop what is happening.

Ultimately, many have lost their moral clarity and compass. New Zealand has replaced reason with emotion, response with performance, and outrage with prejudice.

And the evidence of this is simple - the silence (and arguably complicity) from those who usually enjoy grand performative gestures, organise protests, and write emotive op-eds on other issues - notably around Israel. As the Druze are killed and persecuted, these usual suspects are nowhere to be heard or seen.

That silence is, as they say, deafening … but also telling.