Syria's Embattled Druze Between al-Nusra and Asad

It isn't just the Druze of Israel and the Golan who are alarmed by the attacks by Jabhat al-Nusra on the Druze of Syria, but so far the Syrian Druze seem more intent on defending their threatened territory rather than seeking support from the Asad regime or Israel. Usually irrepressible Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt initially responded to the massacre of Druze villagers in northern Syria. Jabhat al-Nusra reportedly executed at least 20 Druze civilians in the northern governorate of Idlib, an area without a large Druze population. But the killings raised alarm in the more heavily Druze southern governorates of Sweida and Dar‘a. Sweida is heavily Druze and Dar‘a, where fighting has been heavy since the outbreak of the war, has a substantial Druze population as well. Sweida governorate is the region of the Jabal Hawran, also known as the Jabal Druze. Both Sweida and Dar‘a governorates adjoin the Jordanian border.

Irrepressible Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt initially called he massacre an isolated incident, and told a press conference, "We don’t need Assad or Israel. Both of them take a sectarian stance with the aim of perpetuating sectarianism and dividing the country.” But he also flew to Jordan to meet the King and intercede for the safety of Druze refugees in Jordan. Both Sweida and Dar‘a adjoin the Jordanian border.


Syrian Druze, like Syrian Christians and ‘Alawites, have traditionally supported he regime as a protection of minorities against Sunni jihadis. While some Druze leaders have continued to urge Druze to enlist in the regime army, others have said Druze fighters are absolved of responsibility to the regime and should defend their own home villages.

Jebel Druze State under French Mandate

Increasingly, as with the Kurdish region in the north that now calls itself Rojava, the Druze of Syria are looking to their own self-defense. During the French Mandate period, which deliberately partitioned Syria and Lebanon on sectarian lines, the Jabal Druze enjoyed a brief autonomy with its own flag, until France had to put down a Druze revolt.  The flag of the Jabal Druze 'state' in the Mandate period is the basis for variations used today as a Druze flag,

Modern Druze Flag

Whether we are returning to those days, with separate Kurdish, ‘Alawite, and Druze enclaves, or simply towards  collapse into anarchy, remains an open question.

Headline of the Weekend: "Internationally Acclaimed barrister marries an actor"

For the win, from Business Woman Media:

The lead:

Amal Alamuddin, a London-based dual-qualified English barrister and New York litigation attorney who has long been a high-profile figure in international refugee and human rights law, has gone against the trend for professional women in her field and married… an actor. Amal, 36, is an educated and successful career woman we’ve long admired. The high-flying barrister has notched up many career highs, including representing the controversial WikiLeaks whistleblower Julian Assange, and also has multilingual fluency in English, French and Arabic.

 She is also, of course, of Lebanese Druze origin. She apparently married some guy.

Headline of the Day: "Jumblatt Welcomes Clooney to Druze Community"

The inimitable Walid Jumblatt produced the headline above in Beirut's Daily Star, citing a report in The Weekly Standard, whose own headline was good as well: "But is it Good for the Druze?" In that Lee Smith article, Jumblatt is quoted as saying in an email, "“Tell me when George Clooney will be coming to Lebanon so I can greet him in Moukhtara. I will bring a delegation of Druze sheikhs,' Jumblatt gushed. 'As for Amal Alamuddin, well, she is lucky.'"

As most of you not currently in a coma probably know, actor George Clooney is planning to marry Lebanese-born, British-based attorney Amal Alamuddin, who is of Druze origin.

Back to the Future? The French Mandate's Confessional Partition of Syria

On several occasions we've looked at "vanished states"of the 20th century Middle East, among them some in Syria: including the short-lived Arab Kingdom of Syria, and the briefly independent Republic of Hatay. As the Syrian tragedy continues to unfold, we are hearing talk of a disintegration into ethnic/confessional enclaves, including a possible ‘Alawite enclave in the northwest.

As a much older Middle Easterner once put it, there is nothing new under the sun. When the French mandate was first created after World War I, they partitioned the hell out of Syria:

Initially, in 1922, there were actually five separate states in what would be the French Mandate: a Syrian Federation consisting of two states, Aleppo (including after 1923 the Sanjaq of Alexandretta, the later Hatay, which had briefly been autonomous) and Damascus; a separate ‘Alawite ("Alaouite" in French) state in the northwest, initially (1922-24) part of the federation but thereafter autonomous, a Druze state in the Hawran (Jabal al-Druze State), and Greater Lebanon (Gran Liban), combining the Maronite and Druze Mount Lebanon, the Sunni north around Tripoli, and the Shi‘ite south and Baqa‘a, creating the mix that would become the republic of Lebanon.

Flag, State of Syria

Each of these "states" had its own flag, with the French tricolor in canton. The "State of Syria" was formed in 1924 out of the federation of the states of Damascus and Aleppo. The Alaouite State did not join.

Flag, State of Damascus

This "State of Syria" was created in 1924, but the next year a full-scale revolt broke out, led by the Druze leader Sultan al-Atrash in the Druze state, but becoming Syria-wide. The French crushed it with aerial bombardments and sieges of cities, including Damascus.

Flag, State of Aleppo

The Syrian revolt would ultimately lead, in 1930, to the French renaming the State of Syria as the Republic of Syria, though still under French mandate.

Flag, Alaouite State

As for the Alaouite state, it had been less affected by the uprising, though in 1930 it was renamed the District of Latakia. Finally in 1936 it was merged into the "Republic" of Syria. Lebanon always remained a separate entity. Efforts toward independence were sidetracked by World War II and Vichy control, but after Britain expelled Vichy Lebanon and Syria declared their independence and had secured it by 1946.

Flag, Jebel Druze State

In short, Syria has been partitioned before, under colonial divide-and-rule strategies, but nationalism ultimately overcame internal division in the name of fighting a common enemy. Whether that will happen again is of course another question entirely.

Flag, Gran Liban

Jumblatt, Druze Clergy at Odds over Syria

Eternal Lebanese political weathervane Walid Jumblatt has been denouncing Syria lately, and supporting the uprising. As this piece in Al-Akhbar notes, however, that isn't selling well to the Druze elders in Lebanon, who are determined to stay out of Syrian internal affairs. The Druze clergy appear to be at odds with their hereditary feudal lord/Socialist politician leader, in part out of concern for the Druze in Syria.

Though the Syrians were most likely behind his father's assassination, he was long a staunch defender of Damascus, though he also went through an anti-Syrian  period when he became the only member in good-standing of the Socialist International to be feted by US right-wing think tanks like the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute. After another round of pro-Syrian alignment, he's now firmly (for now) on the side of the uprising.

Talk About Fusion Music: The "Jamaican/Algerian" Reggae/Raï Israeli Arab (Druze) Band from the Golan Heights

Now for you young'uns out there, I have to emphasize that I'm still getting over Elvis' death back in
'77, and while I did play the Beatles' "When I'm 64" a  lot a week ago when I turned a certain age, I'm hardly a pop music critic for the present millennium.

To me music ranges from early rock through classic country, jazz, Delta blues and R&B, with a bit of pop in there too. So I'm not exactly up to speed on  current trends in Rap, Hip Hop, or Go-Go, though I'm not humming "When You and I Were Young, Maggie," or "A Bicycle Built for Two," either.

Today being Rosh Hashona and these being the High Holy Days and all, along with the Palestinian UN application,  I'm reading the Israeli press more than in some periods. In the process I ran across this.

A blend of Jamaican reggae and Algerian Raï? Okay. Israeli Arabs? Okay. Well, Druze actually. From Majeal Shams in the Golan Heights. Facebook Page here.


And samples from YouTube:

Lebanon: Walid Bey Explains it All

The collapse of the Lebanese government may have been inevitable once the Syrian-Saudi mediation was declared a failure, and it returns the country to the paralysis it endured in 2006-2007, which led to the Doha Agreement and the creation of a unity Cabinet in which the "opposition" (in quotes since they joined the Cabinet) had a "blocking third" that could block legislsation or, in this case, bring down the government. Once Hizbullah and Amal and their Christian allies quit, only one more resignation was needed to collapse the government, and a Presidential appointee obliged. Qifa Nabki gives his usual clear backgrounder.

But the always entertaining and unpredictable Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, who met today with the Maronite Patriarch at the Patriarchate, told reporters that "Yesterday, the dark forces intervened and torpedoed the Saudi-Syrian initiative," Some reports are translating it as "occult forces."

I guess he's saying the devil made them do it.

World Druze Congress in Lebanon includes Israelis

The Druze don't turn up here much, with only five posts under that topic, though one was less than two weeks ago, and of course, Walid Bey has his own category. But we've now had a major World Druze Congress in Lebanon, with 840 delegates from 37 countries, including 35 from Israel, who of course needed some diplomacy to get there.

I hope we learn more about this pan-national Druze Congress. The Druze are — more or less by their own choice — little understood because of the secretive and esoteric nature of trhier faith, but they are a cohesive and distinct group in those countries where they have a significant presence: Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan.

Rare Troubles Among Golan Druze

Trouble between the Druze population of the occupied Golan Heights has been reported in the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the northern Golan. This is rather unusual. Israeli version here: violence broke out as police raided a restaurant in the town to carry out a search. Some police officers were cut off inside the restaurant for some time but were later rescued. Also see the Jerusalem Post here, which speaks of 1000 demonstrators surrounding the police until Druze elders and police negotiated a release. Arab vcrsion here (in Arabic, but even if you don't read the language click through as there's a clear photo of an overturned Israeli police vehicle): trouble also involved the home of a man arrested at Ben Gurion airport; police were held hostage for awhile, etc.

The point here is that the Golan Druze have been among the more docile subjects of occupation; they are virtually the only Syrian citizens who remained in Golan after 1967. Lately there've been reports of possible Israeli settlement activity around a Druze holy site (Arabic), and there have been other tensions as well.

Hat tip here to Zeinobia, for pointing me to these stories.

Nabi Shu‘ayb: Greetings for a Druze Feast

I almost missed a holy observation which I missed entirely last year; from the 25th to the 28th of April the Druze make their ziyara or pilgrimage to the tomb of Nabi Shu‘ayb (Nebi Shueib), at Hittin near Tiberias in northern Israel. (Oh, and Hittin is also the namesake of the Horns of Hattin of Crusader fame, but then, in Galilee, history keeps tripping over itself.) Nabi Shu‘ayb is also a Prophet of Islam but plays a smaller role there as the Prophet sent to the Midianites; he is often equated with the Biblical Jethro (Moses' father-in-law, if you haven't watched The Ten Commandments lately). (And there's a rival tomb in Jordan more popular with Muslims than the Druze site in Galilee.)

Today the Druze are divided among Israel, Lebanon, and southern Syria and adjoining parts of Jordan, and generally only those in Israel and the West Bank (and officially some from Jordan) can get to the Prophet's tomb at his feast. But I almost missed one of the few Druze holidays that is not also a major Muslim feast, so I should belatedly include it here. I'll be honest: I don't know precisely why Nabi Shu‘ayb is so big among the Druze, whose religion is largely secret. He's seen as one of the emanations of God, since the Druze have a bit of Neoplatonism, a bit of Gnosticism, and a whole lot of Isma‘ili batini theology in their (apparent) beliefs. If those terms mean nothing to you, let's leave that for another day, now that I've marked the holiday. Shu‘ayb, apparently, is one of the emanations of the Divine Mind, along with others culminating in the Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim, whom most Muslims consider a lunatic but the Druze consider an emanation of the Godhead. As I say, we'll address Druze beliefs another time. But Shu‘ayb is very big.

We'll talk about the Druze another time.

Walid Bey on the Arab Summit

I have a weakness for Lebanese Druze za‘im Walid Jumblatt, since if you disagree with what he says today, you'll probably like what he says tomorrow (neocon darling one day, Syria's friend the next, or as I've put it before, perhaps the only member in good standing of the Socialist International who has addressed the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation). His moral compass spins wonderfully with the shifting power balance. But how can you resist a statement that "Libya's Arab summit emphasized the continuous Arab course of deterioration and regression." Sometimes he nails it.

And the appropriate way to illustrate such wisdom is by reproducing Qifa Nabki's 2009 Halloween posting, in which reminded we are that, as a Druze leader, Walid Bey a Jedi Master is:


If I were that good at Photoshop, I'd really go to town here.

Walid Jumblatt's Latest: There Goes His Heritage Foundation Invitation

I noted earlier that whereas back in the Bush years, Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt was for a while the darling of neoconservatives in Washington, meeting with Dick Cheney and making the rounds, he's now distanced himself from them.

And how: in an interview with Iran's Press TV, he's quoted as saying that Lebanon could use arms from Iran (he also mentions Russia and China), and that the Arab world and Iran should move closer together.

Admittedly, it's a Press TV report reported by Al-Manar (i.e., Hizbullah), so I'm sure they emphasized the Iranian parts of his interview, but I do think he won't be going to Heritage or AEI next time he comes here.

Walid Jumblatt's Latest Flip

Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt almost personally embodies the complexities and contradictions often present in Lebanese politics. Though a hereditary leader of the Druze, the party he inherited from his father is a leftist one. Though he is a member of the Socialist International, on his last visit to Washington he met with Dick Cheney and appeared at several neoconservative think-tanks. Though his father Kamal was most likely assassinated by the Syrians, he supported Syria for many years, later turning against it and allying with the Hariri-led March 14 Movement. Clear enough?

Well, he seems to be doing it again. He has told his party that his neocon adventures in Washington were a mistake and he has split with March 14, saying he will support President Michel Suleiman politically. The Daily Star reports it here and tries to explain it here. On the lighter side, the always entertaining and informed blogger Qifa Nabki imagines a phone conversation between Sa‘d Hariri and Jumblatt.

Jumblatt is defending his latest flip (or flop) on the grounds that the is "an exceptional and independent case." He is certainly that.

But the flip-flops of Jumblatt's career are part of what I've tried to argue in some of my earlier discussions of Lebanon: Jumblatt's priorities are not defined purely by a zero-sum pro-Syrian versus pro-American view of the world: he is pro-Druze and pro-Jumblatt. As leader of a distinct community in Lebanon, even his party's ideology may be less important than his role as leader of the Druze. Certainly his calculations this time may have been somewhat cynical — things have been drifting since the election; the economy is suffering; and Syria may be making a comeback of sorts. But it's a reminder that in Lebanon, sometimes you can't tell the players even with a scorecard, because the sides keep changing.