Israel bombs Damascus and southern Syria and positions itself as the protector of the Druze minority. (Illustration: Jaime Lee Haddad)
"Israel is not our enemy. Our enemy is in Damascus," said Sheikh al-Hijri bluntly on July 7 from his seat in Qanawat, a village built of black basalt on the edge of Sweida, the majority Druze city in southern Syria. Between customary visits, the religious leader — both influential and divisive within the Druze community — delivered a message that was anything but optimistic: "For us, there is no difference between the old regime and the new. The massacres continue. We demand a secular state, not an extremist state, and we wish for normalization with Israel to achieve peace in the region."A week later, the words of the white-bearded leader sounded like a grim premonition: in Sweida, clashes between armed Druze factions and Bedouin tribes, joined by security forces sent to pacify the region, have killed at least 248...
"Israel is not our enemy. Our enemy is in Damascus," said Sheikh al-Hijri bluntly on July 7 from his seat in Qanawat, a village built of black basalt on the edge of Sweida, the majority Druze city in southern Syria. Between customary visits, the religious leader — both influential and divisive within the Druze community — delivered a message that was anything but optimistic: "For us, there is no difference between the old regime and the new. The massacres continue. We demand a secular state, not an extremist state, and we wish for normalization with Israel to achieve peace in the region."A week later, the words of the white-bearded leader sounded like a grim premonition: in Sweida, clashes between armed Druze factions and Bedouin tribes, joined by security forces sent to pacify the region, have killed at least...
