Northern Security and Borders: Part II, Syria

We got back on the bus and drove up into the Golan Heights to reach the Syrian border on the East side of Israel at Kuneitra. As we ascended into the mountains, I was stunned by the agriculture and the terraced farming that is being done in the Golan Heights. The villages we passed were Druze people, another ethnic group that is very tight knit and insular and when I asked, “Are they Jews? Or Muslim?” The response I got back was, “They are Druze.”
“Oh.”
So, basically, the Druze are sort of Muslim, but neither they or the Muslims would agree to that. They are more like Amish in the US, live isolated, let their children choose in adolescence whether to stay or leave the community. Check them out on Wikipedia. Druze
in the North of Israel the Druze are mostly not Israeli citizens. (In the central and south of Israel they are citizens and fight in the IDF) The Northern Druze are Syrians, sort of. They have had a positive relationship with Syrian leadership under the first Assad, and for awhile with his son, Bashaar Assad. But in the current conflict and civil war in Syria, The Druze are not as positive about a relationship with Assad, and are beginning to distance themselves because of his slaughter of so many Syrians. In the beginning, the Assad leadership wanted a relationship with the Druze and many other minorities, so he invited them to attend University in Damascus for free. This was an incredible gift and generated great loyalty. But now, they cannot even travel to Damascus because it is too dangerous and they don’t trust Assad. The enemies of Assad are many and various and no one is really sure which group is fighting on what day.

Here is some Druze farming…

Once at the top of the Golan, we could see the Israeli intelligence control on top of the mountain. The joke is that from this height, the Israeli’s can see when Assad goes to the bathroom in Damascus.

We thought they were probably watching us too, so we waved. Facing out the other way, into the valley you can see the Syrian border, a line of grey metal fencing (very hard to see in the picture) that has recently been reinforced and rebuilt while the Syrians are busy with their own civil war. Kobi’s concern is that once war inside Syria is settled (BTW there are multiple ways this could happen, including the assassination of Assad. But who would be in power then? Who knows? Will the US get involved to help support a particular rebel faction? Will Russia get involved? Iran?) the Syrians will turn their attention back to the Israeli border and there will be a war. The Israeli’s have put their best IDF military in this region to prepare for that eventuality. Also, the UN has a presence in this location. They are the fenced in “Camp” just outside the Syrian fence to the right.

And here is a picture of me at the Syrian border. It is such a beautiful place, as we stood there, enjoying the breeze, the sun, the smells, it is tragic to imagine how much blood may still be shed in this place. I’d rather just be able to go camping here, and not with the IDF.