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Illustrative photo of Druze elders (file)
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| By Israel Insider staff October 1, 2007 |
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Druze leaders on Sunday submitted a letter slamming the Druze delegation that illegally visited Syria recently, stressing that they are an extremist minority not to be affiliated with the mainstream Druze community, according to the local press.
MK Said Naffaa took a group of 330 Druze religious leaders from the Golan Heights to visit Syria in early September after permission was denied, reportedly seeking to maintain ties with Syria -- an enemy state. Naffaa warned of a "Druse intifada."
"These statements come to turn back the clock on the tremendous advances made in the integration of the Druse into public service, and to harm the Jewish-Druze covenant of life that we have been building for many years," wrote Nabia Nasser Adin, head of the Forum of Druze and Circassian Mayors, Yusef Nasser Adin, the chairman of the Druse Zionist Movement in Israel and Moshe Ben-Atar, the director of the Israel Zionist Council, which works with Israel's Druze communities on issues of Zionist identity and integration, according to the Jerusalem Post.
MK Effie Eitam of the National Religious Party said Naffaa was "following in the footsteps of Bishara, who started out by visiting capital cities of nations and ended with him acting as an agent of the enemy," referring to the former Arab MK who fled the country following allegations of espionage, Ynet reported.
According to Deputy Knesset Chairman Majalie Whbee of Kadima, the trip was "another sign" that the state of Israel "sticks its head in the sand and is not doing enough to halt subversive actions perpetrated under the auspices of [extreme left-wing Arab party] Balad and its leaders."
Whbee emphasized that those who participated in the trip do not represent the majority of Druze, who are known for their loyalty to the state of Israel.
However, the writers of Sunday's letter did acknowledge frustration over the underdevelopment in Druze areas. The letter called for "speeding up development and striving for equality that will help to lessen the sense of frustration among the population. Don't give oxygen to those seeking to sabotage the Jewish-Druse covenant of life."
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