The Druze community in southern Syria has been thrust into the spotlight by recent events. The community mostly lives in the area of Suwayda, a city in an area called Jebel Druze or the Hauran. This area is located in southern Syria near the Jordanian border.
There are other Druze communities in Syria, such as a handful near the Golan. They are part of the wider Druze community in Lebanon and Syria.
The Druze in Syria underwent many hardships over the years. During the Syrian civil war, they generally remained on the side of then-president Bashar al-Assad’s regime, but they chaffed under the state’s rule.
While many were serving either in the army or in local security units, they suffered a massacre at the hands of ISIS. They also suffered after the war due to neglect and continued controversy regarding the Assad regime’s attempts to restore authority over Suwayda.
When the Assad regime fell, the community sought to position itself in regard to the new rulers in Damascus. Like many minority communities, the Druze have watched closely to see if Syria’s incoming leader, Ahmed al-Shaara, and the new authorities would be tolerant. Shaara’s rebel group, Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham, and its previous incarnation – the Nusra Front – were not always friendly toward the Druze or other minority groups.
Now, Syria is seeking to embrace various groups and encourage a more open national dialogue.
The Druze thus find themselves in a complex position, with various agendas tugging at them.
While some Druze leaders meet with Shaara, others appear to want to create more autonomy in Suwayda. A new Druze coalition, the Suwayda Military Council, has popped up. This happened at the same time that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about southern Syria being demilitarized. There are voices in Israel pushing for increased collaboration with the Druze and Kurds in Syria.
Closely monitored in the region
The Druze are being watched closely in the region. Al Akhbar, a pro-Hezbollah newspaper published in Lebanon, has written that “13 Syrian officers who defected from the dissolved army, headed by Col. Tariq al-Shoufi, announced yesterday the formation of the aforementioned council, in what appeared to be an attempt to replicate the experience of the SDF, which formed councils for the cities and provinces it administers, at a time when the nascent council spoke of its coordination with the Americans in the south.”
The SDF stands for the Syrian Democratic Forces, which are backed by the US to fight ISIS in eastern Syria.
In January, the Kurdish media outlet Rudaw reported that a “delegation from the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) on Tuesday visited Syria’s southern Druze-majority Suwayda province and met with Sheikh Hikmat Salman al-Hijri, the Druze spiritual leader, to discuss the country’s political future.”
Hijri has said that diversity is Syria’s strength, and he has spoken about inclusive governance as being important for Syria. However, he has also critiqued Israel’s push into the buffer zone in Syria, something Israel did when Assad fell from power.
A Druze sheikh named Suleiman Abdul Baqi was also quoted by the New Arab as opposing Israel’s actions and “foreign interference.”
In other parts of southern Syria outside of the Druze area, there have been protests against Netanyahu’s comments. These took place in the town of Khan Arnabeh, the city of Quneitra, and the cities of Nawa and Busra al-Sham in Daraa.
SHARAA MET with a delegation from the Druze community in Damascus this week. The official news agency SANA said that the Syrian president met with dignitaries and notables from the Druze community and published photos of the meeting, while Hijri did not appear in these, the New Arab noted.
It isn’t easy to know what is actually going on because each side wants to claim the Druze are moving in different directions.
Some say that Hijri has rejected any “separatist” movements. Others condemn “foreign” interference. These are all keywords. But what is really happening?
The Kurdish-linked website ANHA said that “armed factions in [Suwayda] announced the formation of a military council that pledged to fulfill the requirements of protecting society and national and regional security, and to protect the southern borders from smuggling gangs, weapons, and drugs and [work to stop] the infiltration of extremist terrorist organizations through them.”
It added that this council would be “part of the national army of the new Syrian state, the secular, democratic, decentralized state.”
What is clear is that there are those who would like the Druze region to be “in play.” There are also voices that are against the US and Israel, and others – elements from the former regime – who want to paint the Druze as being co-opted by “foreign” support and “separatism.”
This is designed to drive a wedge with Damascus and create controversy. The Druze are not the only people between a rock and a hard place. The current national dialogue in Damascus has also excluded most Kurdish groups in Syria, and there are even rumors afoot involving Ahmed al-Awda, the influential leader of the southern Syria factions.