D R U Z E

P A S T

AND

P R E S E N T

By Moustafa F. Moukarim

November 1987

It is said:

"Truth is like sun rays (*), once the clouds disperse (**), the light will come through (***).

(*) = Tawheed (**) = Adversary (***) El-Adha

The Druze in the Middle East maybe somehow behind. This was not by choice. Historic events were not always favorable. Because for every cause there is an affect, what follows is a brief history reflecting some of these causes.

Twenty-five years from the commencement of the Call for Tawheed by HAMZA Bin Ali, the persecution of the Druze started. For fear of being totally eliminated, and to preserve Tawheed, the faithful went underground.

During the Crusaders war, Mo'wa'he'doon were the spearhead of the Arab army, Because of their adherence to truth, good ethics and well behavior, their identity was disclosed, Immediately after the war was over, Salah-el-Deen turned his sword against them. They escaped and joined relative (Mo'wa'he'doon) tribes in the mountains of Lebanon.

During the 16th. century Mo’wa’he’doon tribes became strong, they gained their independence and were able to disclose their true identify, They formed the first democratic nation in that area, people of all faiths lived together in peace and harmony, Other minorities in the surrounding areas were relieved, they started immigrating to the new free for all nation,

This kind of independence and freedom did not please the Turkish Ottoman Empire, thus a new kind of persecution started. The Druze defended their freedom as much as they could, they won many battles, but unfortunately they lost the war.

During the 18th, century, when the Druze regained some of their independence, they were confronted with a new persecution. For need of a new colony in that region, the French declared themselves as guardians of Christianity in the Middle East. They armed the Maronite Christians and pushed them to war against the Druze. From 1840 to 1860 the Druze suffered from many forms of aggression. In 1860 they rallied their forced to rid themselves from the new persecution, When the Druze were close to fulfilling their objectives, European nations interfered, they deprived the Druze from a certain victory and forced them to pay compensation to the Maronites. Once again, the Druze after winning many battles they lost the war that forced many Druze to flee to the Hawran region in Syria, where later became known as Jabal-el-Druze,

During First World War, in 1917, the Arabs lead by prince Faisal revolted against the Turks, Sultan El-Attrash joined the revolution, with his Mo’wa’he’doon, they were the first to enter Damascus and raise the new Arab flag, Arabs were promised total independence by the French and the British, Instead, and in 1919 the French declared greater Lebanon, thus separating the Druze of Lebanon from those of Syria and Palestine, The French handed all powers to the Maronite Christians who adopted a new attitude, that is, "what is ours is ours alone, and what is theirs is theirs and ours.

In 1925, Syrians lead by Sultan El-Attrash revolted against the French who refused to fulfill their promise of' independence, All the major battles were concentrated around Jabal-el-Druze, the Druze won many battles, but eventually lost to a major power,

In 1943, with the condition that Lebanon should continue to be ruled by Maronite Christians, the French agreed to grant it independence. Non-Maronite Lebanese realized that having one problem was better than two, they agreed to these terms, only after guarantees from the Maronites that once the French are out, they will share powers with all.

In 1958, Kamal Jumblatt reminding the Maronites of, their guarantees, called for a democratic system in Lebanon, he was oppressed. it was an election year for members of the parliament, the government cheated by replacing all ballot boxes with specialty prepared ones, and declared Jumblatt and ail leaders supporting his ideas as losers, Jumblatt requested an investigation, instead the government sent the police to arrest him, Jumblatt responded by declaring a revolution against the unjust system, starting with 65 armed men, in less than 6 months 70% of the Lebanese people were on his side, and he had control over two thirds of- Lebanon, Lebanese President Chamoun called upon the United States for help, the US Marines were sent to Lebanon to eight communism, When they arrived in Lebanon, the Marines realized that there were no communists, they helped in conducting a new election, Jumblatt and the other leaders regained their seats, A new Maronite president, Fouad Chehab who was the chief of staff of the Lebanese army was elected, he promised new rules whereby all Lebanese will be equal.

Again, the Maronite Christians conducted Lebanon's domestic and foreign policies without any regards to the will of the majority of the Lebanese people.

In 1975, the phalangist party (armed forces of' Maronite Christians) led by the Gemayel family, decided it was time to declare a Maronite Christian Lebanon, They announced their terms as follows: Those who agree should endorse this plan, and those who oppose should leave the country.

The phalangist diverted the arms of the Lebanese army and the wealth of the Lebanese government to their own militia. They called upon the Palestinians to leave Lebanon immediately, or they will be forced out, the first massacre against the Palestinians took place in the Christian area of Ain-el-Rummani on April 15, 1975.

Kamal Jumblatt called upon the Lebanese government to intervene, reminding them that actions of this kind should not be handled by illegal militias, also reminding the Lebanese government of' their commitments to the Palestinian people in accordance with the Cairo Treaty which the Lebanese Government adopted in 1969. The response was negative, Jumblatt called upon the parliament to intervene, nothing materialized. When evidence that groups of' the Lebanese army were involved in these actions, Jumblatt demanded the resignation of the government. Lebanon's Prime Minister Rashid Karamy, a Sunny Moslem, ordered the army and the police to restrain the phalangist, instead, he and Jumblatt were declared traitors, As a result the Lebanese army and police split, Maronite soldiers and police joined the phalangist party, Moslems and Druze deserted, each heading for their areas.

The phalangist started kicking out Moslems and Druze from their own areas. They even attacked Greek Orthodox Christians who opposed their plans, killing hundreds and forcing about 35,000 out of their homes, in the Kura area in north Lebanon.

Kamal Jumblatt realized that it was time for action, he called upon the leaders of the opposition, they met and declared Jumblatt as their national leader, At that time, Jumblatt met with Mr. Brown of' the US State Department, after listening to Jumblatt's demands, Mr. Brown told him that the American's fought for these same demands 200 years ago.

During 1976, Nationalist forces controlled about 8o% of- Lebanon, The phalangist sent 2 delegation, one to Syria and another to Israel, asking them for help in exchange for anything they wanted, Syrian president Assad sent for Kamal Jumblatt and explained to him the situation, Assad requested Jumblatt to endorse Syrians entry into Lebanon, Jumblatt refused and requested the Syrians to stay out, Instead, Syrian forces entered Lebanon and clashed with the nationalist forces in four major battles; Soufar, Behamdoun, Aley and Tyre, They forced the nationalist out of' all areas, At the same time, phalangist forces protected by the Syrians entered Druze areas and massacred 110 Druze men women and children in the villages of' Arsoun and Salima.

One year later Kamal Jumblatt was assassinated, the nationalists appointed his son Walid to take his place.

By 1982, the phalangists realized that Syria was not supporting their dream of' founding a Maronite Christian Lebanon, they already had established contacts with the Israelis who armed and trained their militia.

June, 1982 Israeli forces entered Lebanon, their mission was to destroy the Palestinian resistance forces in south Lebanon, Although their goals were achieved within few hours, instead of pulling back, they kept marching north, Syrian forces in Lebanon trying to stop the invasion were defeated, within few hours they lost 9 jet fighters and over 5,000 casualties.

Within few weeks, phalangist forces under the Israeli protection spread all over Lebanon, Their aggression left its marks in Sabra & Chatiia camps, where they massacred over 850 Palestinian men women and children, And in Kfarmatta, Obeih and Bennay, where they massacred over 200 Druze men women and children, They took over 200 Druze hostages, mainly women and children, 'The Druze could not resist for fear from the Israelis.

All this time, 99% of Christians living in Druze areas were well treated, Bashir Gemayel was forced upon the Lebanese as their new president, I say forced for the following reasons:

The parliament that elected him was not legal, because it was elected in 1972 for a 4-year term, The constitution allows in emergency cases a 2-year renewal term, thus the legality of the parliament ended in

1978. Secondly, members of the parliament who died during that period were not replaced. Thirdly, members who opposed Gemayel and refused to attend the election were either bribed (over $20 million were spent) or dragged by force.

{{{ This is a brief explanation of the political structure of' Lebanon:-

Although it is not written in the constitution, Lebanon's political system is divided according to the various religious groups, not by population, but to the convenience of' the Maronites who are less than 20% of the total population, The parliament consists of 99 members, more than 50% should be Maronites, No more than six could be Druze (presently, 4 of the 6 are dead and were never replaced, one is very ill due to old age, this means that only one member represents the Druze).

The parliament elects a speaker (who has very limited powers) and should be a Shiite Moslem. It also elects the president who should be a Maronite, The president controls all the powers, he can dissolve the parliament any time he desires, thus defeating the will of the people 11 i.e. Democracy".

The president appoints the prime minister who should be a Sunny Moslem, The prime minister (whose powers are limited) appoints his Secretaries (Ministers) with the approval of the parliament which is controlled by the Maronites, Six out of every eleven major Governmental posts, including the army and the police, should always be reserved for the Maronites.

85$ of the Lebanese budget is spent in Maronite areas which represents less than 15% of the total area of Lebanon, Major government projects are giving to Maronite contractors, Even in the private sector, a Maronite individual can obtain government licenses, permits, aid, etc., very much easier than a non-Maronite.

To increase the population of Christians in Lebanon, 95% of Christian who came to Lebanon from Palestine and other Arab countries were granted Lebanese citizenship, whereas less than one percent of Moslems and Druze were able to become Lebanese. }}}

Bashir Gemayel did not live to enjoy his new position as the new president. His post was delivered on a silver plate to his older brother Amin. Amin Gemayel promised total democracy and a new Lebanon f or all.

Amin and all Lebanese leaders started their negotiations that lasted for two years without any positive results.

The Americans went to Lebanon to protect the withdrawal of the Palestinians, and to establish democracy, Very soon they lost faith in Gemayel who always said yes, but actually meant no. Unfortunately the

Marines had to pay heavily.

The Israelis realized that the Maronites were using them for their own gains, and due to mounting pressure from within Israel and the rising Lebanese resistance, they decided to pull out of' Lebanon.

Before the complete pull out of the Israeli forces, liberation started, resulting in the present situation, whereby each group has its own area, local self rule, militia, courts, etc., Unfortunately creating division and forming new emirates (Princedoms), that is, forcing the Lebanese back to the 17th, century.

Although blood shed has stopped, the economy deteriorates, hunger and poverty are all over, the value of the U.S.Dollar which was three Lebanese Pounds in 1975 is over 600 today, What is next, only God knows.

The Druze never had continuous periods of peace to concentrate on progress and prosperity, As mentioned above, they were and still are struggling for their survival and existence.

Today, the Druze are still deprived from all the essential human requirements, There isn't a single college in Druze areas, The few elementary, middle and high schools are very much below international

standards.

It took the Druze of' Lebanon 30 years to fulfill the dream of building a Druze house (Dar-El-Taife) in Beirut. For over 20 years the Druze have been trying to build the only major hospital in the Shouf area (Ein-wo-Zein Hospital), until now the project has not been completed.

Most of the arms and ammunitions in the hands of, the Druze were captured from the enemy, very few Dollars were spent in that area.

With all these miseries, the Druze of Lebanon compared to those in

Syria and Israel are considered very much advanced.

The initiative is there, but the means are not available.

During the last few years, attempts were made towards progress and organizations, The Druze Foundation For Social Welfare was created to organize revenues and expenditure. With its limited resources (less than 20,000 Dollars per month), it cannot sustain the orphans of' the war, There isn't enough funds to care for minimum education and medical services.

The average income of' the Lebanese Druze family is under $100 per month, Those who work outside Lebanon are contributing a lot towards sustaining their immediate families.

Different charitable organizations emerged to confront these hardships, unfortunately many of' them could not continue clue to lack of funds, Aid from international societies, diverted through the Lebanese Government to be distributed to the needy, never reached it's intended destination.

Public services in Druze areas do not exist; No telephones, electricity is served 4-6 hours per 24-hour, no mail service, water is very scarce, there is no sewer system, roads are terrible, etc.

Although poor in material possessions, the Druze has their own land and homes. Land is very dear to them.

Their main wealth is their honor and integrity.

They reject the villain and the aggressor.

They never begged or agreed to mortgage their freedom to anyone,

Our hope and aspiration is that permanent peace would be achieved, so that the Druze will be able to concentrate on perpetuating the Tawheed faith, and make it available to ail Mo’wa’he’doon ail over the world.

The approximate population of' the Druze in the Middle East is:

(Lebanon = 325,000 ) - ( Syria = 245,000 )

( Jordan = 10,000 ) - ( Palestine = 65,000)

(Other Arab Countries = about 40,000)

(Other parts of the World, Druze and Druze

descendants about 70,000 )

(That is, an approximate total of 755,000 )

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