Some 2,000 Druze protested on Friday evening against National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s plans to resume construction of wind turbines in the Golan Heights, Hebrew media reported.
Demonstrators at the protest, which took place in Kafr Yasif near Acre, chanted: “We have redeemed the Golan Heights with blood and fire.”
The spiritual leader of the Druze community, Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, spoke to members of the community, saying that “the resistance against the construction of the turbines in the Golan Heights is justified,” Ynet quoted him as saying.
What were the spiritual leader's demands?
Tarif presented a list of demands of the Druze community to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that “if they are not met, there will be a clear and decisive response in a way that the state has not seen since its establishment.”
The demands, the Ynet report states, include a complete halt to the building of the turbines and approval of an expansion of Druze villages.
Tarif also stated that the Druze “don’t receive instructions from Ben-Gvir. Any attempt to undermine the Druze connection to the place will receive an immediate response from the community.”
תיעוד ממחאת הדרוזים: מאות, וביניהם ראש העדה הדרוזית, בכפר יאסיף, נגד מה שהם מכנים מדיניות הממשלה והחלטות גזעניות. בין הקריאות בהפגנה: "בנפש, בדם, נקריב אותך, גולן"(מיכל וסרמן) pic.twitter.com/DbFy6ZpV8k
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) June 23, 2023