Following the Majdal Shams massacre led by Hezbollah, The Jerusalem Post reached across the border to hear from two Druze activists about their community’s reaction to the Hezbollah rocket attack that killed 12 children in Majdal Shams, the terrorist group’s attempts to deny involvement, and the oppression faced by this ancient indigenous population.
N: ‘Hezbollah currently our largest existential threat’
N., a Lebanese Druze in his late 20s, is a university graduate from the Aleyh District in Mount Lebanon who is currently taking on construction projects.
N. told the Post that he was “appalled by the atrocity of the massacre committed by Hezbollah on Saturday. The targeting of civilian facilities and the death toll, which has reached 12 children and teenagers, is also a further cause of pain and sympathy with the victims and their loved ones.” N. said there should be severe consequences for the attacks, adding that should they continue, retaliation against Hezbollah in Lebanon will be considered.
Asked about the atmosphere in his vicinity, N. said that the people have all shifted to condemnation of Hezbollah, as well as of Druze political leader Walid Jumblatt, whose actions he described as “acquiescence to the terrorist group.” N. denounced what he saw as Jumblatt’s “cover-up for his alliance with the devil, which the Druze populace does not buy.”
According to N., the majority of Druze are now opposed to Hezbollah and its military wing, and it seems very unlikely that, after the massacre, the Druze would accept any Shi’ite refugees from Beirut if a full-scale war were to break out. “Whatever contempt was held against Hezbollah is now magnified,” he said.
Regarding Hezbollah’s attempts to deny its involvement in the massacre, N. said that “all evidence suggests otherwise.” He elaborated that an Israeli Tapir Missile “does not carry a strong explosive charge and would’ve left behind a smoke trail, while the videos of the blast clearly prove the direct hit and explosive range of a Hezbollah Falaq missile.”
N. stressed that the situation of the Lebanese Druze differs from their co-religionists in Syria and Israel because in Lebanon, they are headed by Jumblatt, who, N. believes, is “of Sunni stock” and not of Druze origin. According to N., Jumblatt’s followers have been constantly striving to Islamify the Druze and dissolve their unique character, whether through Islamic causes or Jumblatt’s falsification of Druze religious texts. He added that some Druze recently left Jumblatt’s Progressive Socialist Party and moved to its historical rival, the Lebanese Forces Party, in an act of rebellion that would have been unthinkable until recently.N. accused Jumblatt of causing conflicts with the Maronites to hinder the longtime symbiosis of Druze and Maronites, who had once built the “Great Lebanon” under Fakhreddin II. He added, worryingly, that unless the Druze and Maronite founders of Lebanon find a common cause, the country is likely to dissolve and turn into a surrounded and persecuted state, especially with the demographics of both groups hitting record rates of permanent emigration, which comes hand in hand with the loss of land, role, and prospect, as he phrased it.
N. also referred to the critical situation of his brethren in Syria. “The Assad regime is sending military reinforcements to Suwayda as I write these paragraphs,” he warned, adding, “Assad seeks to subdue the Druze with violent gangs.”
N. believes that Hezbollah will be involved with other Iranian proxies in any conflict between Assad and the Syrian Druze, while in Lebanon, Hezbollah seeks to control the Druze Higher Ground because it believes that if Israel were ever to get hold of them, it would be a military checkmate. “Therefore, they have continued to encroach on Druze land and attempt to build new military points, including military tunnels from their villages to Druze ones. Hezbollah is currently our greatest existential threat in all three countries, and they will never leave us at peace or choose non-aggression. They desire pawns, not neighbors,” he added bitterly.
Asked about the prospects of relations with Israel through the Israeli Druze, N. described them as “our brothers and sisters” and lauded what he deemed “a key role under the good guidance of Sheikh Muafac Tareef” in aiding the Druze of Syria. He also claimed that the Druze in Lebanon would be “strategically mute” if they did not consider direct support and interaction with those in Israel. “The greater aim is for all Druze to be one golden chain and preserve each other,” he said.
“We hope, first, to an end of all hostilities and a peaceful cohesive Levant booming in prosperity, and not a war-torn Levant with terrorist Islamists and authoritarian despots. We believe it’s time for a strong minority alliance in the Middle East in the face of the Khameneist wave of destruction,” he concluded.
M: ‘propaganda is strong, but we know what Hezbollah is like’
M. is in her late 20s, self-employed, and living in Lebanon. “I’m heartbroken, devastated, and shocked, to say the least,” she commented regarding the massacre in Majdal Shams. “We’re a community that survived all sorts of ethnic cleansing and oppression, but borders will never separate us. A Druze is a Druze, whether they’re Lebanese, Israeli, or Syrian…and our hearts are broken for Majdal Shams. We’re bound by faith to preserve one another, and we’ll avenge the blood of our innocent children.”
M. addressed the horrid statements sounded by Hezbollah supporters who gloated over the massacre, explaining that these days are especially hard because “while we mourn the death of our kids, we have to deal with hateful people who are celebrating their death, justifying the terror attack, and saying things like, ‘Our children look beautiful when they’re torn to pieces!’ And these are people with whom we supposedly share the same national identity,” she added.
According to M., many people in her circle are furious and want revenge. “Unfortunately, though, some don’t even know what happened! Some think the Druze were a casualty and not a target!”
“People are lost between the media blockade, the propaganda machine, and the truth. The Druze in Lebanon feel helpless and detached from what’s happening. Many feel we shouldn’t even talk about this or even have a Druze cause…and that even having this mentality might result in a civil war,” she added, echoing some of the deepest fears of many in the war-torn country.
“My vicinity has always been anti-Hezbollah” she commented. “Regardless of what Walid Jumblatt says, the Lebanese Druze wholeheartedly hate Hezbollah. We have a history of fighting them… They attacked us in May 2008 and tried to invade Mount Lebanon but failed. I wouldn’t say the sentiment has changed.”M. added that her society knows Hezbollah well and was not surprised by the massacre. “However, now people are much more disappointed in Jumblatt’s political stance. His stance doesn’t reflect the true opinion of the Druze in Lebanon. We’ve always seen his statements as politics and nothing more, or as a way of trying to protect our small community that is way outnumbered by other groups. However now we feel disrespected,” she said, “although some believe that it’s some master plan to avoid a civil war.”Asked about Hezbollah’s attempt to distance itself from the massacre, M. replied, “The propaganda machine is strong. Hezbollah and the IRGC are working hard to change the narrative. However, we’ve seen all their other crimes against the Lebanese. We know what they’re like.”“If we believe Hezbollah, we might as well believe that Hariri killed himself,” she added – referring to the assassination of ex-prime minister Rafic Hariri in 2005, attributed to Hezbollah loyalists – “and so did every other sovereign MP and journalist [targeted by Hezbollah] – and that the ammonium nitrate,” which caused the 2021 deadly explosion in the Beirut port, “stored itself. Hezbollah distanced themselves from the port explosion and then obstructed the investigation, so we’ve seen this before,” she stressed.“I’m sad to see some Lebanese fall for such lies,” she continued. “I never doubted Hezbollah’s cruelty… They have a long history of killing children in Syria.”Asked about the situation of the Druze in Lebanon these days, M. commented that the country “is slowly losing its identity, and we’ve become fourth-class citizens in the country we founded. Even our Druze identity and religion is under attack. Ever since the Taif agreement,” which ended the civil war in 1989, “Lebanon has been trying to group the Druze with Muslims, as Walid Jumblatt and his appointed Sheikhs have been trying to impose Islamic rituals on us.With all my respect for Islam and every other religion, Druze is its own religion and ethnicity. However, some deceivers have been trying to erase our identity and deny our history.“The Druze community was hit hard by demographic changes,” she continued. “Druze villages are almost empty now; there aren’t many young Druze left in Lebanon, especially since there are no jobs. Most have emigrated. Druze villages have become empty streets with beautiful stone houses, with no one living there except for some lonely elderly people and Syrian refugees.“Lebanon today is held hostage by an Iranian terror proxy. Even its puppet government doesn’t represent its people. There’s no future for Lebanon with Hezbollah. It can’t go on like this,” she declared.Regarding the Druze in Syria, M. added that both the Assad regime and the Lebanese Hezbollah have been targeting and oppressing them. “We’ve been seeing an anti-Druze campaign with the assassination of Druze faction leader Murhij al-Jarmani in Suwayda, Palestinian Islamic Jihad threatening the Druze in a statement, along with a hateful campaign against the Druze on social media. I believe it’s all connected, and we might have become the new target of the Axis of Resistance.“We’re fully aware that Hezbollah will try to attack us at the first chance they get, which is why many Druze villages are refusing to host people from south Lebanon in case of a large-scale war,” she noted.Asked about relations with Israeli Druze, M. referred to them as “our brethren, and no politics or borders can ever change this. No war can ever destroy our bond. Druze will always stand with the Druze, no matter what. To other Israeli citizens, I extend a hand of peace. I hope we can start planting seeds of peace and tolerance instead of hate and violence. I hope we’ll be free from extremism and our future generations won’t have to experience such horror and violence.”“My deepest condolences to the families of the victims,” she added. “Our pain is one, and the borders that separate us are mere lines on maps. May peace unite us again.”“At times like these,” she continued, “we realize that the only people who understand our pain are other persecuted minorities. We see the Jews, the Maronites, the Yazidis, and the Copts standing with us, while others celebrate or justify the murder of our innocent children. I hope we can all stand together and fight terrorism and extremism. To all Israeli citizens, I hope we can plant seeds of peace for a brighter future for our children. I hope we’ll be the generation that will witness peace,” she concluded.