The Syrian opposition’s three starred flag is waving in the strong-wind. It’s held by Sultan Al-Atrash, a Druze icon and national hero, who led a revolt against French colonial rule in the village of Swuedia in southern Syria in 1925, about 150 km from the village of Buqa’ata in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights where he has been immortalised in the form of a statue.
For many Druze in the Golan Heights, the feeling of Syrian patriotism has been revived after the toppling of Bashar Al-Assad and the hope of a unified country.
52-year-old Atta Farhat was born Buqata, which has been under Israeli rule his entire life, but he feels a deep connection to Syria. “I hope that we will one day be part of Syria again,” Mr Farhat said in an interview in his office in Buqata.
Dolan Abu Salah, mayor of Druze village Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, speaking to Jewish News in his office
Mr Farhat starts crying when he speaks about how the state of war between Syria and Israel has affected his family over the years, who’ve been divided on each side of the border since Israel took control of the area in the 1967 war.
“We were the first Druze family to settle here in Buqata some 300 years ago. I was born under Israeli occupation. I didn’t bring them and I won’t get rid of them. Occupations come and go,” Mr Farhat added.
Like many other Druze, especially the older generation, he refuses to get an Israeli passport. And at the age of 22 Mr Farhat moved to Damascus to study at the university, a period of seven years which he described as “paradise.”
While millions of Syrians would disagree with that description, Mr Farhat said that the Druze felt protected under the Assad dynasty.
A quick look inside his office also reveals his sympathy for Mr Assad. Flags of the old Syrian regime and plaque from Syrian state TV hang on the wall.
Mr Farhat worked as a journalist for Mr Assad’s TV station until his downfall on December 8. He insists, however, that he was just doing his job, and that he would still be able to go back to Syria today without being seen as an Assad loyalist.
Druze activist Nabih Al-Halabi is more sceptical of the Assad dynasty, admitting that he cried when he heard Mr Assad had fallen: “I lost dozens of family members over the years under the Assad rule. The Syrians will not accept another dictatorship. It will become a unified democratic state.”
Druze village Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights
But while Mr Al-Halabi is much more sceptical than Mr Farhat about the Assad regime, he shares a similar nostalgia and longing for Syria.
Israel, he said, treats Druze like second-rate citizens. Mr Al-Halabi shares his father’s story about the family’s first encounter with Israelis: “The soldiers knocked on our doors and told us that from now on we will stop acting and feeling Syrian. From now on we were Israeli. We kept the Syrian part of our identity because we always thought one day we would become Syrian again.”
In Majdal Shams, the biggest of the four Druze villages in the Golan Heights, the Syrian opposition’s three star flag is also present in the streets.
“There were big celebrations when Assad fled Syria. The ones who had supported him for years all of a sudden went quiet,” a resident of the village said.
An older man with a thick mustache and a white turban on his head walks past us as we overlook the majestic scenery in front of us. In front of us is Syria, a daily reminder for the 11,000 residents who still have family on the other side of the border.
The issue of Druze identity has been an emotional topic ever since Israel took control of the Golan Heights in 1967. The brutality of Hafez al Assad and later his son Bashar’s regime has had an impact on many in the Druze community whose lives have been significantly safer and better under Israeli rule.
In 2013, large protests against Mr Assad took place in Druze communities in Syria. The Druze youth in the Golan Heights also took note of the horrors of the Syrian civil war.
Dolan Abu Salah, Majdal Shams’s mayor, said that the majority of the Druze community were against Mr Assad, who “butchered” the Syrian people.
“There was great joy when he fell. A small but loud part of the community was however supportive of him. And as for the three starred flag that you see in the town; I welcome it, but it shouldn’t replace the Israeli flag” Mr Salah said.
Statue of Sultan Al-Atrash, a Druze icon and national hero, who led a revolt against French colonial rule in the village of Swuedia in southern Syria in 1925.
The mayor said that the feeling of security under Israeli rule has played a significant role among Druze youth who feel increasingly more Israeli than Syrian.
Once a taboo, roughly 20% of Druze in the Golan Heights have Israeli passports today. And for Mr Salah, himself an Israeli citizen, this is only the beginning. Despite the fall of Mr Assad, Syria is still in chaos, with jihadists and radical islamists all trying to fill the vacuum.
“It’s very important that the IDF has taken control of the buffer zone, because it provides us with a sense of security. Israel is the only one capable of doing this. And I have no doubt that they will protect our Druze brothers in Syria as well,” he said.
When asked about people like Mr Farhat and Mr Al-Halabi who still long for the Golan Heights to be part of Syria again, Mr Salah said that he isn’t sure if they genuinely feel this way.
“You can’t compare Israel to Syria. In Israel there is law and order, security and freedom. Syria is nothing like that. Would they actually like to live in Syria given the opportunity? I doubt it,” he said.
The Druze community in both the Galilee and the Golan Heights have been affected by the war between Israel and Hezbollah.
In Majdal Shams, roughly eight kilometers from the Lebanese border, a Hezbollah rocket attack killed 12 children on a football pitch in July this year.
A disaster that left deep scars in the small community. “I came to the scene shortly after the attack and saw bodies of kids that I had known their whole lives. It was a disaster that left me feeling helpless,” Mr Salah said.
When asked why the residents of Majdal Shams didn’t evacuate the village during the 14 month conflict with Hezbollah, Mr Salah said: “It’s very hard for the Druze community to leave their homes. It’s not our mentality. But it’s been very difficult and challenging.”
Druze activist Nabih Al-Halabi in the village of Buq’ata in the Golan Heights.
With a fragile ceasefire in place, which has stopped the rocket attacks into the Golan Heights, the Druze community is now hoping that an even further step can be taken with Syria.
“If we see a new government in Syria that we can trust, and we believe that another 7 october on our northern border won’t happen – then there is a potential for peace,” Mr Salah said.
52-year-old journalist Atta Farhat also believes in a peaceful future: “I think the new government in Syria will make peace with Israel. And the new land Israel conquered in Syria will be given back but the Golan Heights will likely remain under Israeli rule.”
Activist Nabih Al-Halabi suggested that the Druze communities in Syria and Israel, which combined amount to some 850,000, could even facilitate peace between Jerusalem and Damascus.
“We could be the bridge between the two,” he said. “I have many Israeli friends. We started talking about having breakfast in Tel Aviv and dinner in Damascus.”
Mr Farhat, who generally considers himself an optimist, warns about a turbulent time for Syrians.
“The coming six months will be important but also dangerous for Syria. If there won’t be democratic elections, there will be a civil war. We can’t have HTS ruling Syria. It’s basically Al Qaeda. Would you like to live under Al Qaeda rule?”
