The Druze of the Galilee

Nadene Goldfoot                                          

Israeli Druze wave their community’s flags during a demonstration on June 14, 2015, in reaction to a shoot-out in northwest Idlib province in Syria that killed members of the Druze minority. (Photo credit: Jalaa Marey/AFP/Getty Images)

By 1992, 53,000 Druze, a religious sect, deriving from Islam, with members in Syria, Lebanon and Israel, were living in Israel, concentrated in 18 villages in Western Galilee and on Mt. Carmel.   They also are a group what is a minority within a minority like the Circassians.   They are from a total of over 200,000 (plus 20,000 who migrated overseas), living in Israel.  

I lived in Safed for over 4 years teaching English.   Safed is not only one of Israel's holiest cities, it is also the highest city in the Holy Land. Set in the dense pine forests of the Upper Galilee, overlooking Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee, Safed is a delicious blend of ancient grandeur and modern-day resort. It was comfortable for this Portland, Oregon immigrant who had made aliyah in 1980 as it had many fir trees.   

There were 7 Druze villages in northern Israel.  Daliyat el-Karmel (Arabic: دَالِيَةِ ٱلْكَرْمِل, דַלְיַת אֶל-כַּרְמֶל) is a Druze town in the Haifa District of Israel, located around 20 km southeast of Haifa, where we spent our 1st 10 months. In its population was. Daliyat al-Karmel, situated on Mount Carmel, and is the country’s largest and southernmost Druze town. So I didn't have any Druze students in Safed.  It's 47 miles by car from Haifa to Safed.                   

Druze IDF officers and IDF trackers (Photo: Aviyahu Shapira)

The Druze cooperated with the Israel forces during and since the War of Independence.  The Druze are Arabic-speaking citizens of Israel who serve in the Israel Defense Forces. Members of the community have attained top positions in Israeli politics and public service. Druze representatives sit in the Knesset.  They have their own religious courts which administer Druze religious law.

  Geneticists recently began to trace the genetic roots of the sect, and discovered in 2013 that the genes of many Druze show that they originate in Turkey. (My father tests as QBZ67, also possibly from Turkey).  The research team took DNA samples from 400 Israeli-Druze and from over 1000 other Eurasians over the course of two years.  What they discovered was shocking; The Druze are genetically closer to people in the Caucuses, Turkey, and Ashkenazi Jews then they are to any other ethnic group in the Middle East.It is well known that Ashkenazi Jews lived in villages in what is now north eastern Turkey during the Middle Ages in an area called “Ancient Ashkenaz.” While the two communities would have coexisted during that time, it seems that at some point, the Jews moved north into the Khazar kingdom and onwards into Europe, while the Druze moved south into what is now Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.“The two peoples – the Jews and the Druze – share a common origin. Benjamin of Teluda even commented on the affection the two communities had for each other. Its logical to assume that there were conversions and intermarriage in both directions between the communities.”

  2nd from left IDF soldier is a Druze.  Each one is different, but they are buddies.  

FTDNA found that there was Druze Genetic Diversity

The Druze community, from a genetic perspective, does fairly represent the genetic profile of E. Mediterranean people around the end of the first millennium CE. This can be attested by the following:
• The Druze community practiced endogamy since inception & greatly discouraged intermarriage with other communities, similar experience to Jews.   Having been located mostly in mountainous areas has helped keep their genetic admixture with other groups at minimal levels.
• Having said that, some exogamous marriages/relationships did happen & as a result the mtDNA of the Druze might include later genetic input from external groups (e.g. Crusaders). In effect, it is only males who marry from outside the community are still considered Druze, provided their children & grandchildren stays and marries within the Druze community. As for females, the children of any woman marrying outside the community are not considered to be Druze.

• The DNA studies done on the Druze so far prove their genetic diversity; with Y-DNA haplogroups: (J, E, R, G, L, Q, C, K/T), & mtDNA Haplogroups: (H, K, X, U, T, HV, I, J, L2, M1, N1, W, R0). As for admixture, Druze people show closeness to other Levantine, Anatolian, Cypriot, Armenian, Samaritan, Kurdish, Persian as well as Peoples of the Caucasus.  Aw...I only found 4 Q from Lebanon while the other haplogroups were in large
numbers with E and J being very numerous.  Well, we Q's are pretty rare Jews compared to others, supposedly from Turkey, Siberia and Central Asia and Native Americans and Poland and Ukraine.     

The Druze faith originated in Egypt as an offshoot of Ismaʿīlī Shīʿism  when, during the reign of the sixth Fāṭimid caliph, the eccentric al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allāh (ruled 996–1021), some Ismaʿīlī theologians began to organize a movement proclaiming al-Ḥākim a divine figure.

The Druze place heavy emphasis on philosophy and spiritual purity. Nearly all Druze (99%) believe in God, including 84% who say they are absolutely certain in their belief. But there are no set holy days, regular liturgy or obligations for pilgrimage, as Druze are meant to be connected with God at all times.  The Druze revere the father-in-law of Moses, Jethro or Reuel, a Kenite shepherd and priest of Midian. In Exodus, Moses' father-in-law is initially referred to as "Reuel" (Exodus 2:18) but then as "Jethro" (Exodus 3:1). According to the biblical narrative, Jethro joined and assisted the Israelites in the desert during the Exodus, accepted monotheism, but ultimately rejoined his own people. The tomb of Jethro near Tiberias is the most important religious site for the Druze community and they gather there every April.                        

   Israeli Foreign Minister with  members of the Druze community (photo: Ariel Harmoni)

Historically the relationship between the Druze and Muslims has been characterized by intense persecution. The Druze faith is often classified as a branch of Isma'ili. Even though the faith originally developed out of Ismaili Islam, most Druze do not identify as Muslims, and they do not accept the five pillars of Islam. The Druze have frequently experienced persecution by different Muslim regimes such as the Shia Fatimid Caliphate, Sunni Ottoman Empire, and Egypt Eyalet. The persecution of the Druze included massacres, demolishing Druze prayer houses and holy places and forced conversion to Islam. Those were no ordinary killings in the Druze's narrative, they were meant to eradicate the whole community according to the Druze narrative.

The relationship between the Druze and Jews has been controversial, Anti-Jewish (antisemitic) bias material is contained in the Druze literature such as the Epistles of Wisdom; for example, in an epistle ascribed to one of the founders of Druzism, Baha al-Din al-Muqtana, probably written sometime between AD 1027 and AD 1042, accused Jews of killing the sacred prophets. On the other hand, Benjamin of Tudela, a Jewish traveler from the 12th century, pointed out that the Druze maintained good commercial relations with the Jews nearby, and, according to him, this was because the Druze liked the Jewish people. Yet, the Jews and Druze lived isolated from each other, except in few mixed towns such as Deir al-Qamar and Peki'in.

Jewish settlements of Galilee such as Safed and Tiberias were destroyed by the Druze in 1660. During the Druze revolt against the rule of Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt (b: 1789 Greece) , the Jewish community in Safed was attacked by Druze rebels in early July 1838. The violence against the Jews included plundering their homes and desecrating their synagogues.   The 1838 Druze attack on Safed began on July 5, 1838, during the Druze revolt against the rule of Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt. Tensions had mounted as the Druze captured an Egyptian garrison outside of Safed.

Conflict between Druze and Jews occurs during the Druze power struggle in Mount Lebanon (in Lebanon). The 1860 civil conflict in Mount Lebanon and Damascus (also called the 1860 Syrian Civil War) was a civil conflict in Mount Lebanon during Ottoman rule in 1860–1861 fought mainly between the local Druze and Christians. 

I met a young Druze lady in Portland, Oregon.  She had come with a Jewish Israeli to speak to our group at MJCC who were defenders of Israel.  She was so enthusiastic and supportive of Israel, and a great speaker.  She impressed me a lot and I'm now an old old lady.  

So far, Druze and Circassians are offshoots of Islam, and they are great citizens of Israel.  

Resource:

The New Standard Jewish encyclopedia

https://www.elal.com/magazine/en/portfolio-items/travel/northern-israel/7-druze-villages-northern-israel/

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/03/21/5-facts-about-israeli-druze-a-unique-religious-and-ethnic-group/#:~:text=3The%20Druze%20place%20heavy,with%20God%20at%20all%20times.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druze

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druze_in_Israel#:~:text=The%20Druze%20are%20Arabic%2Dspeaking,Israeli%20politics%20and%20public%20service.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1838_Druze_attack_on_Safed#:~:text=The%201838%20Druze%20attack%20on,Egyptian%20garrison%20outside%20of%20Safed.

https://www.eupedia.com/europe/Haplogroup_Q_Y-DNA.shtml

https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/druze/dna-results

https://www.familytreedna.com/public/Druze?iframe=yresults

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4887615,00.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1860_civil_conflict_in_Mount_Lebanon_and_Damascus#:~:text=The%201860%20civil%20conflict%20in,the%20local%20Druze%20and%20Christians.