The first elections for Druze on the Golan Heights divide the community

EIN QINIYA, Golan Heights – The face of Sameera Rada Emran should be everywhere. The 46-year-old Druze resident of the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights is running for the leadership of the local council in his village. But there are no posters bearing his image, nor campaign ads bearing his name.

The Golan Druze will join for the first time millions of Israelis in local elections next week. But candidates such as Emran had to keep a low profile while Druze – members of a secret branch of Islam – had called for boycotting the ballot boxes, thus revealing a deep divergence within the community around the identity and future of the occupied territory. .

The chasm is home to community elders who sincerely commit themselves to Syria and activists opposed to the Israeli occupation against those who have looser ties to their ancestral homeland and who seek to have an interest in the country. management of their communities.

"I understand the opposition and its origin, because we still live it. The Golan Heights are busy and that's a fact. Nobody can deny that. On the other hand, we have been in this situation for over 50 years, "said Emran. "There are young people who need to live and we must provide them with a healthy and beneficial environment that allows them to progress."

Israel occupied the Golan Heights during the 1967 war in the Middle East and annexed the territory in 1981, an initiative that is not internationally recognized.

Unlike the Palestinian territories captured in 1967, the Golan has remained silent under the Israeli regime. While most of the 26,000 Golan Druze chose not to acquire Israeli citizenship, they have Israeli residency status which gives them the right to travel and work freely. The locals speak Hebrew and the Golan, with its rugged landscape and its many restaurants, is a popular destination for Israeli tourists.

Yet the community is largely inextricably linked to Syria. Many hope that the territory could someday be returned to Syria as part of a peace agreement.

Supporters of the boycott held meetings to convince – or put pressure on – candidates not to run and voters to abstain. Several potential candidates have already retired. Demonstrations against the elections have taken place and a general strike is scheduled for election day.

Emran said some of his relations with his neighbors had spoiled his choice to run.

The fracture meant that the frenzy of the election campaign jumped on the sleepy villages of Druzes. Candidates had to conduct a discreet and unobtrusive campaign, much attracting voters via social media and silent rallies in the interior.

Since the annexation, Israel has appointed representatives to the local councils of the four Druze villages in the Golan. But the desire of more educated and younger Druze, to seek economic opportunities and greater integration into Israeli society, coupled with the realization that the territory will not return to Syria in the near future, has sparked some desire to control their own destiny, even if it means cooperating with what is still widely regarded as an occupying power.

This, coupled with the feeling that the appointees did not adequately represent the community, prompted a group of young lawyers from the region to appeal to the Supreme Court of Israel to have a say in the choice of their leaders . Their petition was successful, paving the way for the first-ever October 30 election.

Israel called the elections a "historic" event. Interior Minister Aryeh Deri called the move a "movement that strengthens Israeli democracy" when he announced the vote.

The Israeli government views the Golan Heights as an integral part of the country and a bulwark against radical Islam and growing Iranian influence in Lebanon and Syria. The Syrian civil war, in which hundreds of thousands of people have died and millions of displaced people, has only deepened this feeling.

"Israel on the Golan Heights is a guarantee of stability for the surrounding area," said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a recent visit to an old synagogue on the Golan Heights.