On the Footsteps of an Elusive Peace

 In Antisemitism, Honesty, Compassion, and Respect

Mona shares stories about her daughter and son, like many other Druze youngsters, who unusually left home to study or work elsewhere. She describes her junction between enemy states of Syria and Israel— one in which her children can attain free education with little competition, and in the other, where her family experiences an exponentially higher quality of life. Which to choose? “It’s complicated, we don’t have any citizenship,” she remarks, serving me a heaping of fennel and tomato-marinated green-beans. A place to be faithful freely and build the family unit is vital for the Druze whether in the Golan, the Galilee, Syria, Lebanon, or elsewhere. “We just need to do what’s best for us,” Mona says.

Setting the Druze aside as peaceful inhabitants, doing “what’s best for us” is the fundamental problem in this country of 500 kilometers long and 135 kilometers wide. This tiny place houses a demography whose complex origins, cultures, and divergent interests clash like no other. While once living in peace in the Middle East—these Arabs and Jews—Jews were evicted from their homes yet again, anything they ever owned stripped away from them. This was my grandfather’s story back in Egypt. 

Victorious in 1948, Israelis declared independence and welcomed Jews who had been persecuted, in line with the British Balfour declaration. This declaration, for most Jews, seemed shaky but remained afloat with Zionist persistence and their pledge to protect minorities within a Jewish state.

Regardless, ‘Israel’ remained a secret sanctuary of refuge, an undefined place. My grandfather’s travel documents, like Mona and her fellow Druze’s passports, were marked ‘xxx.’ Upon his arrival and for the early part of my father’s childhood, xxx was a swampy land of marshes and bare sand. Doing what’s best meant cultivating the land to establish civilization, to become a miniature and mighty powerhouse despite being cornered-off by enemies on all sides. Settling here was the only route to a better life, let alone survival. Doing what’s best meant planting trees, building neighborhoods, and seeking peaceful life alongside neighbors. 

Unfortunately, politics inherently complicates things, and in its scheme turns populations against each other. So today, doing what’s best means negotiating peace— agreement after agreement. Even after each war that Israel has won, doing what’s best meant giving into 99% of opposition demands, again, again, and again. Doing what’s best means attempting to integrate populations supplemented by international collaboration, financial aid, and work opportunities. Rejected peace plans, embezzled funds, and repeated acts of terrorism leave Israel with no choice but to hunker down. 

Recent Posts

Leave a Comment

Contact Us

We're not around right now. But you can send us an email and we'll get back to you, asap.

Not readable? Change text. captcha txt

Start typing and press Enter to search