Word: druse
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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When Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 war, no one was more outspokenly friendly toward the occupiers than Sheik Kamal Kanj. A leader of the Druse, an esoteric sect that broke away from Islam in the 11th century, and a former member of the Syrian Parliament, Kanj had Israel's Deputy Premier Yigal Allon as an overnight guest in his home in the village of Majdal Shams. Defense Minister Moshe Dayan once dined with Kanj in the village. Kanj was so intent on maintaining good relations with Israel that when younger members of the community...
...months ago, Kanj's attitude visibly changed. He began making visits and long phone calls to Arabs on the West Bank. In a eulogy for a village elder, he said: "We Druse are an inseparable part of the Arab nation...
...last month, a detachment of Israeli soldiers and police surrounded Kanj's spacious villa and took him into custody. Also arrested was a sergeant-major in the Syrian army, reportedly a frequent visitor to the house. Last week Israeli officials revealed that Kanj and four others, all Druse, will be tried next month on charges of collecting military information for Syria...
...sheik's arrest shocked Israel's 35,000-member Druse community. "It would be better to die than for the village to see this disgrace!" said an elder. Israeli reaction, by contrast, was markedly mild. Both Shmuel Toledano, adviser to Prime Minister Golda Meir on Arab affairs, and Opposition Leader Menahem Begin last week cautioned Israelis not to judge Kamal Kanj before he is tried...
...chose or were forced into exile, including virtually all the educated, urbanized Arabs; 156,000 stayed behind, mostly unlettered villagers. With a birth rate three times that of Israel's Jewish population, the Arab numbers have doubled. Including 30,000 Bedouins of the Negev Desert and 30,000 Druse, one of every eight Israelis is now an Arab. (The 1,000,000 Arabs in the occupied territories do not have citizenship...