Tonight the normally quiet Galilee village of Abu Sinen is trying to keep the lid on a vicious town brawl that has led to dozens of serious injuries
Today, Abu Sinen is a “mixed village,” originally Druze, the majority are Muslims today.
The Druze are a minority sect found in parts of the Mid East with communities in Lebanon, Syria ,Jordan and Israel. The Druze are an ethnic and linguistic Arab group but cling to their own secretive religion as their founder, Al Daruzi, broke away from Islam in the Middle Ages. The Muslim world has never forgiven the Druze for this act of apostasy and treason and so the Druze have carefully kept the details of their religious dogma a secret to the hostile out side world. They have also historically chosen the protective mountainous areas for their homes thus keeping the Muslim majority safely at arms length.
In 1948 ,as the beleaguered Jewish population of Israel fought off the combined Arab forces, the Druze at first chose to “go with the obvious winner”, the Muslims. However, after being bloodied in a key battle for the Galilee, the Druze reconsidered and withdrew from the war remaining neutral.
After Israel’s victory, the Druze leaders requested to make a pact with the new Jewish state and offered their sons to serve in the IDF which they do with distinction until today.
They are often found in the para military units responsible with security vis-a-vis the Arab populations since they are familiar with the language and culture. Often when an Arab riot got out of hand and IDF troops were not effective, the very sight of a Druze manned jeep was enough to disperse the threatening crowd. They understood each other.
The violence in Abu Sinen is actually a very helpful window into what is happening in Israel these days.
We have been witness to a surge in Arab attacks on Jews in all parts of the country. Tractors, cars, knives, gasoline bombs..what ever is handy, maims and kills is a weapon in the service of their rage.
Why are they outraged? Take your pick. The latest and well tried issue is the Temple Mount which Israel has abdicated to the Muslim “sensitivity/rage long ago. Jews are not allowed to pray there( and are treated like criminal suspects by Israeli police in the service of the Muslim Wakf ) if they dare to enter during the three hours allotted daily. But this too, the Arabs have decided enrages them. As an expression of this sensitivity, Arabs have murdered and maimed a number of Jews at train and bus stops this past two weeks. In solidarity, Israeli Arabs have also launched violent demonstrations and joined the rage, attacking Jews, pulling them out of cars and torching them. They fly the flags of “Palestine” , Hamas and ISIS.
Israel’s response? Prime Minister Netanyahu keeps reassuring the world that the “status quo” on the mount will be maintained. He was summoned to Amman to make this assurance before John Kerry and to King Abdulah of Jordan who has a say about what goes on in the heart of Jerusalem. (Weren’t they the one who Lost the iSix Day War??)
The other response is the placing of huge concrete blocks at the train stations to make it harder for cars to plow into the crowds.(..brought to you by the ones who introduced the security fences, tunnels, cameras etc…). And so we can expect even greater restrictions on Jewish visitors to the Mount. Bottom line; Israel lost this round too. The result of the latest Jewish blood letting is that Jews are more restricted, humiliated and the Arabs empowered and ensured that their rage will continue to be appeased and feared.
