Dinner with the Druze was on tap tonight. I somehow struck up a friendship with a lebanese druze with a past. When he spoke I drank his story like date nector as I had never heard anything like it and there were a million unanswered questions, most of which I hesitated to ask out of respect for his privacy. It was so cute the way he said ugiyot (cookies) and kept encouraging us to take sesame date cookies. I would have taken some, just to chastly tease him a bit, but I'm not a big cookie fan.
DateCookieguy was involved in counter insurgency efforts in southern lebanon, but moved to Israel only nine years ago. He had to build his life anew and is now fluent in hebrew and as an adult student is learning engineering at the top engineering university in Israel. Impressive, but I was dying to hear more about how he saw his identity in Israel and how he fit in to the druze community and the differances in approach to nationality between the syrian druze, lebanese druze and israeli druze.
About Me
- Shawna
- No longer late twenties (dirty thirties have arrived)Canadian in Israel loving the diversity of the middle east and determined to spite it all and make that small differance while hoping and working feverishly for change and peace all at once.
5 comments:
Well I have read of the sizable Druze population in Israel, so I do hope they make him feel welcome. I'm sure there is a common bond that they can work off of. Sounds like a very interesting an super smart guy.
He feels 100percent a part of the druze community in issifiya. The druze are unique in that way. They've broken off from Islam but stick together and only marry within the druze community but yet declare regional cleavages through nationality.
They believe in reincarnation and he told me that he discovered his past life in southern lebanon and when he met the family they were also convinced that he had the soul of their departed father. I asked if that meant that according to his religion he had obligations to the family or an interminal connection but he didn't really feel that way other than to say that remembering a past life is a highly prized symbol of spirituality.
part of my point though was that as a lebanese, even given that lebanon is officially an enemy country with no peace agreements other than the ineffective UN resolution, israel has given him full rights and the ability to build his life here as he pleases. of course there are circumstances.
And would he get those same rights in Lebanon? People really discount how diverse Israel actually is.
no actually. His life in lebanon was restricted. He was member of a minority and treated as such.
israel's a jewish state but the face of israel is far from homogenous.
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