Why are Golan Heights Druze protesting Israel`s wind turbines project?
The state-backed project has ignited strong objections by the Druze in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, who fear for their health and for their rural way of life.
Frustration levels of the Druze ethnoreligious group in the Golan Heights increased this week over a project for installing dozens of wind turbines on their land, perceived by the community as yet another afront by the Israeli authorities. The community — many of its members are Syrian citizens — feels that the project threatens their rural way of life, their heritage and their health.
Thousands of Druze demonstrated on Tuesday and Wednesday against the state-backed project by renewable energy company Energix to construct a wind turbine field in the north of the Golan Heights for renewable energy production. Violent clashes erupted between the protesters and the police; demonstrators threw stones and Molotov cocktails at security forces, and burned tires. Twenty-seven people, including 17 police officers, were injured during Wednesday’s clashes, and six demonstrators were detained. The community has said they will continue to protest if the project isn’t suspended, according to Ynet.
Old and new grievances resurging
According to data published by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, some 150,000 Druze live in Israel, 125,000 of whom hold Israeli citizenship. Many of the Israeli Druze men serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The roughly 25,000 Druze who reside on the Israeli side of the Golan Heights refuse to take Israeli nationality and still hold Syrian citizenship.
Israel occupied the Golan Heights in the aftermath of the 1967 war and annexed the then-Syrian territory in 1981. In 2019, the United States under President Donald Trump recognized the area as Israeli territory.
But on the ground, only 10% of Golan Heights Druze have requested Israeli citizenship. Over the years, many Druze in the Golan Heights have protested Israel’s 1981 annexation of the region and claim to be persecuted or neglected by the Israeli authorities.
Most of the Golan Heights Druze live off agriculture and tourism. They now claim that the wind turbine project will harm their way of life on several levels, according to Haaretz. The pastoral scenery of the Golan Heights, attracting many Israeli and foreign tourists, will be dotted by dozens of wind turbines.
The construction of the turbines will require heavy machinery, which in turn will require large roads that need to be built. The Druze residents and some environmental groups also warn against health hazards such as the constant humming of the wind turbines and flashes of reflecting light, Ynet reported.
Energix rejects claims that the wind turbines are dangerous, saying that the project will offer the residents clean energy, instead of the current electricity grid failures, and will create hundreds of jobs for locals.
That being said, frustration levels have increased for several months now. Over the past few years, in preparation for the project, Energix had leased lands owned by Druze families in 25-year lease contracts. The contracts include compensation to the company, should the landowner retract. After signing contracts with Energix, and in view of the objection to the project by the community’s leadership, some of the landowners want to cancel the contracts, but can`t afford the compensation, Haaretz reported Wednesday.
Abandoned by the state
Salim Brake of the Open University of Israel is considered one of the leading experts in the country on the situation of the Druze community. "These latest protests showcase two issues that are strongly intertwined. We have the issue of the turbines, and fears of the local residents for their health and for their rural way of life, but there is also the issue of land ownership and lack of trust in the Israeli authorities," Brake told Al-Monitor.
"There is anxiety about possible future land expropriation. There are also other real or imagined dangers in the eyes of the residents, arising from suspicion and lack of trust in a system that has been discriminating against the Druze all these years," he added.
Brake said that the fears over the wind turbine project add another layer of frustration that has been accumulating for years among the Druze community — not just in the Golan Heights, but also in the northern Galilee and Carmel regions.
Brake said that the Druze in the Galilee and Carmel have been suffering for years from a serious construction crisis.
``The government constantly piles up obstacles, preventing any upgrading or updating of urban master plans for the Druze villages. Young Druze men who come back to their villages after loyally serving in the IDF cannot build homes. For them, the Kaminitz Law [against construction without permits] is discriminatory and racist. There is no way out," he added.
According to Brake, the construction crisis plight comes on top of the Nationality Law — anchoring the Jewish character of the State of Israel, perceived by the community as a direct insult.
``They feel like second-class citizens, even though they — contrary to Israeli Arabs — serve in the army and have made many sacrifices for the country’s security. Their feelings of alienation are exasperated by the current settler/ultra-Orthodox government that openly declares its intentions to increase Jewish presence in the Galilee," the expert said.
"When Israel was established [1948], the Druze population counted 14,500 people. It is now 10 times bigger, yet not a single new Druze village has been established," explained Brake.
What now?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met after the clashes with the spiritual leader of the Druze community Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, in an attempt to reduce tensions. Following the meeting, Netanyahu asked to suspend the project until after the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha which begins next week. For the Druze community, this is not a solution; they demand that the government back away completely from the project.
Complicating things further, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir ordered Thursday the police to enable the continuation of the wind farm project immediately. Ignoring the recommendation by the police to suspend the project until after the Eid, Ben-Gvir said he has clarified his position to the government, and now awaits Netanyahu`s final decision on the issue.
Photo: A woman holds up a sign as other protesters wave Syrian national flags and red banners during a demonstration by Druze residents of the town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-annexed Golan against Israeli construction of wind turbines in the territory, 24 January 2020. Source: Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images.
