Hi,
I had visited in the Druze village of Majdal Shams pretty much lately. First on our family vacation in the North, and then in the last military reserve duty. (and also when I proposed). The meaning of the name is the Sun tower.
The first thing you realize when entering the village, if not on the way to it, are the stiff slopes of the roads and streets. This is typical for Arab and Druze villages in Israel. But this village (which is the North most populated point in Israel) is built on the slopes of Mount Hermon, the highest mountain in Israel, what makes it stiffer than most places.
After Six Day War the new Israeli Syrian border was set some hundreds East of it, it was cut from the villages East to it and families were separated.
The village is mentally divided between Israel and Syria. The citizens see themselves as part of Druze in Syria. Unlike the Druze in the Mount Carmel, they don’t draft to the army. And most does not have Israeli citizenship. Some say they afraid that Golan Heights will be returned to Syria as part of a Peace treaty with Israel.
On the other side of the border fence (the hill with the seats on it) is called the Shouting hill. The two parts of the separated families used to gather on both sides of the fence (the Syrians on the Shouting hill) and shout to each other news, greetings and gossip. Even now, with the video conference meeting, there is still no replacement for seeing your dear people in live in special occasions. I guess that is why we had visiting during during this Coronavirus time, even due we have Zoom, Whatsapp, Skype, etc.
During my studies in the Technion I met Hatem, a Druze from Majdal Shams. One day he told us how he studied in Damascus university until the civil war and finished the studies in the Technion.
The award winning movie The Syrian bride is showing another side of this complex situation. The Israeli bride is about merry a famous actor in Syria (which she has never met), but will no longer be able to see her family in Israel. The movie ends as the bride is in the UNDOF area, cannot go the groom or back to her family because of bureaucracy.
Shakiv Abu-elJabel is another face of the Druze in Majdal Shams. He had operated a net of spies before Yum Kippur war and delivered important information to the Syrian. Some of the spies were construction workers in the Israeli Hermon post and on the line of posts along Suez Canal in the Egyptian border. The information was part if the success of surprise attack on Yom Kippur war.
Take Care
Gad
A stiff road on Majdal Shams (Source: Google Maps)
Syria mountains from Majdal Shams, The shouting hill in the middle of pics
A building in Majdal Shams on the border fence
The village on an old picture