Thousands
protested in Israel's Druze villages Saturday, calling on Israel and
the international community to take action and aid the Druze community
in Syria, which is facing a growing threat of being massacred at the hands of Islamic State militants, ...
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| Druze protest in northern Israel on Saturday. |
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| הכנות הפגנה דרוזים ישראל נגד טבח הרג דאעש סוריה |
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Thousands call on Israel to save Syrian Druze in mass protest
Israel's Druze
accepting donations to send to family, friends in Syria who face threat
of massacres; 'We are all ready to take them into our homes.'
Hassan Shaalan, Roi Kais
Thousands protested in
Israel's Druze villages Saturday, calling on Israel and the
international community to take action and aid the Druze community in
Syria, which is facing a growing threat of being massacred at the hands
of Islamic State militants, al-Qaeda affiliates and other rebels locked
in a civil war with the Syrian regime under Bashar Assad.
"Stop the massacres," cried some protesters, "We want the Druze
among us," called others. Donations were accepted during the protests,
which the Druze hope will reach their family members in Syria.
"I have family and friends who I'm very worried about and I try
to help them in any way I can," said a member of the Israeli Druze
community from Mas'ada village in the Golan Heights. "I hope that the
State of Israel will help them and let them come to Mas'ada. We are all
ready to take them into our homes.
Druze protest in northern Israel on Saturday.
Over 200,000 have been killed in Syria's four-year civil war,
but the neutral Druze community remained largely unharmed until al-Qaeda
affiliated rebels known as the Nusra Front killed 20 Druze
in the north west of the war-torn nation on Thursday.
Nusra Front acknowledged on Saturday that its members were
involved in the killing, saying they had violated orders and would face
justice.
In a statement, the Nusra Front said it had received with "great
sorrow" news of the incident in which "a number of Nusra Front members"
had taken part without consulting their leaders.
All those involved would face trial in an Islamic court, it added.
"Everyone involved in this incident will be presented to a sharia court
and held to account for blood proven to have been spilt."
On Wednesday, President Reuven Rivlin
expressed his concern to the United States about the fate of the Druze
minority in Syria, saying around 500,000 of them were under threat from
Islamist militants in an area near the Israeli border.
Reuters contributed to this story.
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