Druze in Mandatory Palestine explained

Palestinian Druze were people in Mandatory Palestine who belonged to the Druze ethnoreligious group.[1] [2] During the first census of the British mandate, Druze were one of eight religious demographic groups who were categorized,[3] The sense of a distinct identity among Druze began to increase in the 1930s when some other Arab citizens viewed them as being neutral during ethnic contentions.[4] During the early 20th century, many authors depicted the Druze as neutral during the clashes that happened between Arabs and Jews in the 1920s and 1930s. This perception eventually culminated in Israeli leadership approaching the Druze who were in leadership positions and offering them a treaty of non-aggression, leading to somewhat tranquil relations between the two.[5]

During the British Mandate for Palestine, the Druze did not embrace the rising Arab nationalism of the time or participate in violent confrontations. In 1948, many Druze volunteered for the Israeli army and no Druze villages were destroyed or permanently abandoned.[6] Since the establishment of the state, the Druze have demonstrated solidarity with Israel and distanced themselves from Arab and Islamic radicalism.[7] Druze citizens serve in the Israel Defense Forces.[8]

Demographics

The 1922 census recorded 7,028 Druze, mostly living in the Sub-Districts of Acre, Haifa, Tiberias and Safed.[9] By the time of the 1931 census, this number had risen to 9,148 persons.[10] The 1945–1946 Survey of Palestine estimated that about 13,000 Druze lived in Palestine at that time.[11]

Principle centers of Druze population in Palestine[12] [13] ! village! 1922 census! 1931 census
921 1154
Yirka 937 1138
Beit Jann 895 1099
676 877
Isfiya 590 742
Julis 442 586
Shefa-Amr 402 496
Hurfeish 386 474
304 412

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Chatty, Dawn . Displacement and Dispossession in the Modern Middle East. Cambridge University Press. 978-0-521-81792-9. 2010-03-15.
  2. Book: Simon Harrison. Fracturing Resemblances: Identity and Mimetic Conflict in Melanesia and the West. 2006. Berghahn Books. 978-1-57181-680-1. 121–.
  3. Barron, Table I.
  4. Web site: The Druze Between Palestine and Israel, 1947-49 | Middle East Policy Council. www.mepc.org.
  5. [Yoav Gelber]
  6. Web site: Internal Displacement Monitoring Center – Israel . 2009-04-22 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060903022121/http://www.internal-displacement.org/idmc/website/countries.nsf/%28httpEnvelopes%29/F11200E8ECD83F71802570B8005A7276?OpenDocument . 3 September 2006.
  7. Nisan . Mordechai . The Middle East Journal. 64. 4 . 2010 . 575–596. The Druze in Israel: Questions of Identity, Citizenship, and Patriotism. 10.3751/64.4.14.
  8. News: Christian Arabs / Second in a series – Israel's Christian Arabs don't want to fight to fit in. Yoav. Stern. Haaretz. 23 March 2005. 7 January 2006. 10 December 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20071210000545/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=555549. dead.
  9. Book: J. B. Barron . Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922 . Government of Palestine . 1923 . Table XI.
  10. Book: E. Mills . Census of Palestine 1931. Volume II. . Alexandria . 1933 . Government of Palestine . Table VII.
  11. Book: Government of Palestine . A Survey of Palestine, prepared in December 1945 and January 1946 for the information of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry . II . 925.
  12. Book: J. B. Barron . Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922 . Government of Palestine . 1923.
  13. Book: E. Mills . Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas . Government of Palestine . Jerusalem . 1932.

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