Druze face off against police during a protest against the construction of a new wind farm near the Druze village of Majdal Shams, in the Golan Heights, June 21, 2023. (Israel Police)
On June 21, thousands of Druze residents of the occupied Syrian Golan Heights protested against Israeli plans to set up a wind farm near the town of Majdal Shams.
The protestors burned tyres on key roads in the Golan Heights. They also hurled rocks, fireworks and Molotov cocktails at Israeli police officers, who responded with high-pressure water hose, tear gas and live fire.
As a result of the clashes, four protesters were seriously injured, one of them from live fire, along with three moderately and one lightly. Israeli media reported that Twelve police officers were also wounded.
Israel occupied the Golan Heights from Syria in a 1967 war and later annexed it, a move not recognized by most world powers. To this day, the plateau’s Druze community remain largely loyal to the Syrian government. The plan to set up a wind farm near Majdal Shams triggered the community, who view it as an encroachment on ancestral lands and a solidification of Israeli occupation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he was monitoring events in the Golan Heights “with gravity and concern.” A statement by the PM office said that he summoned Druze leader Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif for talks. Tarif said in an earlier statement to the Ynet news agency that “the writing was on the wall,” implying that Israel’s provocations against the Syrian Druze community in the Golan Heights were destined to cause an uprising.
Mayor of the Druze town of Daliyat al-Karmel, Rafik Halabi, told several Israeli media outlets that the protests could spiral into an “intifada” [the Arabian term for an armed uprising] and that the community was experiencing “great fury” at Israel’s policies and planning laws.
Meanwhile, the People’s Assembly of Syria said in a statement that Israeli attempts to steal more of Golan Heights territory were a blatant violation of international laws.
Tensions in the occupied Golan Heights could escalate even further in the upcoming days, as the Israeli Ministry of Energy appears to be determined to move forward with the wind farm project.
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