Druze leaders on the Golan Heights said they would not call off their general strike, now entering its seventh week, despite a promise from the Israeli government that the army would end its blockade of Druze villages on April 1 and would not force the Golan Druze to accept Israeli identity cards.
The Druze strike was called to protest Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights last month and the extension of Israeli law to the territory. All but a handful of the 14,000 Golan Druze refused to accept Israeli identity cards and were therefore confined to the four villages where the Druze population is centered.
A Defense Ministry spokesman said last Friday that the military identification documents previously issued would be cancelled on April 1 and that no Druze would be required to take an Israeli civilian identity card. The spokesman pointed out, however, that the Golan Druze, like Israelis themselves, would have to forego certain services for which the law requires prior identification.
These include obtaining or renewing drivers licenses and picking up mail at the post office. The spokesman said Israel has no intention of forcing the Golan Druze to accept Israeli citizenship or serve in the army.
TENSION SPREADS TO ISRAEL
The tension over the situation on the Golan spread to Israel yesterday when a group of Israeli Arabs disrupted a Druze memorial meeting near Tiberias. The Druze were gathered at their holy site of Nabi Shueib to mourn one of their leaders, Sultan Basha Atrash, who died in Syria Friday at the age of 95.
After Sheikh Amin Tarif, the spiritual leader of Israeli Druze, read a message of condolences from President Yitzhak Navon, a Golan Druze, Muhsein Abu-Salah, rose to speak but was shouted down as a friend of Israel and a traitor to the Druze cause.
As the memorial service continued, the crowd shouted “The Golan is Syrian,” “We will free the Golan with blood and spirit” and other slogans.
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