The Israeli army imposed a curfew on the Druze town of Majdol Shams on the Golan Heights today. It was only the second time since Israel captured the Golon in 1967 that a Druze town was placed under curfew. According to the army, the measure was intended as punishment for demonstrations at Majaal Shams yesterday to protest the sealing-off of that town and the three other Druze villages on the Heights since last month.
The Golan Druze are in the fourth week of a general strike aimed against Israel’s annexationof the territory and the arrests of the leaders of the largest Druze clans who refused to accept Israeli identity cards. The demonstration in Majdal Shams reportedly touched off sympathy demonstrations in Kuneitra on the Syrian side of the line and in parts of the West Bank.
News from the Golan Heights is sketchy as the army has barred the media from the sealed-off towns. It denied reports that a measles epidemic broke out in the Druze towns and that medicine is in short supply.
Druze residents have also complained about the army’s conduct in their towns. But a military spokesman said international Red Cross (IRC) representatives who visited the region had congratulated the Israeli authorities for their benign treatment of the Druze. The IRC spokesman was unavailable for comment to confirm the army’s claim.
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