The four Druze villages on the Golan Heights remained quiet Sunday after a noisy mass demonstration against the Israeli government Friday in which one police officer was injured.
Several thousand Golan Druze converged on Majdal Shams, the largest of the villages, to protest a police raid on a local refrigerated warehouse where agricultural produce is stored. The police confiscated two tons of apples belonging to Druze growers who allegedly failed to submit income tax returns.
The Druze claim the Israeli authorities have been harassing them, especially since last month when Premier Shimon Peres visited the territory formally annexed by Israel in 1981. Police arrested 32 Druze youths for rioting. Violent demonstrations had also greeted Peres’ visit.
The Golan Druze say they are citizens of Syria and loyal to that country. They refuse to accept Israeli citizenship and, for a long time after the annexation, would not accept Israeli identification cards.
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