Hundreds of Druze protest outside Golan polling station

Hundreds of Druze Arabs, some carrying Syrian flags, gathered outside the gates of a polling station on the Golan Heights on Tuesday, trying to block townspeople from voting in municipal elections.

Israeli police wearing helmets cleared a path for would-be voters outside the balloting center in Majdal Shams. As protesters tried to prevent people from entering, police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd. No one was hurt or arrested.

The town of 10,800 is the largest of th four Druze communities on the plateau that Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Six Day War, unilaterally annexing it in 1981 in a move which was not recognized internationally.

“The Golan’s identity is Arab and Syrian,” chanted the protesters as they hung a banner on the entrance reading: “No to elections.”

Inside the building election officials sat in mostly empty rooms with blue ballot boxes bearing Israeli insignia. Some voters made it past the protest.

“It’s my right to vote. I’m free to choose the right person,” said one man as he emerged from the polling station carrying a child. Glancing at the crowd, he refused to give his name.

The Druze are a fiercely independent Arab minority, of which around 22,000 live on the Golan. Israel, seeking to further integrate them, has offered citizenship which most Druze have rejected. Many regard themselves as Syrian, even after more than half a century of life under Israeli rule.

After a town center meeting and march which took place on election eve, featuring dozens of rainbow Druze flags, the community’s elders issued a prohibition against people voting, threatening to make outcasts of anyone who took part.

“Candidates and those who come to vote will have a religious and social prohibition put upon them,” said Sheikh Khamis Khanjar. “What bigger punishment is there than this?”

Many Druze have enjoyed economic prosperity on the Israeli side in comparison with their brethren in war-torn Syria.

“When you are in a state that is giving you all your rights, why wouldn’t you vote?” One woman, Sahar Said Ahmed asked, as she watched the election eve protest in a town square dominated by the statue of a Druze leader.

Outside the polling station Druze religious elders wearing their distinctive maroon and white caps urged youth not to confront police. They were concerned that taking part in Israeli elections was dividing the community.

“For more than 50 years Israel has been trying to sow disputes by divide and rule and it is happy at the differences that are surfacing,” said Moenis Abdullah.