Rami Zeedan – The Conversation

An elderly Druze man stands near Syria’s new flag and the multicolored Druze flag in Al Karama Square in the city of Sweida on March 4, 2025. AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki

August 11, 2025

For Syrian Druze, latest violence is one more chapter in a centuries‑long struggle over autonomy

Rami Zeedan, University of Kansas and Said Abou Zaki, Lebanese American University

The violence that overwhelmed Sweida in July 2025 reflects challenges under the transitional government, but also age-old tensions over Druze autonomy.

Members of the Druze minority attend a memorial ceremony for the children and teens killed in a rocket strike in the village of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. AP Photo/Leo Correa

August 5, 2024

Arab Druze community in mourning after tragic rocket strike on Golan Heights soccer field − highlighting challenges for Druze within Israel and the region

Rami Zeedan, University of Kansas

Druze are often held up as the best-integrated of Israel’s Arab minorities. But members of the faith who live in the Golan Heights have an especially complicated relationship with Israel.

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