Two Druze attendees of the Remembrance Day ceremony at the Druze military cemetery in Usfiya, northern Israel, accused Energy Minister Eli Cohen of delivering empty promises on behalf of the government.
"The words are hollow," the two shouted at Cohen. "The promises are baseless. The Israeli government is destroying children's homes, not missiles from Iran."
Leader of the Druze community in Israel Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif and Rafik Halabi, head of the local council in Daliyat al-Karmel, expressed similar frustrations to Walla, noting that “patience is running out” in the community regarding the government's hestiation in passing the Kaminitz Law.
"Unfortunately, the state is absent from the lives of the fallen families and the Druze community,” Tarif said. "Thousands of homes built in the Carmel and Druze villages remain unapproved, without electricity connections, and are subjected to enforcement measures and fines amounting to hundreds of thousands of shekels. This is a clear example of the state’s ongoing failure for decades."
“The Druze have fought for the state, and will continue to fight for their rights in their country, for the covenant of life and equality,” Tarif went on. “The state must carry the burden of proof and action. No more promises. We must act - this is the time for action."
Tarif further addressed the international community’s lack of assistance for Syria’s Druze community.
“The countries of the world, those that claim to be free, are watching what’s happening to the Druze in Syria and are doing nothing. Only the Jewish people and the State of Israel stood by the Druze,” he said.
According to him, the situation in Syria reflects what’s happening in the Middle East, and that "the state must be prepared to rely only on the IDF and its security forces, not on the empty promises of those who seek to harm us."
Over 400 fallen Druze soldiers honored in cemetary
Some 448 fallen Druze soldiers are buried in the Usfiya cemetery, which is the first of its kind for the Druze community, and the largest Druze military cemetery in the Carmel and Galilee.
The first soldiers buried to have been buried there are Hassan (Abu-Adiv) Abu-Rokon and Hassan (Said) Azam, who both fell in 1938, ten years before the establishment of the state.
The names of all the fallen Druze soldiers are inscribed on a stone wall in the cemetery. Only some of them are buried in Usfiya, while the rest are buried in the military cemeteries of their respective villages.
On Remembrance Day, Druze youth wearing blue shirts greet visitors at the entrance of the cemetery, and ahead of the ceremony, family members visit the graves of their loved ones, which have the name of the fallen soldier inscribed in both Arabic and Hebrew.
Unlike other ceremonies conducted at military cemeteries across Israel, here, Tarif opens the event by reciting "Surah Al-Fatiha," the opening chapter of the Quran, before delivering a speech, followed by a government representative discussing the alliance with the Druze community.
The formal ceremony concludes with a salute at the parade ground, at the far end of which is a perpetual flame, next to which wreaths are laid. The official ceremony ends with the laying of wreaths, the singing of Hatikvah, and three salvos fired by a unit of Golani soldiers.