As the Druze in the Golan Height mourn, they question their relationship with Israel

Transcript

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

All eyes are on the Lebanon border tonight as Israel weighs how to respond to a rocket attack that killed 12 children over the weekend. Israel blames Hezbollah for the attack, but the Iranian-backed militant group denies responsibility. The attack happened in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in a town that is largely Druze. That's an Arab minority group, some of whom are Israeli citizens. And how they identify - Israeli or not - can be complicated, as NPR's Kat Lonsdorf reports.

KAT LONSDORF, BYLINE: The rocket hit late Saturday afternoon in the town of Majdal Shams, way up near the border with Lebanon. It struck a soccer field filled with kids and teens. The scene was carnage. By Sunday afternoon, the field had turned into a makeshift memorial. Black flags flapped in the breeze. Wreaths were laid in the crater. Hundreds of members of the community were there, all dressed in black, including Geana Abu Saleh and her 9-month-old baby.

GEANA ABU SALEH: (Speaking Hebrew).

LONSDORF: "We're afraid all the time," she says.

G ABU SALEH: (Speaking Hebrew).

LONSDORF: "Israel needs to protect us, and to make us feel like this is our country." Israel seized this area, the Golan Heights, from Syria back in 1967, in the Six-Day War. Israel officially annexed it in 1981, but it's considered occupied territory under international law. The Druze have been living here for generations. Israel allows them citizenship, but it's a deeply personal choice, and many have refused. At the hospital where victims from the strike were taken, Moatassim Abu Saleh is waiting for news of his 12-year-old son, Alan.

MOATASSIM ABU SALEH: He's the youngest, and he has something special in his character, you know?

LONSDORF: Alan has already had three surgeries. Abu Saleh is not an Israeli citizen. He has chosen not to be, and he's worried that Israel won't take this incident as seriously as it would if it were Israeli Jews who were harmed. He says the Druze are not a top priority.

M ABU SALEH: Not the first priority, second priority, or the third.

LONSDORF: He says there's an order.

M ABU SALEH: Jews, Christians, and then Muslims and Druze - the third.

LONSDORF: Muslims and Druze are third he says. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to strike back. Earlier today, Netanyahu visited the soccer field where the strike happened and addressed the community.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: (Speaking Hebrew).

LONSDORF: "These children are our children. They are the children of us all," he said. And he promised Israel's response will be severe. But the crowd was not sold.

(CROSSTALK)

LONSDORF: They yelled at Netanyahu to leave, go away. Twenty-eight-year-old Yazan Khater was watching Netanyahu's speech from outside the soccer field fence. He says people are frustrated that Israel isn't protecting them.

YAZAN KHATER: They have to protect us. They told the world that Golan Heights is a part of Israel. They have to put everything to defend this area.

LONSDORF: Khater's family goes back seven generations here, back when this area was part of Syria. When asked how he identifies, he says...

KHATER: So complicated to live here and to explain how we live here. It's too complicated. I identify with Golan Heights, just Golan Heights.

LONSDORF: He identifies with Golan Heights. But many people here did tell us that they see themselves as Israeli, even if they don't have citizenship. They use Israeli services, and they can travel freely throughout Israel. Twenty-two-year-old Safi Awidad stands nearby. He trembles as he talks to us. He's so upset. Awidad does have Israeli citizenship.

SAFI AWIDAD: It's not common, but it's my decision.

LONSDORF: But he says this isn't about what passport or official identification people have here.

AWIDAD: Those children also was - were Israeli citizens. They were not Syrian citizens. They are under the responsibility of this government, not any other government.

LONSDORF: Awidad says he follows the news about the war in Gaza, where kids are being killed by Israeli airstrikes almost daily. He says he's upset about that, too, and upset that identity is part of any of it.

AWIDAD: What's the use of saying, I'm from here? I'm Israeli. I'm Syrian. I don't care. What's the use of all that when children are dying? Life is precious. Life is sacred. Life should be protected.

LONSDORF: That was a sentiment shared by so many in Majdal Shams this weekend. When kids are getting killed, their citizenship shouldn't matter. Kat Lonsdorf, NPR News, Majdal Shams, in the Golan Heights.

(SOUNDBITE OF ELMIENE SONG, "MARKING MY TIME") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.