Issue 67: Blowing in the Wind
Druze opposition to a wind farm project raises more challenges for the Netanyahu government
While the week’s headlines in Israel focused more on deadly episodes the West Bank and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s continued legal troubles, there was a secondary story that for a brief moment captured the public’s attention and I believe is worth looking at.
On June 20, thousands of Druze demonstrated against a state-endorsed wind energy project that will erect 20+ wind turbines in the Golan Heights. The project is an arrangement between Israel’s Ministry of Defense and ARAN, a subsidiary of Energix Renewable Energies, and will be one of the country’s most ambitious renewable energy schemes. The project is located near Majdal Shams, the largest Druze town in the Golan Heights located near Israel’s border with Syria (see map below).
The clashes between Druze and law enforcement resulted in both injuries and arrests and even compelled Netanyahu to meet with Druze community leadership in order to calm the situation.
Who are the Druze?
Druze are an Arabic-speaking ethnoreligious group that reside in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel. Druze belong to an offshoot of Isma’ili Shi'ism but the faith’s core practices and beliefs are secret, they only marry within the faith, and have experienced centuries of persecution. Worldwide they number approximately a million members.
Approximately 150,000 Druze live in Israel, either in the Galilee or the Golan Heights. But by and large those who live in the Golan Heights (some 23,000 individuals in four towns) do not hold Israeli citizenship, preferring permanent resident status instead and maintaining ties with their community in Syria.
Like many minority communities in the Middle East, the Druze sought cooperative relationships with the ruling power in order to avoid persecution. In Israel, the Druze community achieved this by agreeing to mandatory conscription, which distinguishes them from the majority of Muslims and Christians.
In recent years, the common narrative that Jews and Druze in Israel are “brothers in arms” has been increasingly challenged.
In 2018, Druze politicians, military officers and other community leadership protested against Israel’s controversial Nation-State law, arguing that it was an insult to the sacrifices their community made in service to the country and damaged the country’s democratic values. (Note: some Druze voices didn’t say the law should be barred, but that special language should be included that highlighted the Druze’s unique status.) The law’s successful passage marked a low point for many Druze who viewed it as breaking the social contract made at the state’s founding. But those who engage in more frequent dialogue with Druze leadership understand that there has been a growing frustration within Israel’s Druze community about equal opportunities and the distribution of state resources to support their interests. Since the state’s founding the Druze population has increased tenfold but no government has approved the development of a new Druze town or city. One of the clearest signs of this broader frustration is the steady decline in Druze voter turnout.
Why do Druze oppose the construction of these wind farms?
From what has been reported, there are several factors playing a role in Druze opposition to the project.
The first element is that - as previously mentioned - Druze in the Golan Heights do not hold Israeli citizenship and therefore there is greater resistance to cooperating with state authorities. This attitude has fluctuated over the years, and since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war a greater number of Golan Heights Druze have pursued Israeli citizenship. Still, there are strong elements within the community who oppose engagement with the state, especially regarding the transfer of land ownership. Per reports, the landowners who have signed agreements with Energix are assured rent totaling millions of shekels annually for a period of 20 years, and the construction of wind turbines will inevitably bring additional infrastructure to the area (opponents claim that some of the individuals who reached agreements with Energix are not the real landowners).
There is another argument that the wind turbines will have a net negative effect on the region and its residents. The Golan Heights are an agricultural space and still sparsely populated. The expansion of wind turbine projects could damage the rural way of life that is central to Druze identity, hurt agricultural yield, and dampen the interest of tourists to visit the region.
There are of course other opposition voices against the wind farm project, predominantly coming from environmental organizations and other Golan Heights residents who cite that the farms will kill migratory birds traveling north-south along the Syrian African rift and argue that wind energy isn’t powerful enough to justify all of the negative ramifications for the region.
This is an interesting story to me for a few reasons:
NIMBY “not in my back yard” opposition towards renewable projects is a familiar phenomenon all over the world - and likely in your local community as well. But the Druze protests combines both a) NIMBY elements with b) minority relations towards the state, c) environmental arguments against renewable development and d) the additional complication that the Golan Heights Druze aren’t full citizens. It is fair to wonder how these variables will influence the negotiations (and potentially continued protests) to this project.
It is not surprising that under the current political climate in Israel other groups have seized the opportunity to protest government policy. The larger question is whether there is connective tissue - real shared values and common interests - between the various protest movements taking place in the country right now and whether the organizers will try to connect these dots.
Several readers of the last issue responded, sharing additional pieces on the subject of Gulf investments in the sports world, so I’ve decided to reshare their contributions.
“The Long Game: Saudi Arabia and Professional Golf,” by Sean L. Yom in FPRI.
“Is Saudi Arabia funding Chelsea?” by Matt Slater in The Athletic.
“Qatar to buy stake in Washington Wizards, Capitals,” Adam Lucente in Al Monitor.
I hope you find this edition’s content engaging. Please feel free share this newsletter with others.
-Gabi