Growing up as a Druze in Israel is not something you simply “experience”—it’s something you carry. It stays with you like a second heartbeat. On one side, you belong to an ancient, secretive faith that has survived a thousand years by staying small, loyal, and deeply rooted in tradition. On the other side, you are fully Israeli—shaped by democracy, by military service, by the chaotic energy of this country where everyone has an opinion and no one knows how to whisper.
It’s a strange dance: village life versus modern life; old customs alongside a society that encourages you to question everything. Some days you feel like an olive tree planted on a mountain. Other days you feel pulled into the fast current of Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Jerusalem—into a world moving a hundred kilometers an hour. But that mix, that clash, that fusion—it’s what forms you.
I didn’t always appreciate it like now. Only later—much later, after October 7—did I realize what this identity truly meant, and who was actually standing between us and the darkness.
A Small People in a Dangerous Neighborhood
The Druze are a tiny minority in the Middle East—about one million in total. We’re scattered between Israel, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. But the only Druze in the region who live with real freedom of religion, equal civil rights, and genuine state protection are the Druze of Israel.
That’s not a political statement. That’s reality.
In Lebanon, Druze communities survive by navigating militias and clan politics. In Syria, for decades, Druze lived cautiously under the Assad regime. But, after the regime’s collapse, things got far worse: Islamist factions filled the vacuum, and the Druze suddenly found themselves exposed with no reliable state to protect them.
Meanwhile, Israeli Druze—my people—serve in the IDF, hold government office, run businesses, teach, lead, and speak freely without fear.
Israeli Druze girls send satellites to space; Syrian Druze girls get kidnapped and sold as sex slaves. And, in “Palestine,” they won’t even let us live.
The only Druze in the region who live with real freedom of religion, equal civil rights, and genuine state protection are the Druze of Israel.
That contrast didn’t fully hit me until I saw what was happening across the border. After October 7: Syria falls apart, and the Druze are hunted again. They tried to literally exterminate them all!
While the world focused on Israel after the October 7 massacre, Syria went through a transformation that most Western readers have no idea happened. The Assad regime finally collapsed under years of war and economic ruin. And into that vacuum stepped Ahmed al-Sharaa, known as Abu Muhammad al-Golani—the former leader of Jabhat al-Nusra, with deep roots in al-Qaeda-linked militias.
Backed by powerful Muslim clans and remnants of ISIS and al-Qaeda, al-Golani took control of large parts of Syria. And, very quickly, the Druze and Christian communities found themselves in the crosshairs.
Quiet villages in the Suwayda and Jabal al-Druze region suddenly faced:
- Extremist militias
- Forced conversions
- Violent raids
- Kidnappings
- Executions
- Pressure to submit or flee
It was the same old Middle Eastern pattern: a minority living peacefully; suddenly Islam goes unchecked, free and in numbers, and, all of a sudden, the other is treated like an obstacle to be removed. It’s religion. It’s the “will of Allah.”
Honestly, New Yorkers should be very careful with your new mayor. Don’t say we didn’t warn you. Everything about him screams Muslim Brotherhood—silent jihad—but I know New Yorkers won’t listen to our warnings—the ones from the Middle East who truly know this danger. Well, at least I’ll know I warned them.
Back to our story. And again, the world didn’t care. No U.N. meetings. No human rights campaigns. No headlines. Silence.
Realizing Who Actually Protects Minorities in This Region
As I watched what was happening to my people across the border, something inside me snapped. I found myself advocating not only for my Jewish brothers and sisters here in Israel, who were slaughtered on October 7, but also for Druze and Christians in Syria—people whose faces I will never know, but whose fate I felt in my bones.
Because the truth became painfully clear: The only Druze in the Middle East who are safe… are the Druze who live under the protection of the State of Israel.
Not because Israel is perfect—not because everything is easy—but because Israel protects its minorities. Actively. Consistently. Sometimes at a heavy cost.
The Day Israel Stepped In
Then came the moment that sealed everything for me. When al-Golani’s forces and allied jihadist groups moved armored vehicles toward Druze communities near Khadr, preparing for a massacre, it wasn’t the U.N. that reacted.
It wasn’t the Arab world. It wasn’t Europe. It was Israel.
Under direct orders from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Air Force struck the armored convoys and disrupted the assault. Israeli pilots flew into Syrian airspace—not for Jews, not for Israeli citizens, but for Druze in a foreign country, an enemy country.
Israel saved them. Israel stopped what would have been the next Yazidi-style genocide. Israel acted when the world shrugged. And that was the day I understood—fully and without hesitation—who stands between my people and extinction.
A Loyalty that Flows Both Ways
People sometimes ask, “Why are the Druze so loyal to Israel? Why do they serve in the IDF in such high numbers?”
The answer is simple: Because Israel is our home. Our country. Israel protects us. We protect it. Not in speeches. Not in theories. In action.
Israel didn’t save the Druze in Syria because they were Israeli. Israel saved them because it was the right thing to do. Because minorities matter here. Because human life matters. And that loyalty flows both ways.
Why I Became a Voice
After October 7, after the rise of al-Golani, after watching the Middle East threaten yet another small minority, I made a decision: I will not stay silent. I will use my channel on YouTube and other platforms—my podcast; my advocacy.
To be a voice to minority’s in a world where the small are voiceless, the majority play victims, and bully the minority to submission.
Look at Islam worldwide and then go ask New Yorkers who are the victims in the Middle East: they will think it’s Muslims. Ask their new mayor and he will say Israel is the problem—meanwhiles Israel is the solution! We all know it here: we the minorities are the ones who truly need saving.
So CNN won’t cover us; the New York Times will not talk about us; Colombia University will teach its students that the Druze and the Jews are the problem in the Middle East meanwhile protecting the Muslims who are trying to exterminate us. This I can’t allow and I will use my humble platform to advocate for truth and real peace just like the Druze and the Jews have. And that’s a real peace! I know it I feel it.
Not because I’m special—but because I can. Because I live in a country where I am allowed to speak. Because my family is safe. Because my religion survives. Because Israel protects what other countries destroy.
Minorities in this region survive only in one place: Israel. In all the other places, they get systematically erased.
And I felt a duty—an obligation—to use my voice for those who cannot: the Druze. The Christians. The Yazidis. Every small community that extremist movements want erased from the map.
Why I’m Writing This for a Western Audience
The West often misunderstands our region. They think Israel is the powerful bully and everyone else is the victim. But the Middle East is not a story of “strong versus weak.” It’s a story of who survives.
And minorities in this region survive only in one place: Israel. In all the other places, they get systematically erased.
So I write this for Americans, for New Yorkers; for anyone who thinks they understand the Middle East from TikTok videos.
If Israel falls, minorities fall with it. If Israel retreats, extremists advance. If Israel disappears, so do we.
My Simple Truth
I am proud to be Druze. I am proud to be Israeli. And I know exactly who stands between my people and annihilation.
Israel didn’t just give me freedom—it gave my people a future.
Yours,
Mansor Ashkar
A father
A YouTuber
A former officer in the IDF
