Golan Heights' Druze to Hold Mass Strike Against Israeli Elections on Wednesday - Reports
Residents of the Golan Heights who refuse to recognize Israeli control over these lands and remain loyal to Syrian authorities have announced that they will hold a mass strike on Wednesday to protest the municipal elections in local villages, inhabited by the Druze minority, media reported on Tuesday.
According to Syrian state-run Sana news agency, residents of Golan Heights land that came under Israeli jurisdiction after the 1967 Six-Day War are against Israel's efforts to "Judaize" the mountainous plateau.
On Tuesday, Israel holds municipal elections all across the country, including, for the first time, in several Druze villages in the Golan Heights. Israelis will elect local councils of deputies and mayors of major cities such as Jerusalem.
According to media reports, hundreds of Druze Arabs tried to block the entrance to the polling place in Majdal Shams, a town with the largest Druze community in the area, earlier in the day.
Israeli police used tear gas to disperse the crowd in order the clear a path for voters.
Israel took control over the Syrian Golan Heights during the Six-Day War, which broke out in June 1967. After over a decade of managing the territory through a military administration, Israel de facto annexed the Golan Heights in 1981, adopting a law to extend the country's jurisdiction over the area. This move has not been internationally recognized.
Over 20,000 Druze live in the Golan Heights. Israel is trying to further integrate them and has offered them citizenship. Despite this, however, many locals continue to identify themselves as Syrian nationals.