A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Friday, July 23, 2010

World Druze Congress in Lebanon includes Israelis

The Druze don't turn up here much, with only five posts under that topic, though one was less than two weeks ago, and of course, Walid Bey has his own category. But we've now had a major World Druze Congress in Lebanon, with 840 delegates from 37 countries, including 35 from Israel, who of course needed some diplomacy to get there.

I hope we learn more about this pan-national Druze Congress. The Druze are — more or less by their own choice — little understood because of the secretive and esoteric nature of trhier faith, but they are a cohesive and distinct group in those countries where they have a significant presence: Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan.

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