Israeli Arab at C of C

Druze diplomat to speak about modern threats

Reda Mansour, a Druze Arab poet, has been entrusted by the government of Israel to forge alliances and foster understanding as consul general of Israel to the Southeast United States.

Mansour, a 42-year-old diplomat based in Atlanta, is traveling to Charleston today for a 10 a.m. talk about the threats posed by Iran and global terrorism.

An Israeli citizen, he was the country's first full-time Arab diplomat in the foreign ministry when he began his political career in 1990. Today, the ministry includes about 15 Arabs - mostly Druzes, but some Muslims and Christians, he said in an interview.

The Druze tradition began about 1,000 years ago as a mystical offshoot of Islam.

The Druzes and the Jews, both minorities in the Middle East, share a common history of persecution and marginalization. The two communities have maintained ties over the centuries.

Mansour was born in Isfiya, a village near Mount Carmel in northern Israel. The area, along with a swath of the Galilee region, is home to most of the country's Druze population. Nearly half of all Druzes live in southern and western Syria, and many more live in central Lebanon and northern Jordan, according to the Los Angeles-based Institute of Druze Studies.

The Druze population worldwide is estimated to be about 1 million.

The non-Jewish population of Israel is about 1.2 million, and Mansour has advocated integration as the only means to achieve equality between Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs.

'A majority of Israeli Arabs support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and want to remain part of Israeli society,' he wrote in an article that appeared in the Jewish newspaper the Forward in May.

'The true issues for Israeli Arabs, therefore, are integration and equal opportunity, not nationalistic goals.'

Israel often has been criticized for treating Israeli Arabs as 'second-class citizens,' he wrote. The U.S. State Department and human rights groups frequently have reported on discriminatory practices against Arab citizens, many of whom have ties to Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as abroad.

When Israel goes to war with Lebanon or Syria, Mansour said, Druze casualties are inevitable. That cold fact troubles the diplomat.

Still, he said, he considers himself first an Israeli and then a Druze Arab. His loyalties and his conscience are clear, he said.

Like the majority of Israeli government officials, Mansour considers himself secular, at least when it comes to politics. He has practiced secular politics as a diplomat in Equador and Portugal before settling into his Atlanta post. He speaks five languages: Hebrew, Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish and English. He writes poetry in Hebrew.

Mansour said that Americans tend to see Israel 'through a lens of values and faith.'

'A lot of times they don't want to debate political issues in terms of right and wrong' - that is, in secular and moralistic terms. He has found support for Israel among Americans to reach about 70 percent, with only about 10 percent openly supporting the Palestinian cause, he said.

Europeans, instead, are more involved in the issues, he said. 'They have something to say almost every day.'

As an Israeli, Mansour said he prefers to receive unconditional support, citing the particular sensitivity Jews have toward criticism because of a long history of persecution and the regular threats Israel receives to its survival.

This sensitivity, made acute by the effects of the Holocaust, has caused many Israelis to speak out against Iran's anti-Israel rhetoric, Holocaust denial and nuclear program, Mansour said.

Holocaust survivors know that their own catastrophe began with small, mundane changes in laws and attitudes that most people ignored for too long, he said.

As for recent talk in Israel about withdrawing from the West Bank, that's not likely to happen unless Israel can ensure that Palestinians won't use the end of the occupation as an excuse to fire rockets into Israel, Mansour said.

After Israel withdrew its military from Gaza two years ago, Palestinian fighters launched crude Qassam rockets and other explosives into Israel, especially into the town of Sderot, which sits a few miles from Gaza City.

'The things we see in Gaza do not allow us to change our actions in (the West Bank),' Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said last week, according to news reports, explaining it would take 2 1/2 years to develop and deploy a defense system.

Mansour echoed Barak, saying disengagement from the West Bank is not imminent.

'Nobody of a sane mind would just leave the West Bank knowing rockets will follow you,' he said.

When Palestinians resist the occupation by threatening and killing civilians, either through rocket attacks or suicide bombing, it undermines their moral argument as victims, Mansour said.

The goal isn't only liberation, he said. 'The goal is the total destruction of the other side. This mix of nationalism and blind religious ideologies makes it difficult to accept that the occupation started all this.'

Since the 1967 Six-Day War, when Israel first took control of the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinian society has deteriorated dramatically, according to numerous historical accounts. Roadblocks, curfews and other restrictions have been widely imposed on the population, lands have been seized and ongoing military incursions have terrified local residents as authorities search for and arrest suspected terrorists.

Early attempts at some form of reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians consistently have been undermined by both sides.

Most notably in recent years, Palestinian suicide bombing and Israeli settlements have corroded any good will among negotiators, observers agree.

Mansour said he recognizes that a strong military response to terrorism must be coupled with proactive diplomatic efforts to prevent the next generation from turning to terrorism.

The Oslo Accords, finalized in 1993, signaled the first mutual recognition of nationalistic identity and nationalistic goals, Mansour said.

What's needed now is for both sides to recognize that violence cannot pave the way toward peace.

Famous Druzes

Kamal Jumblatt, founder of the Lebanese Progressive Socialist Party and a major thinker and philosopher; his son Walid Jumblatt is active in Lebanese politics.

Salah Tarif, former captain in the paratrooper and the tank divisions of the Israeli Army, and Knesset member since 1992.

Col. Imad Fares, commander of the Givati Brigade of the Israeli Army 2001-03.

Maj. Gen. Hussain Fares, commander of the Israel Border Police.

Lt. Gen. Salim Slim, commander of the Lebanese Judiciary Police.

Casey Kasem, radio announcer, born Kamal Amin Kasem to Lebanese Druze immigrants to the United States. About 50,000 Druzes live in the United States.

Sultan Pasha al-Atrash, leader of the revolution against the French occupation of Lebanon and Syria in the 1920s.

Mohammed Nafah, secretary general of the Israeli Communist Party Maki.

Majalli Wahabi, deputy speaker of the Knesset, appointed as acting president of Israel in February of 2007.

The Druzes

The Druzes are a Middle Eastern minority group that originated in 11th-century Cairo as an Islamic reform movement.

Most live today in the mountainous regions of Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Jordan.

Early Druzes resolved to abolish slavery, prohibit polygamy and separate church and state. The Druze religion is monotheistic and draws on esoteric and mystical practices, as well as Greek philosophy.

Society is dualistic, structured into two main classes. The 'initiated' are those familiar with the religious teachings (a minority); the 'uninitiated' are not privy to the complexities of Druze religious doctrine. Women are considered to be more spiritually prepared than men and less likely to be exposed to deviant or immoral practices.

Although Druzes are secretive about their theology, it is known that they believe in one God and a number of prophets: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. They revere Jethro, the non-Jewish father-in-law of Moses, and make an annual pilgrimage to his tomb at the Horns of Hittin.

Source: Institute of Druze Studies, University of California

Reach Adam Parker at 937-5902 or aparker@postandcourier.com.