Wide criticism on an Israeli reporter who described the Druze of the occupied Golan Heights as not Israelis

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A correspondent for Channel 12 described the Druze in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights as “not Israeli citizens,” prompting criticism and accusations of contempt for this community, according to Israeli media on Sunday.

The Golan Heights, located in southwestern Syria and of great strategic importance, has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 war and annexed in 1981, in a move that hasn’t been recognized by the United Nations, which recognizes the territory as part of the Syria.

According to Maariv newspaper, Sunday, that the correspondent of the channel 12, Avri Gilad said, during his coverage of a statement by Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari on the incident in the town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights last Saturday, that “the Druze aren’t Israeli citizens”.

While Hagari was saying, “Israeli citizens are from the Druze town of Majdal Shams,” Gilad interrupted him by saying that they “weren’t Israeli citizens,” without knowing that his microphone was unlocked.

On the other hand, Druze activists from the Golan and Israelis criticized Gilad’s comment on social media, accusing him of contempt for the Druze community.

Israeli activist Alon Lev wrote on X, “On the day that 12 children die, it’s not necessary to clarify who is Israeli and who isn’t”.

Responding to these criticisms, Gilad wrote on X, “When Hagari said in a broadcast from the scene of the massacre that the dead were Israeli citizens, I said they weren’t Israeli citizens… I didn’t know the microphone was open and everyone was listening, but that’s simply the truth”.

“Most of Majdal Shams residents aren’t Israeli citizens, but that doesn’t diminish the bitter pain of the death of innocent children playing football,” he added on his post on X.

Most of the Druze of the Golan don’t have Israeli citizenship, but hold permanent residence IDs (blue IDs) similar to those held by Palestinians in the occupied city of East Jerusalem.

During Donald Trump’s presidency of the United States, he recognized in March 2019 what it claimed was Israeli sovereignty over the Golan, the only country to have taken this step.

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