Druze

Druze are an Arabic speaking religious community in the Middle East. The Druze live mostly in Southern Syria followed by Lebanon and Israel. There are smaller Druze communities in Jordan and Idlib Province of Syria.

Origin of the Druze

Druze are heterogeneous by origin. They have diverse roots from Middle East and North Africa. This theory is supported by genetic studies.[1]

Kurdish Connection

A significant part of Druze people are of Kurdish origin.

  • Jumblatt Family is Kurdish by background.[2]
  • The name of Imad family comes from Kurdish town of Amedi in Southern Kurdistan (KRG)
  • Atrash (or Atrach) family is thought to have roots in Atrosh area in Southern Kurdistan.
  • Sons of Ma’n or Maan affirm Kurdish origins.[3]

In addition to these Lebanese and South Syrian families above, there are Druze villages in Idlib Province in Northwestern Syria. The villagers claim and proven to have Kurdish ancestry, although they are linguistically arabized.[4] Since the beginning of Syrian Civil War, systematic attacks by the Free Syrian Army and al-Qaeda [5] forced the Druze to leave Idlib for the regime-held Latakia and Kurdish Afrin Canton.

References

  1. Family Tree DNA
  2. Walid Joumblatt’s Twitter account
  3. Aramco World
  4. http://www.lokmanafrin.com/jkurd.htm
  5. BBC