Source: The Washington Times
Wire Service: AFP
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20040831-103418-2397r.htm
On September 1, 2004 Agence France-Presse reported, "Israel's Supreme Court this week authorized members of the country's Druze religious community for the first time to make a pilgrimage to Syria, which is officially at war with the Jewish state, judicial sources said. The judges ruled Monday that the group would be allowed to remain on Syrian soil for a maximum of 72 hours. The success of their trip will be studied before the court makes a definitive ruling on any future visits. The names of all the Druze who want to travel to Syria will have to be submitted for the approval of Israeli security services. They will then be transmitted by the International Committee of the Red Cross to authorities in Damascus, Syria. The judges also ruled that the Druze who travel to Syria must not try and visit Lebanon, which also has a sizable Druze minority but is also still technically at war with Israel. Druze who are reservists in the Israeli army or parents of army officers will not be allowed to go to Syria, the judicial sources said. It will be the first time since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 that any of its citizens have been allowed to travel to Syria. The Druze, whose religion grew out of a schism with Islam dating from the 11th century, have nearly a million adherents worldwide, mostly in Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Jordan."