Ex-Israeli jailer defends Arab prisoners
Yamin Zeidan, an Israeli Druse, once proudly worked as an Israeli jailer, locking up Arab prisoners, until he performed an ideological somersault and became their lawyer.
“Zeidan is an Israeli Druse – an Arabic-speaking sect that serves in Israel’s army and has traditionally been fiercely loyal to the Jewish state but increasingly finds itself marginalised and identifying with the mainstream Arab minority.
The criticism remains muted, and the vast majority of Druse, including Zeidan, say they want equality with Jewish citizens, not a break from Israel. However, the loss of confidence raises a troubling question: If the Jewish state cannot win the hearts of its most loyal minority, will any of Israel’s non-Jews ever feel they belong?
Zeidan, like his two older brothers and almost all other Druse males of his age, planned to join the Israeli army when he turned 18. However, three months before he was to be drafted in 1996, a Hezbollah sniper killed his 22-year-old brother Saleh. His only other brother, Fuad, was killed by a Palestinian fighter in the West Bank years earlier.”
Source: http://archive.gulfnews.com/region/Middle_East/10297319.html
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