In escalating war zone, Druze village has a message: Hope and peace
The first thing you notice in Beit Jann is the smiles.
Cheerful hellos, animated across-the-street waves, gentle needling and in-jokes – you would be hard-pressed to tell that these are people living on the front lines of an escalating war.
On Thursday, less than two weeks after a pair of rockets from Lebanon hit the outskirts of this mountain village in northern Israel, residents were busy building homes, renovating streets, hitting the gym, and inviting friends and strangers to lunch. And all amid analysts’ concerns that an Israel-Hezbollah war could erupt and place their village in the firing line.
“There is concern and insecurity, but there is also something stronger: hope and peace,” says Beit Jann’s energetic mayor, Radi Najm, making his daily rounds.
Residents say they are living an example of hope, insisting on a peaceful future, even as the entire region is gripped by uncertainty and escalating violence. They believe their peaceful coexistence with Jews, Muslims, and Christians could be a template for easing enmity among neighboring countries mere miles away.
Beit Jann’s residents are Druze, an Arab religious minority found across the Levant whose roots here date back centuries. They are active members in Israeli society and serve in the army.
Sprawling over nine oak- and cherry-tree-dotted hills across the Mount Meron range, 7 miles from Lebanon, today this village of 13,000 is one of the last inhabited communities this far north in Israel.
Instead, they want people to come.
“We want everyone to come here, try our hospitality, and experience the peacefulness among these mountains,” resident Suzan says as she takes her toddler to school. (She declined to offer her last name.)
Located in the heart of a nature reserve that had been witnessing a tourism revival, Beit Jann normally sees thousands of weekend visitors: bird-watchers, backpackers, and couples looking for a romantic getaway in one of its dozens of guesthouses.
This weekend, no visitors were to be seen.