The spiritual leader of the Druze community in Suwayda (southern Syria), Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, used the term “Mount Bashan” instead of Suwayda, or its common designation, “Jabal al-Arab” (Mountain of the Arabs), in a message outlining his demands, published on Saturday, October 11.

In his letter addressed to the UN Secretary-General, members of the Security Council, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Arab League, and Amnesty International, al-Hijri said that “Mount Bashan” (the Hebrew name for Jabal al-Arab) has been “under a severe and comprehensive siege for months, threatening the lives of civilians.”

The meaning of “Mount Bashan”

The term “Mount Bashan” is a historical Hebrew toponym for Jabal al-Arab and means “a flat or level land.” It refers to a region in the ancient land of Canaan (a civilization that existed between 3000 and 1200 BCE), located east of the Jordan River between Mount Hermon (Jabal al-Sheikh in Syria) and Gilead (an ancient name for the Ajloun mountains in northwestern Jordan).

Bashan was named after a mountain in that region and is mentioned several times in the Book of Psalms in the Torah (the Hebrew Bible) under four forms: “the mountain of God, Mount Bashan; a many-peaked mountain, Mount Bashan.”

According to the Bible Encyclopedia, Bashan “included the Hauran, the Golan, and al-Lajat regions, all composed of volcanic rock and fertile soil, with abundant water sources. Wheat, barley, sesame, corn, lentils, and vetch were cultivated there.”

Illustration of Mount Bashan’s location (Encyclopedia Britannica)

As the encyclopedia notes, Bashan was bordered by the lands of Damascus to the north, the Syrian Desert to the east, Gilead to the south, and the Jordan Valley to the west. Its eastern side was traversed by what is now known as Jabal al-Druze, the ancient Mount Bashan itself.

Bashan is mentioned about 60 times in the Torah.

“Arrow of Bashan” and Israeli intervention in Syria

Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Israel has named its operations against Syria “Operation Arrow of Bashan.” According to Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in a previous statement, Israel has conducted nearly a thousand airstrikes that destroyed around 80% of Syria’s military capabilities and carried out about 400 ground incursions into Syrian territory.

In March, during the events in Sahnaya and Jaramana (near Damascus), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the army to prepare to defend Jaramana, predominantly inhabited by Druze and located three kilometers from central Damascus, against the new Syrian government.

Netanyahu and Katz said they would not allow harm to come to the Druze community: “We have instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare and send a strong and clear warning: if the regime harms the Druze, we will harm it.”

Al-Hijri States His Demands: What Is Happening in Suwayda Is “Genocide”

The statement stressed that Israel is committed to protecting the Druze in Syria: “We will take all necessary measures to ensure their safety.”

Amid the “Suwayda events” last July, Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, the Druze spiritual leader in Israel, and Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri both called for Israeli intervention against government forces.

In a statement addressed to former U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, al-Hijri urged them to save Suwayda from what he described as “the oppressive and tyrannical ruling clique,” saying, “We can no longer coexist with a regime that knows only iron and fire, and whose authority is based solely on oppression and brutality.”

Following al-Hijri’s statement, Israel targeted Syrian army positions near Suwayda and across southern Syria, as well as the General Staff building at Umayyad Square in Damascus and areas near the presidential palace.