World Jewish News
3 Druse charged with espionage
05.08.2010, Israel and the World The Northern District's Prosecutor's office indicted Majed Sha'ar, 58, his son Fada, 27, and Mahmoud Masarwa, 62, on charges of espionage on Thursday.
The three have been charged with relaying classified information to a former Majdal Shams resident who moved to Syria and works with the Syrian government.
The three also agreed to help the man extradite a pilot who had escaped from Syria to Israel.
Earlier in July, Israeli forces entered the home of Fada Sha’ar of Majdal Shams, a Druse village in the Golan, to conduct a search and make arrests.
Before long, more than 1,000 villagers surrounded the home and refused to allow the officers to leave. Police dispatched a negotiations team that spoke with village elders, and the conflict ended peacefully.
Sha'ar's father protested the arrest, saying his son was innocent, and involved in music, which connects human beings with no nationality or language. The father was arrested two days later.
Soon after, Masarwa, followed by Sha'ar's mother Mona Sha'ar, 46, were arrested as well.
Unlike Israeli Druse, almost all the residents of Majdal Shams and the three other Druse villages on the Golan Heights identify themselves as Syrians.
JPost.com
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