The Druze are a large ethnic and religious group in northern Israel which has been there for hundreds of years. They have not been "oppressed" or "dispossessed" by the Israelis. The Druze are allowed to have their own courts, full voting rights, and are allowed to serve in in the IDF. The Druze have been loyal to the Israeli government since its inception, and the Israeli government has treated them accordingly.
The big difference is that the Druze were, and are, a tiny minority. There are about 80,000 of them today (out of a total Israeli population of 6 million or so). There's no discussion about the Druze "demography problem" in Israel, because there isn't one.
At the time of partition, the UN partion plan would have created a Palestinian state with 804,000 Palestinians and 10,000 Jews, and a Jewish state with 538,000 Jews and 397,000 Arabs. It's easy to see the demographic problem there, and Jewish leaders talked extensively about the problem of a Jewish state with near equal numbers of Jews and Arabs.
In fact, the right of return, which Israel has fought so hard against ever since, is exactly the same problem as was presented at partition. You cannot have a "Jewish, democratic state" (which is what Israel defines itself as) unless you have a substantial Jewish majority. The Druze have never been a threat to that, the Palestinians most definately are.
Contrast this to Israeli "treatment" of the Palestinians. Palestinians who are permanent residents within Israel elect members to the Knesset, have voting rights, and yet do not serve in the IDF.
Some of them do, of course. The majority don't.
Why is that? Because they refuse to. There is a great deal of resentment toward Palestinians who refuse to take part in the defense of the nation and yet expect full voting rights. The Israelis complain, with some justification in my opinion, that it is unfair for them to delay their own start in productive adult life with three years of compulsory military service, and yet the Palestinian citizens are not bound by the same regulations and still are allowed to vote.
And yet there's another group in Israel that doesn't serve in the IDF, by and large, and that's the Haredim, ultra orthodox Jews. Rather than suspicion and discrimination, they receive extra support from the state.
The point is the Israelis, while often dealing with Palestinians in occupied areas with a heavy hand, have made numerous attempts to reconcile their differences with Palestinians permanently settled within Israel and incorporate them into the national structure.
Again, the difference being that they are much smaller in number. There are about a million of them, just under 20% of the Israeli population, and even then they are subject to extensive discrimination (both by the state and private businesses). It's only in the last couple of years that it's become illegal for state agencies to refuse to sell or lease land to Palestinians, for example.
The problem for the Palestinians (ie the residents of the West Bank and Gaza who are not Israeli citizens) is that they live on land that Israel wants, and controls, but they are far too numerous for Israel to absorb and remain a Jewish state. The numbers arean't totally clear, but on all the land Israel controls today (Israel itself, Gaza, the West Bank and Golan) Jews make up only about half the population. If it was to become one country with democracy for all, Jews would either be in a minority now, or very soon.
Nashwan they actually said *illegal force*. Watch the vid
Just watched that part, they say "colonised by illegal force". That's true, if overblown, because using force to take colonies is illegal under the GC.
