Emil Masud is an Arab Druze who identifies as “forever Syrian,” and Ofer Megged is an Israeli settler in the contested Golan Heights. They might seem unlikely partners, but a fight to save the environment against Israeli big business has thrust Masud, a local farmer, and Megged, a physics professor, into a burgeoning alliance that is shifting mutual perceptions between the Golan’s Druze and Jews.
“Our lands will be destroyed," Masud told Al-Monitor at his family home in Masa'de. "We cannot allow this disaster to happen. Druze, Jews, [there is] no difference. We have joined hands against a common enemy to stop it.”