A Former Friend

When Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 war, no one was more outspokenly friendly toward the occupiers than Sheik Kamal Kanj. A leader of the Druse, an esoteric sect that broke away from Islam in the 11th century, and a former member of the Syrian Parliament, Kanj had Israel's Deputy Premier Yigal Allon as an overnight guest in his home in the village of Majdal Shams. Defense Minister Moshe Dayan once dined with Kanj in the village. Kanj was so intent on maintaining good relations with Israel that when younger members of the community held a memorial march for Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser last autumn, the sheik publicly chastised them.

But a few months ago, Kanj's attitude visibly changed. He began making visits and long phone calls to Arabs on the West Bank. In a eulogy for a village elder, he said: "We Druse are an inseparable part of the Arab nation."

One day last month, a detachment of Israeli soldiers and police surrounded Kanj's spacious villa and took him into custody. Also arrested was a sergeant-major in the Syrian army, reportedly a frequent visitor to the house. Last week Israeli officials revealed that Kanj and four others, all Druse, will be tried next month on charges of collecting military information for Syria.

Less than a year ago, Kanj, 55, was tried in absentia by a Syrian court for collaboration with Israel and sentenced to 18 months in prison. He is said to have told his interrogators that the Damascus government had recently begun putting pressure on members of his family still living in Syria. His brother is the military commander of the Damascus area, a top post in the Syrian army.

The sheik's arrest shocked Israel's 35,000-member Druse community. "It would be better to die than for the village to see this disgrace!" said an elder. Israeli reaction, by contrast, was markedly mild. Both Shmuel Toledano, adviser to Prime Minister Golda Meir on Arab affairs, and Opposition Leader Menahem Begin last week cautioned Israelis not to judge Kamal Kanj before he is tried.

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