Of the 12 children killed by a Hezbollah missile in the Druze town of Majdal Shams last month, three were members of the HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed (NOAL) youth movement. Finis Adham Safadi, Alma Ayman Fakhr al-Din, and John Wadie Ibrahim, who were killed in the attack, were fifth graders in the ken, and were part of the 1,000 members of NOAL’s Druze sector. The attack came during the height of summer activities, hiking trips, and seminars, one of which was meant to take place the week after the attack. Instead of carrying out the planned activities, the Majdal Shams branch of NOAL immediately shifted to providing a space for local youth to mourn their friends.
NOAL is one of Israel’s largest youth movements, providing values-based informal educational activities to around 100,000 youth in fourth through twelfth grade. Originally founded in 1924 as a way for working youth to collectively defend their rights in the workplace, today, the organization sets out to promote youth responsibility over Israeli society and has branches in Israel’s Jewish, Arab, and Druze sectors.
“We haven't experienced such an event in 100 years,” Samir Asad, coordinator of NOAL’s Druze sector, told Davar of the Hezbollah attack. Since the Druze community is so tight-knit, he said, “whatever part of it you touch, it rings out everywhere: in the Carmel region, in the Galilee, in Syria and in Lebanon.”
The Majdal Shams NOAL chapter, which was established ten years ago, has about 200 members, eight post-high school national service volunteers, and a coordinator—all from Majdal Shams.
Asad said that NOAL’s success in Majdal Shams was not to be taken for granted. Many community members had reservations about the organization, which describes its foundational values as the equality of human value, democracy, Zionism, peace, and social justice. It took a long time to build trust between NOAL and the remote Druze town, he said.
“Now, in the midst of this tragedy, everyone is seeing what the youth movement really is—the education for social engagement, the caring and the concern are showing results,” he explained. “Lots of counselors are supporting parents and children, and the appearance of the movement as another family, is succeeding to reach the whole community and show that the youth movement chapter is a home.”
Asad has met with the counselors and coordinators every day since the disaster. One of the main volunteers lost her cousin in the attack, and she has been unable to speak because of her distress. The coordinator and another counselor were among the first to arrive at the scene to treat the wounded.
The trauma experienced by the children and youth of the community is evident everywhere, and youth wander the town with tears in their eyes. The missile hit the community while playgrounds and streets were buzzing with youth, and there is hardly a child who did not witness the scene with their own eyes.
“Our challenge is not the concern and fear of what will happen, but the trauma of what has already happened,” Asad said. “We have a heavy responsibility today as leaders to be able to come to our senses and see how we can support our members now and move past this event.”
Asad described how today’s political discourse is leading to inncreased extremism among youth. Several politicians have visited Majdal Shams in the aftermath of the attack, often being met by shouting and harsh criticism. Since the beginning of the war, NOAL activity in Majdal Shams has taken place only in buildings equipped with bomb shelters, which are sorely lacking in the community.
Among Majdal Shams youth, Asad said, “the vast majority is dissatisfied with what is happening in the country, especially the performance of the national leadership. This dissatisfaction continues in the wake of this disaster. Our job is to provide guidance for healing and to look after things.”
Since the attack, youth members of NOAL in Majdal Shams and the nearby Druze towns of Mas’ade and Buq’ata have been gathering in the evenings for support circles. NOAL members have also been active in the public mourning space. Rabeea Bhsas, a youth educator for the Druze NOAL chapters of the Golan Heights, leads the nightly youth gatherings.
Bhsas expressed hope that youth gatherings like this can help the community move forward from the trauma. Yet he does not diminish the weight of bereavement, pain, and great uncertainty into which the community’s youth have been plunged. “Moving on from this disaster will take a lot of time, but things are already better than yesterday,” he told Davar.
He is already thinking about what the NOAL chapter can be for Majdal Shams as the community heals. “I want to understand how we will build trust with the youth and parents to leave the house and come to the NOAL chapter again,” he said. “Today I want to be the place where a child can break down and cry, but also laugh.”
This recent missile attack, while agonizing, has not been the only crisis faced by Majdal Shams and other northern communities. Bhsas emphasized that the attack was one of many incidents in the past ten months of fighting. One of the difficulties of life in the north is the realization that the situation is not likely to improve in the coming months, he said.
The leadership team of the chapter will meet this week, following the days of mourning, to plan a gathering for as many local NOAL participants as possible together with their parents.
“Support and openness are important even now in the midst of the fighting,” Bhsas said. “The strength that our coordinators and counselors have is their deep familiarity and closeness to the youth—this is the most important tool we have.”