As much as Syria has been divided by conflict in the last year, so has the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, a place where people still consider themselves Syrians.
The Israeli army captured the strategic land mass that overlooks southern Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and its border with that country remains tightly controlled.
The violence in Syria is closely watched by residents here, with many televisions tuned to Syrian television stations for the latest news.
Many people living along the Golan still have relatives in Syria, so emotions run high.
There are even rallies on the Israeli-controlled side of the border supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad in communities like the Druze town of Majdal Shams.
“Assad is well educated,” Hassan Baradin says in Arabic. “Good for Syria.”
Another Assad supporter, Nahi Abusaleh, says Assad is killing people to defend himself and it’s the others (opposition) who are doing the killing.
“We will never be against him.”
One man shouted in Arabic that the people against Assad are “terrible” and are collaborators with Syria’s foreign enemies.
But not everyone in the community backs Assad, leaving Majdal Shams bitterly divided.
Opposing sides rallied on the same day recently and it turned violent.
And, many who oppose the Syrian dictator are afraid to speak openly, fearing reprisals against their relatives still living in the country.
“Because he is a killer . . . he is a killer,” one unidentified man said.
But even the people who oppose Assad admit it’s impossible to defeat him militarily.
“To defeat him by arms means to get into civil war,” says anti-Assad activist Salman Flhadeen.
With a report from CTV Middle East Bureau Chief Martin Seemungal
