Hanoar Hadruzi youth movement was founded in 2001. Its activities were initially limited and it is currently active in all Druze localities in Israel.
The youth movement upholds instilling the values of Druze tradition and heritage, of Israeli pride, love of country and good citizenship. It educates towards universal human values such as truth, morality and justice, while underscoring equality between human beings, as well as human dignity and human freedoms.
Hanoar Hadruzi activities are conducted in local chapters and in schools. In addition to ongoing activity the members take part in extensive summer activity that includes camps, field trips, overnight summer camps and training seminars for qualifying counselors. The youth movement places an emphasis on maintaining contact with its graduates who continue to help in its activities.
In recent years Hanoar Hadruzi youth movement began to operate in the framework of a national Shnat Sherut (Service Year), with graduates mobilizing to take part in the youth movement’s activities and devoting one year to this undertaking.
Hanoar Hadruzi places an emphasis on providing a solution to after-school activities, and therefore the chapters are open several times a week and provide a range of activities for children and youth. The chapter coordinators are qualified teachers and serve as key educating figures in the youth movement.
At the core of the youth movement’s educational outlook is the belief that Hanoar Hadruzi provides an opportunity for the development of pioneers and leaders in various areas of life. The founders maintain that change will be engendered by cultivating a proud Israeli Druze consciousness alongside the values of the tradition which preserved the spiritual existence of the Druze sect for hundreds of years. The two components which Hanoar Hadruzi seeks to cultivate, that of the Druze and Israeli identity, will be unified into one overarching value whose components will be inseparable. Army service is the main feature of Druze life in Israel, and therefore Hanoar Hadruzi youth movement encourages suitable preparation and proper guidance towards service in the IDF.
