Mourning the Children Killed in Majdal Shams
Along with fate, the Druze belief in reincarnation is powerful and provides comfort now. The Druze see a body as merely the soul’s repository—so much so that even after burying a child, a person never again visits the gravesite.
“That they’re living new lives inside the bodies of kids born now—this gives us strength and patience,” said Ameer Braik, an uncle of one victim, Hazem Abu Saleh, 15. Hazem’s cousin Fajr, 15, was murdered at the field, too.
“We believe that when a Druze child dies, he goes to other Druze parents,” said Ivan Ibraheem, Milar Shaar’s cousin. I asked whether he believes that Milar’s soul has already entered another family’s baby. “Yes,” he said. “I hope those parents treat him as well as we treated him.”