In an effort to build nonsectarian institutions in a village fraught with communal tensions, French architecture students are studying how Druze and Christians avoid each other in the mountain village of Salima, Lebanon. The Druze are a distinct and exclusive minority group concentrated in the mountain areas of Lebanon, Syria and northern Israel. Druze identity is centered on the Druze religion, started in the 9th century C.E. as a monotheistic splinter from Islam, and about which relatively little is known. The Druze do not accept converts, only marry other Druze, rarely leave the faith, and keep their religious doctrines and practices secret.See Spotlight Article
