Majdal Shams

Majdal Shams (Arabic: مجدل شمس.‎; Hebrew: מַגְ'דַל שַׁמְס‎‎) is a Druze village in the northern part of the Golan Heights, in the southern foothills of Mt. Hermon. Since the June 1967 Six-Day War, the village has been controlled by Israel, first under martial law, but since 1981 under Israeli civil law, and incorporated into the Israeli system of local councils. Majdal Shams is the largest of the four Druze villages in the Golan. The name Majdal Shams is thought to be of Northwest Semitic origin meaning "tower of sun". According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, as of September 2005 Majdal Shams's population was 8,800. The population growth rate is 2.5%. The ratio between men and women is 951 women for every 1,000 men. The...