Three Druze villages -- inhabited by the hill people of the Golan Heights -- are included in the territory to be handed back to Syria by Israel this month.

The Druze live as a minority in several countries -- Syria, Israel and Lebanon - but despite the war that has raged over their homes, they have stuck tenaciously to their land.

Harfa village is the largest of the three being handed back to the Syrians. Out of a thousand inhabitants, only 200 fled when the October War engulfed them last year. The end of the war brought no relief from danger. For weeks, the village was caught in the crossfire of Syrian-Israeli artillery duels. Half a dozen people died. Several others were wounded.

But those who remained have continued to follow their traditional farming life.

In the past, the Israelis have taken action against some members of the Druze community on the Golan -- they've clamped down on pro-Arab demonstrations and on a Druze spying ring. But now some villagers at Harfa are alarmed about the treatment they will receive when they return under Syrian administration.

The entire Syrian population in the occupied Golan fled from the Israelis. So the Druze villagers who stayed on wonder whether the Syrians will accuse them of collaborating with the Israelis.