 Through the 1970s, and often later, many households refused to pay taxes to the state of Israel.In 1981, when the Israeli Knesset formally extended Israeli law to the Golan Heights and offered Israeli citizenship to residents of Majdal Shams, the community staged a 19-week general strike in protest.Although Israeli troops blockaded the town and attempted to force residents to accept citizen identification cards, the protesters succeeded in convincing the state to classify members of the community as non-citizens.