Arameans in Israel

File:Old Jerusalem St. Mark Church with flag.jpg, Jerusalem]]

Abraham, the father of Western monotheism, was believed to be of Aramean ancestry. The Jews and Christians regard him as the Patriarch of the Jewish people.My father was a wandering Aramean who went down to Egypt with a small household and lived there as a nomad. But there he became a nation great, strong, and numerous. Deuteronomy 26:5{{Cite news|url=https://www.jpost.com/blogs/standing-against-the-wind/parshat-ki-tavo-a-wandering-aramean-413777|title=Parshat Ki Tavo: A Wandering Aramean|newspaper=The Jerusalem Post | Jpost.com }}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=An08DwAAQBAJ&q=Abraham+Aramean&pg=PR13|title=Remembering Abraham: Culture, Memory, and History in the Hebrew Bible|isbn=978-0-19-517796-1|last1=Hendel|first1=Ronald|last2=Hendel|first2=Ronald Stephen|date=3 February 2005}} Abraham's son Isaac and grandson Jacob, also each took wives of Aramean descent: (respectively, Rebecca, and Leah and Rachel), who originated from the Aramean region of Paddan-Aram. The Aramean presence in Israel goes back to 1100 BCE, when much of Israel came under Aramean rule for eight years according to the Biblical Book of Judges, until Othniel defeated the forces led by Chushan-Rishathaim, the King of Aram-Naharaim.Boling, Robert G., revised by Richard D. Nelson, Harper Collins Study Bible: The Book of Judges

After the Arameans converted to Syriac Christianity they became involved in the expansion of Christianity throughout the Middle-East, which resulted in various Syriac monasteries and churches being built especially in Jerusalem and Bethlehem of whom the Monastery of Saint Mark, Jerusalem among the oldest. According to a 6th-century inscription Inscription at the Monastery of St Mark's in Jerusalem found during a restoration in 1940, the church is on the ancient site of the house of Mary, mother of St. Mark the Evangelist (Acts 12:12) and the place of the Last Supper of Christ with His disciples. Some Christians believe that the Last Supper was held at the nearby Cenacle on Mount Zion.{{Cite web|url=https://bethbc.edu/blog/2017/03/28/syriacs-still-going-strong/|title = Syriacs: Still Going Strong|date = 28 March 2017}}

Around 1831 large numbers of Syriac Christians started to emigrate to Israel as pilgrims and settled there, mostly originating from the Tur Abdin region.{{Cite web|url=https://openjlem.hypotheses.org/1655|title=The Syriac Orthodox Diaspora in Jerusalem (1831-1948). Pilgrims, Refugees and Community Building in Ottoman and Mandatory Palestine|first=Open|last=Jerusalem|date=17 July 2017|accessdate=30 May 2023}} During the Seyfo: the genocide on Syriac Christians in the Ottoman Empire a large mass emigration occurred from Tur-Abdin. They mainly settled in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and in smaller numbers in Jericho and Nazareth. In Bethlehem they also constructed the Virgin Mary church between 1922 and 1928 in the Syriac Quarter.Ferrand, Antoinette. La diaspora syriaque-orthodoxe de Jérusalem (1831-1948) : Pèlerins, réfugiés et fabrique communautaire à l’époque ottomane et mandataire. Sous la direction de Bernard Heyberger (EHESS).

The 1922 census of Palestine lists 813 Syrian Orthodox (2 in Southern, 784 in Jerusalem-Jaffa, 4 in Samaria, and 23 in Northern) and 323 Syrian Catholic (10 in Southern, 189 in Jerusalem-Jaffa, 14 in Samaria, and 110 in Northern) Christians in Mandatory Palestine. The 1922 census also lists 422 Syriac language speakers (all in Jerusalem-Jaffa), including 408 in municipal areas (38 in Jerusalem, 369 in Bethlehem, 25 in Acre, and 1 in Beit Jala).{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/PalestineCensus1922 |title=Palestine Census ( 1922)}}Ferrand, Antoinette. La diaspora syriaque-orthodoxe de Jérusalem (1831-1948) : Pèlerins, réfugiés et fabrique communautaire à l’époque ottomane et mandataire. Sous la direction de Bernard Heyberger (EHESS).

In September 2014, Minister of the Interior Gideon Sa'ar instructed the {{Abbr|PIBA|Population Immigration and Border Authority}} to recognise Arameans as an ethnicity separate from Israeli Arabs.{{cite news|last1=Yalon|first1=Yori|title='Aramean' officially recognized as nationality in Israel|url=http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=20169|access-date=14 December 2014|work=Israel Hayom|date=17 September 2014}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-neither-arab-nor-jew-israel-s-unheard-minorities-speak-up-1.6464684|title=Neither Arab nor Jew: Israel's Unheard Minorities Speak Up After the Nation-state Law|first=Ofer|last=Aderet|date=September 9, 2018|work=Haaretz}} Under the Ministry of the Interior's guidance, people born into Christian families or clans who have either Aramaic or Maronite cultural heritage within their family are eligible to register as Arameans. About 200 Christian families were thought to be eligible prior to this decision.{{cite news|last1=Lis|first1=Jonathan|title=Israel recognises Aramean minority in Israel as separate nationality|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/1.616299|access-date=17 December 2014|work=Haaretz|date=17 September 2014}} According to an August 9, 2013 Israel Hayom article, at that time an estimated 10,500 persons were eligible to receive Aramean ethnic status according to the new regulation, including 10,000 Maronites (which included 2,000 former SLA members) and 500 Syriac Catholics.{{Cite web |url=http://www.israelhayom.co.il/article/107811 |title=Israel Hayom |access-date=26 January 2015 |archive-date=19 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019153849/https://www.israelhayom.co.il/article/107811 |url-status=dead }}

The first person to receive the "Aramean" ethnic status in Israel was 2 year old Yaakov Halul in Jish on October 20, 2014.{{cite news|last1=Newman|first1=Marissa|title=In first, Israeli Christian child registers as Aramean|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/in-first-israeli-christian-child-registers-as-aramean/|access-date=14 December 2014|work=The Times of Israel|date=21 October 2014}}

In 2019, an Israeli court ruled that Aramean minorities could choose a Jewish or Arab education, rather than requiring children with Aramean identity to be automatically enrolled in Arabic-language schools.

The recognition of the Aramean ethnicity caused mixed reactions among Israeli minorities, the Christian community, and among the general Arab Israeli population. Representatives of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem denounced the move.{{cite news|last1=Cohen|first1=Ariel|date=28 September 2014|title=Israeli Greek Orthodox Church denounces Aramaic Christian nationality|work=Jerusalem Post|url=http://www.jpost.com/Christian-News/Israeli-Greek-Orthodox-Denounce-Move-to-Differentiate-Christians-from-Arabs-376493|access-date=14 December 2014}}

Mordechai Kedar advocates the recognition of the Aramean identity and calls on the government of Israel to promote the awareness regarding this issue on the basis of the international principle of ethnic self-determination as espoused by Wilson's 14 points.{{Cite web|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/15717|title=Is There Really an Aramean Nation?|website=Israel National News|date=27 September 2014 }} One of the supporters of the recognition of the Aramean identity is Gabriel Naddaf, who is a priest to the Greek Orthodox Christians in Israel. He advocated on behalf of his Aramean followers and thanked the Interior Ministry's decision as a "historic move".{{Cite web|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/185214|title=New Nationality for Christians: Aramaean|website=Israel National News|date=17 September 2014 }}

In July 2016, an article in the Ha'aretz estimated the number of Israeli Christians eligible to register as Arameans in Israel to be 13,000.{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.co.il/literature/study/.premium-1.2944154|title=הבעיה האמיתית של ספר האזרחות החדש|newspaper=הארץ}} In October 2019, the Israeli Christian Aramaic Organization estimated the number of Israeli citizens, who are eligible to obtain Aramean affiliation at 15,000.{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israel-rules-that-aramean-minority-can-choose-jewish-or-arab-education-1.7995961|title = Israeli court rules that Aramean minority can choose Jewish or Arab education|newspaper = Haaretz}}

As of 2017, 16 people had registered as Aramean in the Population Registry.{{sfn|Weissblei|2017}}

According to interviewees in a 2022 article in Middle Eastern Studies, 2,500 Israelis have registered as Arameans at the Israeli Ministry of Interior, whereas another 2,000 have applied for changing their national denomination from Arab to Aramean. These 4,500 people would constitute {{circa|1,5%}} of Israel's Christian population.

{{Portal|Israel}}

• Christianity in Israel
• Assyrians in Israel
• Maronites in Israel
• Arameans
• Syriac Orthodox Archbishop of Jerusalem

{{Reflist}}

• [https://m.knesset.gov.il/EN/activity/mmm/Arameans_in_the_Middle_%20East_and_%20Israel.pdf Arameans in the Middle East and Israel: Historical Background, Modern National Identity, and Government Policy]

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• {{Cite book|last=Hasegawa|first=Shuichi|title=Aram and Israel during the Jehuite Dynasty|year=2012|location=Berlin-Boston|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=9783110283488|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tpJQJOt0QA8C}}
• {{Cite book|last=Lemaire|first=André|chapter=The Boundary between the Aramaean Kingdom of Damascus and the Kingdom of Israel|title=Aramaean Borders: Defining Aramaean Territories in the 10th–8th Centuries B.C.E.|year=2019|location=Leiden-Boston|publisher=Brill|pages=245–266|isbn=9789004398535|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1imVDwAAQBAJ}}
• {{Cite book|last=Levin|first=Yigal|chapter=My Father was a Wandering Aramean: Biblical Views of the Ancestral Relationship between Israel and Aram|title=Wandering Arameans: Arameans Outside Syria: Textual and Archaeological Perspectives|year=2017|location=Wiesbaden|publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag|pages=39–52|chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/34080056}}
• {{Cite book|last=Lipiński|first=Edward|author-link=Edward Lipiński (orientalist)|title=The Aramaeans: Their Ancient History, Culture, Religion|year=2000|location=Leuven|publisher=Peeters Publishers|isbn=9789042908598|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rrMKKtiBBI4C}}
• {{Cite journal|last=Mazar|first=Benjamin|author-link=Benjamin Mazar|title=The Aramean Empire and Its Relations with Israel|journal=The Biblical Archaeologist|year=1962|volume=25|number=4|pages=97–120|doi=10.2307/3210938|jstor=3210938|s2cid=165844359|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3210938|url-access=subscription}}
• {{Cite web|last=Weissblei|first=Eti|title=Arameans in the Middle East and Israel: Historical Background, Modern National Identity, and Government Policy|journal=|year=2017|volume=|number=|pages=|doi=|jstor=|url=https://m.knesset.gov.il/EN/activity/mmm/Arameans_in_the_Middle_%20East_and_%20Israel.pdf}}
• {{Cite book|last=Zwickel|first=Wolfgang|chapter=Borders between Aram-Damascus and Israel: A Historical Investigation|title=Aramaean Borders: Defining Aramaean Territories in the 10th–8th Centuries B.C.E.|year=2019|location=Leiden-Boston|publisher=Brill|pages=267–335|isbn=9789004398535|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1imVDwAAQBAJ}}
• * {{Cite book |last=Ferrand |first=Antoinette |title=La diaspora syriaque-orthodoxe de Jérusalem (1831-1948) : Pèlerins, réfugiés et fabrique communautaire à l’époque ottomane et mandataire |publisher=EHESS |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/364118597_La_diaspora_syriaque_orthodoxe_de_Jerusalem_Pelerins_refugies_et_fabrique_communautaire_a_l'epoque_ottomane_et_mandataire_1831-1948}}

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{{Demographics of Israel}}

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Category:Ethnoreligious groups in Israel