Assyrians in Israel and Palestine
Assyrian people Israel State of Palestine
Total population
4,500 [1]
Regions with significant populations
Jerusalem, Bethlehem
Languages
Levantine Arabic, Neo-Aramaic, Modern Hebrew[2]
Religion
Assyrian Church of the East, Syriac Orthodox Church, Chaldean Catholic Church
Related ethnic groups
Arameans in Israel and Palestine, Maronites in Israel and Palestine

Assyrians in Israel and Palestine (Hebrew: האשורים; Arabic: آشُورِيُّون في إسرائيل وفلسطين) are Assyrians living in either the State of Israel or the State of Palestine, totaling approximately 4,500 individuals as of 2022.[3]

History

The Assyrian presence in the Israel mainly originated from those who fled the Assyrian genocide from Tur Abdin in 1915. Many found refuge in what was known as the "Syriac Quarter" in Bethlehem and the since destroyed "Syriac Quarter" in the Old City of Jerusalem, squeezed between the Armenian Quarter and the Jewish Quarter at the Old City’s southern end.[4]

After the Israel-Arab War of 1967, hundreds of Syriacs who had fled the Old City of Jerusalem during war returned to find their homes taken over by Israeli authorities and were scheduled to be handed over to Jewish settlers or else demolished to make way for housing built for Jews. It is estimated that 65% of Syriacs who inhabited the Holy Land at the beginning of 1967 left the region (mostly Jerusalem and Bethlehem) in the following years.[4]

The Assyrians in the Holy Land today number about 5,000, mostly living in the cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem, including a small remnant of the Syriac Quarter of the Old City that contains the Syriac social club and St. Mark’s Monastery.[4][5]

Religion

Syriac Orthodox monastery of Saint Mark, in the Old City of Jerusalem

Assyrians are predominantly Christians of the East and West Syriac Rite. The majority of Assyrians in the Holy Land (Israel and Palestine) are adherents of the Syriac Orthodox Church, while a smaller community of Catholic Assyrians also exists.

Orthodox Assyrians

Syriac Orthodox Church

The Syriac Orthodox Church is the largest Assyrian church in Israel, covered by the Archbishopric of Israel, Palestine and Jordan under the spiritual guidance and direction of Archbishop Gabriel Dahho.

The most notable monastery in Israel is the Monastery of Saint Mark in Jerusalem. The Syriac Orthodox Church also has sharing rights to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and minor rights to the Tomb of the Virgin Mary where they possess an altar on the western side of the holy site.

Catholic Assyrians

Syriac Catholic Church

The Syriac Catholic Church has a Patriarchal Exarchate formed in 1892 and is based out of the Church of Saint Thomas in Jerusalem. As of 2015, there are 3 parishes in Israel with an estimated 3,000 adherents.

Chaldean Catholic Church

Since 1903, the Chaldean Catholic Church has been represented in Jerusalem by a non-resident patriarchal vicar. In 1997, the Chaldean Catholic Church established the Territory Dependent on the Patriarch which was previously governed as the Patriarchal Vicariate of Jerusalem within the Patriarch's own archeparchy. [6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Shams, Alex (2 November 2015). "Learning the language of Jesus Christ". Roads & Kingdoms. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  2. ↑ Shafrir, Asher (2011). "Ethnic minority languages in Israel" (PDF). Proceedings of the Scientific Conference AFASES. AFASES. Brasov, Romania. pp. 493–498.
  3. ↑ Quer, Giovanni M. (2022). "The Israeli Arameans: a people-in-progress". Middle Eastern Studies. 59: 151–164. doi:10.1080/00263206.2022.2063845. S2CID 255968377.
  4. 1 2 3 Shams, Alex (2 November 2015). "Learning the language of Jesus Christ". Roads & Kingdoms. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  5. ↑ Shams, Alex (2017-02-17). "Yacoub Shaheen, the Assyrian singer from Palestine taking Arab Idol by storm". Ajam Media Collective. Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  6. ↑ Eldar, Yishai. "Focus on Palestine: The Christian Communities of Palestine". Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 23 July 2019.

Further reading

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