From +972 Magazine: "Why Isn't the West Bank Rioting, Too?"

Larry Derfner at the dovish Israeli +972 mag asks and generally answers a question that hasn't gotten much attention: "Why Isn't the West Bank Rioting, Too?."

Gaza's firing rockets, East Jerusalem is seeing riots, but the West Bank is calm.

The Netanyahu government isn't likely to publicly credit Mahmoud ‘Abbas and the Palestinian Authority, which may be why we aren't seeing the question asked more frequently.

(As many of you will know, +972 takes its name from Israel's telephone country code.)

Al Jazeera English on the Samaritans

The Samaritans are one of the Middle East's easily forgotten surviving minorities; numbered today in the hundreds, some at Holon in Israel and some on Mount Gerizim above Nablus in the West Bank, two out of three of my previous posts on them related to the death of the former High Priest and the installation of the new one back in 2010. 

(The Samaritans retain a High Priesthood claiming descent from Aaron, and which indeed preserves the so-called "Cohen gene.")

This Al Jazeera English report emphasizes another genetic issue: the problem of birth defects due to inbreeding in such a small breeding population, and the decision made by the Samaritans to encourage exogamy in order to preserve the fragile community:

 

And A Special Christmas Surprise for Bethlehem ...

Late on Monday night. as Christmas Eve was cranking up in Bethlehem, the Israeli Interior Ministry's Jerusalem Planning and Building Committee voted to approve 930 new housing units in the Gilo neighborhood, with options for 300 more.

For those of you unfamiliar with Jerusalem, Gilo is, as the Jerusalem Post notes, "over the Green Line," which means most of the world considers it an Israeli settlement in the West Bank. It lies on the other side of the Separation Wall from Beit Jala and Bethlehem. Another story here.

Excellent timing.

Oh (Not So) Little Town of Bethlehem

Greetings for Latin Christmas to all who celebrate today; of course for much of the Middle East, Christmas is still in the future, and my discussion of Middle Eastern Christmas customs will continue. Last night the Latin Patriarch celebrated in Bethlehem and Manger Square was filled with pilgrims and tourists, as it will be again on January 6-7. But Bethlehem's once flourishing pilgrim trade is not what it once was, as least when it isn't Christmas..

Bethlehem's location just south of the "Green Line" and the proximity of the Israeli neighborhoods/settlements of Gilo and Har Gilo, as well as the presence on the edge of town of the shrine known as Rachel's Tomb, means that few parts of the West Bank feel the presence of Israel's Separation Wall as profoundly as Bethlehem. As the struggle to control the future of the Jerusalem region intensifies, Bethlehem remains caught in the middle.

Each year we see variations on these cartoons:

It's not my purpose here, today,  to rehash the whole Israeli-Palestinian debate; we aren't going to solve it here. on Christmas. Merely to note the profound impact that conflict has had on a city we sing about but far too many never think about.

I still wish everyone Christmas greetings.

 

Aramaic Revivals in Israel and the West Bank?

 We talked quite a bit in 2011 about survivals of spoken Aramaic, both in its Eastern and Western forms. And of course this once widespread language still has a liturgical role in many Eastern Christian churches, Judaism, Samaritanism, and Mandaeanism.

Here's an article on attempts to revive or at least teach Aramaic in two towns where it has only survived liturgically: the town of Jish in Galilee, an Israeli Arab town with a Maronite majority; and Bait Jala near Bethlehem in the West Bank, where the Syrian Orthodox church has been promoting the language:

The reintroduction of Aramaic into the elementary school curriculum, especially in the form of the  Galilee Aramaic dialect taught in Jish, is thought to enhance children’s appreciation of their Christian heritage. The hope is that the pupils will eventually use their forefathers’ language to communicate among themselves. There are signs that this might happen, as students are already using Aramaic  it to pass secret notes to each other in class. But this trick may not work for much longer, as adults too have started to learn Aramaic. In Jish, the first three-month course for adults was offered in 2006; since then a small group of adult students have continued studying on their own. They have also began connecting with other Aramaic communities in Sweden and the Netherlands.

Sweden turns out to be an important source of both learning materials and inspiration for the revival of Aramaic inIsrael and the West Bank. Swedish officials estimate that anywhere from 30,000 to 80,000 Aramaic speakers who descended from transplanted Middle Easterners reside in their country. The Swedish Aramaic community has its own soccer team, “Syrianska FC”, from the town of Sodertalje. But more importantly, the community publishes a newspaper called “Bahro Suryoyo”, as well as pamphlets and children’s books translated into Aramaic, including The Little Prince. But what really helps the students learn the language is Soryoyosat, a satellite television station maintained by the Swedish Aramaic community. For some residents of Jish and Beit Jala, watching Aramaic programming from Sweden provided the first opportunity in decades to hear the language spoken outside church. Thus, modern technology helps the revival of Aramaic by making it more accessible and by increasing the learners’ motivation.

An interesting twist for those who share my interest in minority language survivals.

Latin Christmas in Bethlehem Videos

Al Jazeera English's coverage of Latin Christmas in Bethlehem:





Since most Middle Eastern Christians celebrate on the Eastern (Julian calendar) date, there'll be more posts on Christmas in the Middle East as that date approaches.

The Other Celebrations Today

So much attention is being paid to Gilad Shalit's release that it's important to remember the other 1,000 prisoners freed today. Some were accused of terrorist acts, but others were held for more political reasons; their families are celebrating too. (See the two previous posts for my Shalit comments.)

Al Jazeera English has been liveblogging from Gaza. and here are excerpts of their reporting from both Gaza and the West Bank:

Van Creveld: Israel Doesn't Need the West Bank to be Secure

The distinguished Israeli military historian Martin van Creveld, writing in the Daily Forward, argues that "Israel Doesn't Need the West Bank to Be Secure." Everyone pontificating about how the 1967 borders are impossible should read it. And note that he's an Israeli and a military historian with an international reputation. Thanks to The Arabist for pointing this out.