Holy Land residents revive Jesus' language

Christian communities in two Palestinian and Arab-Israeli villages are teaching the language that Jesus spoke, centuries after it all but disappeared from the Middle East. In the village of Beit Jala, which lies next to Bethlehem, an older generation of Aramaic speakers is trying to share the language with their grandchildren, the Associated Press (AP) reported. Meanwhile, in the Arab-Israeli village of Jish , elementary school children are being instructed in Aramaic. The religious significance of the two villages is clear; Bethlehem is where the New Testament says Jesus was born, while Jish is believed to be where Jesus lived and preached. Christian communities in two Palestinian and Arab-Israeli villages are teaching the language that Jesus spoke, centuries after it all but disappeared from the Middle East. In the village of Beit Jala, which lies next to Bethlehem, an older generation of Aramaic speakers is trying to share the language with their grandchildren, the Associated Press (AP) reported. Meanwhile, in the Arab-Israeli village of Jish , elementary school children are being instructed in Aramaic. The religious significance of the two villages is clear; Bethlehem is where the New Testament says Jesus was born, while Jish is believed to be where Jesus lived and preached. “This is our collective heritage and culture. We should celebrate and study it,” the principal of the Jish Elementary School told AP. The school has become the only Israeli public school teaching Aramaic, according to the education ministry. Although several Jish residents had lobbied for Aramaic studies several years ago, the report noted, the Muslim community in the village had voiced its concern. “Muslims were worried it was a covert attempt to entice their children to Christianity,” the report said, whereas some Christians also objected to Aramaic being taught too, saying the emphasis on their ancestral language was being used to strip them of their Arab identity. The issue is sensitive to many Arab Muslims and Christians in Israel who prefer to be identified by their ethnicity, not their faith.