Christians retake "language of Jesus" in the village of Israel

Christians retake "language of Jesus" in the village of Israel
The Maronites living in the north and do not claim as 'Arabs', but as 'Syrians'
by Roberta Lopes Leiliane

Christians retake "language of Jesus" in the village of Israel Christians retake "language of Jesus" in the village of Israel
Small communities around the Middle East still speak Aramaic, the same language that Jesus spoke. Apart from some villages in Syria and Lebanon, in Israel there Maronites, a branch of Christianity that has left the living language.
In the schools of the village of Gush Halav language is part of an initiative promoted by community leaders to support the Israeli government school curriculum.
The priests who work in Northern Israel region also teach the language to their followers and claim that 10% of 1,600 Maronite village already understand that language colloquially.
According to the newspaper Folha de São Paulo, the issue of teaching Aramaic is not only linguistic, but also cultural. With the teaching of the language manoristas try to reassert their identity, but Palestinian leaders deny.
The maronistas were considered as "Arabs", but the village elder, Labib, 79, remembers that the residents of Gush Halav identify as "Syrians", but with the lack of this option on the registration list, they were marked as Arabs.
The village borders with Lebanon and intensifies the conflict between Palestinians and Jews. The Arabs consider manoristas as "traitors" because when defining their identity, they stood against Arab culture. Because of this impasse the village prefer to ally to Israeli authorities.Jesus spoke Aramaic or Hebrew?
The language that Jesus spoke up a little discussion between Pope Francisco and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during the visit of the Catholic leader in Israel.According to international news agencies, the prime minister reportedly said that Jesus "spoke Hebrew," a speech known to strengthen the bond between Judaism and Christianity.
But the Pope said that Jesus actually spoke Aramaic. Netanyahu, in turn, replied and said: "He spoke Aramaic, but knew Hebrew." Historians claim that Jesus lived during a period when the language spoken in the region was Aramaic, but Hebrew was known by the population, especially among the poorer classes.
Both languages ​​fell into disuse until the 20th century, with the creation of the State of Israel, Hebrew was adopted as the official language, while Aramaic is spoken only by small communities.