Tolerance of Minorities in Israel The case
of Circassians
For some reason or other, I thought about
the Circassians this morning while at the Blue House among the Indians
I knew that they had Slavic origins but did
they come from Russia or Balkans?
www. To the rescue
www. To the rescue
Circassians
arrived at their present location from the Balkans in the year 1880; after 10
years of residence at Marvel, which is at the border of Greece and Bulgaria, they migrated to Palestine. The Ottoman Sultan asked them to reside at Rihania (Reyhaniye) and Kfar-Kama villages. About 1,000 Abedzah Circassians live in Reyhaniye and about 2000 Shapsıg Circassians live in Kfar-Kama, and scores of families live in various Israeli cities and towns near their jobs.
Education and
Employment
Kfar-Kama,
the larger village, has Jewish settlements as neighbors. Children graduate from
village school and continue their education at Jewish schools.
They learn
Hebrew, English, and Circassian at school. The National Circassian Alphabet of
Caucasus is used in teaching Circassian. Reyhaniye is closer to Arab
settlements and children are able to go to both Arab and Jewish schools.
Circassians
serve in the army and are employed in the border and regular police forces.
Municipal and public services are wide open to the Circassians. Circassians
living in these two villages communicate in their own Circassian language.
The Circassian Law (Khabza) regulates the conduct of the
Circassians and settles all matters among themselves.
But if my
memory serves me right, they came from the Caucuses and not the Balkans. Ah
well that is for another time to find out.
When asked by
a visiting Jewish teenager: what do you think of the Israelis, her teenage
friend replied, you mean Jewish Israelis, thus bringing home the point that not
all Israelis are Jewish and you can be Israeli and something other than a Jew.
Circassians and Druze minorities in Israel are a good example of good civic
citizens of the Medinath Israel.
I suppose, I
am writing this from the USA which states they are a Christian Country. John
Howard, the former PM of Australia told the sharia mongering immigrants: we are
a Christian country. But Jews have flourished in both countries, and now in the
USA, the most diverse nation on earth, there are more people speaking
variations of hundreds of languages some of which are extinct in their
countries of origin. So tolerance is the key, tolerance of the other… so that
the other may flourish.
A nice lesson
for the newly democratic nations of the Middle East. Indeed.
