Country: Israel
Group: Maronite
Date Finalized: 10/04/2021
Team: Kamaria Boyston (lead), Gabriel Cardenas, Samantha Bradford
The Israeli military forced the community of Christian Maronites in Israel out of their lands in 1948. Israel had promised to return the land to the Christian Maronites, but Israel has repeatedly denied returning the land. This is well documented and was even acknowledged by the Israeli government. Data quality for this case is rated a 3/3.
Christian Maronites are an Arabic-speaking minority in Israel.The Maronites are descendants of Arameans from the region of Aram. In 1948, in a war for Israelite independence, Jewish and Arab military forces involved the Maronites living in Kafr Bir’Im in the conflict (Aviva & Bar-Am, 2013). The Israeli military displaced Maronite Christians, promising the Maronites to return to their homeland promptly after the war. Around 700 of the 950 Maronite Christian residents of Kafr Bir’Im were relocated to homes in a neighboring village. The remainder of the Christian Maronites crossed the border into Lebanon. In 1952, villagers appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court to return home, and the court ruled in their favor. However, this did not stop Israeli military forces from destroying the vast majority of their homeland (Ohayon, 2014). As of most recent years, Maronites activists have attempted to convince the Israeli government to allow them to return and reconstruct Kafr Bir’Im (Cheslow, 2014)
Sources
- A., & Bar-Am, S. (2013, May 18). Gush Halav: Home to the Maronites. Retrieved from https://www.timesofisrael.com/gush-halav-home-to-the-maronites/
- Cheslow, D. (2014, June 30). Maronite Christians struggle to define their identity in Israel. Retrieved from https://www.pri.org/stories/2014-06-30/lebanese-cardinals-visit-israel-reveals-debate-over-maronite-christian-identity
- Ohayon, A. (May 28, 2014). In Rare Israel Visit, Lebanese Church Head Hears Exiled Christians. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-lebanon-patriarch/in-rare-israel-visit-lebanese-church-head-hears-exiled-christians-idUSKBN0E81DP20140528