Assyrians in the State of Palestine () are

Assyrians Assyrians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesopotamia. While they are distinct from ot ...

living in the

State of Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, whose number is several thousands.

History

The Assyrian presence in the modern State of Palestine mainly originated from those who fled the

Assyrian genocide The Sayfo (, ), also known as the Seyfo or the Assyrian genocide, was the mass murder and deportation of Assyrian/Syriac Christians in southeastern Anatolia and Persia's Azerbaijan province by Ottoman forces and some Kurdish tribes during ...

from

Tur Abdin Tur Abdin (; ; ; or ) is a hilly region situated in southeast Turkey, including the eastern half of the Mardin Province, and Şırnak Province west of the Tigris, on the Syria–Turkey border, border with Syria and famed since Late Antiquity for ...

in 1915. Many found refuge in what was known as the "Syriac Quarter" in

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

and the since destroyed "Syriac Quarter" in the

Old City of Jerusalem The Old City of Jerusalem (; ) is a walled area in Jerusalem. In a tradition that may have begun with an 1840s British map of the city, the Old City is divided into four uneven quarters: the Muslim Quarter, the Christian Quarter, the Arm ...

, squeezed between the

Armenian Quarter The Armenian Quarter (, ; , ''Harat al-Arman''; , ''Ha-Rova ha-Armeni'') is one of the four sectors of the walled Old City of Jerusalem. Located in the southwestern corner of the Old City, it can be accessed through the Zion Gate and Jaffa G ...

and the

Jewish Quarter Jewish Quarter may refer to: *Jewish quarter (diaspora), areas of many cities and towns traditionally inhabited by Jews *Jewish Quarter (Jerusalem), one of the four traditional quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem *Jewish Quarter (), a popular name ...

at the Old City's southern end. After the Israel-Arab War of 1967, hundreds of Syriacs who had fled the Old City of Jerusalem during war returned to find their homes taken over by Israeli authorities and were scheduled to be handed over to Jewish settlers or else demolished to make way for housing built for Jews. It is estimated that 65% of Syriacs who inhabited the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

at the beginning of 1967 left the region (mostly Jerusalem and Bethlehem) in the following years. The Assyrians in the Holy Land today number about 5,000, mostly living in the cities of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and

, including a small remnant of the Syriac Quarter of the Old City that contains the Syriac social club and St. Mark's Monastery.

Religion

Assyrians are predominantly

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

of the East and West Syriac Rite. The majority of Assyrians in the Holy Land (Israel and Palestine) are adherents of the Syriac Orthodox Church, while a smaller community of Catholic Assyrians also exists.

Orthodox Assyrians

Syriac Orthodox Church

The

Syriac Orthodox Church The Syriac Orthodox Church (), also informally known as the Jacobite Church, is an Oriental Orthodox Christian denomination, denomination that originates from the Church of Antioch. The church currently has around 4-5 million followers. The ch ...

is the largest Assyrian church, covered by the Archbishopric of Israel, Palestine and Jordan under the spiritual guidance and direction of Archbishop Gabriel Dahho. The most notable monastery is the Monastery of Saint Mark in Jerusalem. The Syriac Orthodox Church also has sharing rights to the

Church of the Holy Sepulchre The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also known as the Church of the Resurrection, is a fourth-century church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, Old City of Jerusalem. The church is the seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchat ...

and minor rights to the

Tomb of the Virgin Mary Church of the Sepulchre of Saint Mary, also Tomb of the Virgin Mary (; ; ; ) or the Church of the Assumption (), is a Christian church built around an ancient Judean rock-cut tomb in the Kidron Valley – at the foot of Mount of Olives, in Eas ...

where they possess an altar on the western side of the holy site.

Catholic Assyrians

Syriac Catholic Church

The

Syriac Catholic Church The Syriac Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic '' sui iuris'' (self-governing) particular church that is in full communion with the Holy See and with the entirety of the Catholic Church. Originating in the Levant, it uses the West Syriac ...

has a Patriarchal Exarchate formed in 1892 and is based out of the Church of Saint Thomas in Jerusalem.

Chaldean Catholic Church

Since 1903, the

Chaldean Catholic Church The Chaldean Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic Catholic particular churches and liturgical rites, particular church (''sui iuris'') in full communion with the Holy See and the rest of the Catholic Church, and is ...

has been represented in Jerusalem by a non-resident patriarchal vicar. In 1997, the Chaldean Catholic Church established the Territory Dependent on the Patriarch which was previously governed as the Patriarchal Vicariate of Jerusalem within the Patriarch's own archeparchy.

References

External links

Invisible Christians of the Holy Land
{{Asia in topic, Assyrians in * Ethnic groups in Palestine West Asian diaspora in Palestine