WEST BANK: Members of the ancient Jewish Samaritan sect live amongst the Muslim Palestinian community in the West Bank city of Nablus

Record ID: 561302

  • Title: WEST BANK: Members of the ancient Jewish Samaritan sect live amongst the Muslim Palestinian community in the West Bank city of Nablus
  • Date: 21st November 2006
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF CHILDREN WEARING TRADITIONAL SAMARITAN CLOTHES AND SITTING NEAR SYNAGOGUE PEOPLE WALKING IN STREET CLOSE OF SIGN READING "SYNAGOGUE"/ SAMARITANS ENTERING SYNAGOGUE TO PRAY CLOSE OF DRAWING OF A MENORAH HANGING ON WALL
  • Embargoed: 6th December 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA8HEEHFHD2Q1AAXFYE5VSRBWNP
  • Story Text: The Samaritans, a West Bank mountain community known locally for their fortune-telling, continue to live and thrive in the Mount Gerizim area of Nablus despite the fact that the sect is challenged by both the dispersal of its small community and increased birth defects because of intermarriage.
    The Samaritans trace their origins back to the ancient Israelites. In the Bible they are mentioned offering help to Jesus, inspiring the widely-used term "Good Samaritan."
    The Samaritans observe some Jewish rituals yet do not regard themselves Jews, counting 700 differences in belief and ritual and over 5,000 differences in their bibles. The clan broke with the Jews in the 6th century BC.
    "We are not jews, we are a group of Israelites and the Jews are another group. We follow the prophet Youssef and his brother Eliahu, and the other tribes are the Jews. The Jews are called Jews because their biggest tribe (is descended from) Yehuda, the brother of Youssef and Daoud," explained Rabbi Abdul Muin Sadaka in Nablus's Samaritan synagogue.
    "We are different from the Jews, there is a huge difference, concerning beliefs, the bible, marriage -- there are fundamental differences. The main difference is that there are about 5,000 differences between our bible and theirs," Sadaka added.
    Samaritan historians say there were 1.2 million Samaritans 1,400 years ago. Most of them were killed by the Byzantines, and in 1917 there were 146.
    But the sect gradually revived in number and now half the remaining sect of about 630 people reside in the shadow of what they say is a sacred site on the West Bank called Mount Gerizim which Samaritans believe to be the site of the Temple Mount rather than Jerusalem.
    The rest live in the Israeli town of Holon.
    Sadaka said the West Bank group would stay in their holy city regardless of political changes.
    "We live in Nablus. If it falls under Jewish control, we will stay in Nablus. If it is falls under Arab control, we will stay in Nablus. If it falls under British rule we will stay in Nablus. Many governments have led us and we have stayed in Nablus. The holy land for us is Nablus," he said.
    One of their main concerns is how to preserve their culture and community from marriages outside the sect, a practice prohibited in their religion.
    Community leaders say young people in Holon have married Israeli girls after conversion, a move discouraged by Samaritan priests. Some tell fortunes in offices in the Palestinian-ruled West Bank town of Nablus or run small businesses such as groceries.
    Religious leaders fear marriage outside the community will introduce a change to established rituals, which include an event marked on the Jewish festival of Passover, when the Samaritans publicly slaughter 40 sheep.
    The Samaritans of Nablus consider themselves Palestinians, carrying Palestinian identity cards and passports. But some were given Israeli identity cards, while others yet carry Jordanian passports.
    "We the Samaritans hold three passports: Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli. We are a small nation but hold three passports. Every Samaritan is free in his (political) beliefs, some follow Fatah, some are pro-Jordanian and some support Israel. Everyone is free in his affiliations," said Khader al-Samiri, head of the Samaritan Research Centre.
    Some Samaritan families converted to Islam. During the seven-year Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation, the Samaritans moved to Mount Gerizim and settled there. Before that, they lived in tents at the mountain to observe their rituals and returned to their houses in Nablus.
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