Child registers as Aramean instead of Arab for the first time
Christian IDF Officers Forum leader Capt.(res.) Shadi Halul and his wife, from Gush Halav in the Galilee, registered their two-year old son on Monday as Christian Aramean.
By ARIEL BEN SOLOMONTwo-year-old Israeli Christian child registered as Aramean for first time.(photo credit: FACEBOOK)
Christian IDF Officers Forum leader Capt.(res.) Shadi Halul and his wife, from Gush Halav in the Galilee, registered their two-year old son on Monday as Christian Aramean.Transportation Minister Israel Katz congratulated the child on Facebook on Tuesday, saying that this comes “against the background of persecution and destruction of non-Muslim minorities in the region.”“My two-year old son made history and Gideon Sa’ar made history and the Jewish people finally did justice with other nations in this region. We have been waiting for justice for thousands of years,” Halul said, as reported by The Jerusalem Post’s sister publication Ma’ariv Hashavua.Halul, who served as a paratrooper, founded the Aramaic Christian Association in Israel seven years ago with a goal of achieving the recognition of the Aramean people, with their own nationality, language, and customs. Through this organization he promoted the recruitment of Arameans and Christians into the IDF.MK Yariv Levin (Likud), who has been arguing for allowing identification as Christian, told the The Jerusalem Post last month that historically Israel treated all minorities as one group – as Arabs.Things are changing, and the Christians in Israel want change and see what is happening to their brethren under Muslim rule throughout the Middle East and how they are being persecuted, Levin said.“They want to be independent, not with [MK] Ahmed Tibi,” he added.Some Arabs see this move as a “divide and conquer” strategy meant also to boost Arab Christian enrollment in the army.
