Israeli Christian Aramaic Association holds rally in Majdal Shams in support of Christians in Syria

MAJDAL SHAMS/GOLAN HEIGHTS – The Israeli Christian Aramaic Association (ICAA) held a rally on the Israeli side of the Golan Heights on Saturday in support of Christians in Syria. According to ICAA founder Shadi Khaloul on his X account, the rally was a call to the “US, EU and Israel to help our persecuted Christian brothers and sisters across the border from the Islamic Jihadist HTS regime.”

Christians in Syria are now living in fear for their lives and are at risk of being ethnically cleansed, Khaloul says. Without support from Western powers, their prospects are extremely alarming. His organization also wanted to demonstrate that Christians in Syria, like Syriac Arameans in Israel, should also have the right to freedom of expression, organization and demonstration.

For ICAA, the solution to peace for Christians in Syria and the broader Middle East is only possible by “empowering Christianity and Aramaization in their original homeland, the Holy Land.”

Syriac Arameans in Israel

Since 2014, Syriacs can ethnically register themselves in the Israeli National Population Registry as Arameans. Where Syriacs were before often seen as “Arab Christians,” they were now able to officially register a defined Aramean nationality in their Israeli identification documents. The Aramean nationality in Israel has so far not attracted a substantial number of official adherents. In the absence of reliable numbers, the best unverified estimate is between 1,000–3,000.

Also read: A Case for the Aramean Nationality in Israel

The Israeli Christian Aramaic Association is one of the advocacy organizations that has strongly lobbied for this official recognition. It has its stronghold in Upper Galilee in Syriac Maronite and Melkite villages. The ICAA is an organization that stands up for the rights of the Syriacs in Israel and works to strengthen the Christian Aramean-Syriac identity and Syriac-Aramaic language in Israel, the emancipation of the Aramean nationality away from Arab nationality, and the reconstruction of emptied Syriac Maronite villages in northern Israel.

ICAA partners with the U.S.-based Christian pro-Israel Philos Project, among others.

We at ICAA Israeli Christian Aramaic Association NGO rallied today at the Golan Heights at the Syrian – Israeli border demanding for the defense and protection of Christian and Aramaic communities in Syria. We demand from the USA, EU, and Israel to help our persecuted Christian… pic.twitter.com/OKG1OhyOOj

— Shadi khalloul שאדי ח’לול (@shadikhalloul) March 15, 2025