I recently joined a webinar featuring Shadi Khalloul, an Aramaic Christian from Gush Halav, a Christian village near the Lebanese border. According to the group:

“Shadi serves as a Paratrooper Captain in the IDF Reserves. He was previously IDF Spokesman of 160,000 Israeli Christian soldiers integrated into Israeli Jewish society. Beginning in 2008, Shadi was in charge of a unique project approved by the Ministry of Education for teaching the Aramaic language and heritage to Christian kids in the Gush Halav elementary school. One of Shadi’s biggest successes in 2014 was to achieve recognition of Christians in Israel as an indigenous group with their Aramaic identity and language.”

In the talk, Khalloul proclaimed: “I am a proud Maronite Aramaic Israeli citizen and I am proud to defend my country in the army and will do it again. I have no regrets being a paratrooper. I am worried about what is happening in the land and the region. I am a strong believer in the Maronite Christian faith. The vision of our forefathers was to join forces and to form alliances...