Samaritans seek Ukrainian wives

2013-01-12T08:12:42.822Z

In the West Bank, the world's few remaining Samaritans are starting to marry women from outside to expand the gene pool.

Mount Gerizim, occupied Palestinian territories - Tanya's flat is surprisingly modern, her life surprisingly happy. Smiling out from behind her beloved cat, Tina, she joked about her sudden marriage to a foreigner.

"I told him the only thing I have to have is a cat," she beamed, standing in front an enormous wedding photo which hangs above the fireplace of her new home.

Around a year ago, Tanya left her native Ukraine as a bride bound for a tiny village in the northern West Bank. She had worked for only a few months at an agency in southern Ukraine matching women with foreign husbands when Kamel arrived, in search of a wife. After some attempts to arrange dates with her portfolio of potential partners, she finally consented to his persistent requests for her - and only her.

Kamel is a member of the Samaritan community, a religious group based in a small village near Mount Gerizim just outside Nablus city. They are known to the rest of the world from references in the Bible such as the story of The Good Samaritan - but not everyone is aware that they still exist.

They barely do. Today the Samaritans number just 766, according to their Priest Husney Cohen, though that's a lot more than in 1917, at the end of the Ottoman Empire when, he said there were just 146 Samaritans in the world.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/01/2013177193379886.html

'Judaism Yes, Zionism No': Ultra-Orthodox Jews march against Israel

2011-06-11T18:43:56.219Z

Here's an interesting story...

The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians in the Middle East still shows little sign of a peaceful resolution. But in New York, there's a group of ultra orthodox Jews, who are devoted to the Palestinian struggle. And as Marina Portnaya discovered, they believe an end to the State of Israel is the only solution.

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Muslim mother celebrates sons murder of 5 teens

2010-07-08T11:48:46.753Z

What is the difference between this faith and yours?

Christopher Hitchens Interviewed on France 24 (Part 1 of 2)

2009-03-18T17:51:52.775Z

All Videos Tagged palestine (Atheist Nexus) - Atheist Nexus

Samaritans seek Ukrainian wives

'Judaism Yes, Zionism No': Ultra-Orthodox Jews march against Israel

Muslim mother celebrates sons murder of 5 teens

Christopher Hitchens Interviewed on France 24 (Part 1 of 2)