c. 2003 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ The Samaritan Israelites, a people despised in the biblical era as unclean and decimated by centuries of violent conflict but who have adopted a policy of total disarmament, want to share their peaceful vision with other countries in the Middle East by building an international peace center, a top official says.

In early November, Samaritan Benyamim Tsedaka, chancellor to the Samaritans’ high priest Shalom Ben Amram, made his annual diplomatic visit to the United States, meeting with government officials, lobbyists and charitable organizations and sharing updates about the Samaritans. This year, his goal was to garner support for a Samaritan-run international peace center he would like to build on the sacred Mount Gerizim, near Nablus, where many of the remaining 672 Samaritans live.

The Samaritans, who live mainly in Israel and Palestine, have special, close relationships with their neighboring communities. Tsedaka said these friendships are unique in the fiercely divided Middle East.

Tsedaka said the Samaritans’ friendly relationships with two of the warring nations in the world and their modern-day policy of nonviolence after millennia of conflict make them ideal candidates to build a peace center in the Middle East.

He hopes the center can be built by 2009 at a cost of $25 million. While he needs investors to realize the dream, Tsedaka said that this year he was more interested in sharing his dream with potential investors than searching for funds.

“Jerusalem, according to the Bible, will be a place of peace at the end of the day,” he said. “But it is a place of war over everything, and much bloodshed and much confrontation between the Arabs and the Jews. This is not a city of peace.”

But the holy mountain where half of the Samaritan people reside, Mount Gerizim, is the one place where leaders of both the nations (Israelis and Palestinians) can come in peace, he said. In the Penteteuch _ the first five books of the Bible _ venerated by Samaritans and Jews alike, it is the “mountain of blessings,” where Moses spoke to the Israelites. The name holds true today, Tsedaka said.

On Mount Gerizim, people from both Israel and Palestine “are … sitting down with another,” Tsedaka said. “This is what gave me the idea to write the proposition (for the center).”

“Why do they have to go to Geneva if they have a little Switzerland in their place where they can meet and make peace talks?” he said.

Another motivation for the center is the history of his people, he said. The Samaritans are the descendants of the tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel but their origins and separation _ and the animosity _ from what emerged as Judaism are murky, according to biblical scholars.

Although the Samaritans once numbered more than 1 million, they had dwindled to a scant 146 in 1917 because of wars, persecution and forced conversion to other faiths.

Because of their sparse numbers, little is known of the Samaritans outside the Middle East besides the New Testament story of the “good Samaritan” told by Jesus.

Today, the Samaritans are a curious blend of ancient traditions and modern amenities, according to Tsekada.

Ben Amram, the current high priest, is believed to be the 130th lineal descendant of Moses’ brother, Aaron. They have preserved the tunes to the oldest songs mentioned in the Torah and can sing the ancient melodies of their forefathers. They have preserved a unique language and script, and perpetuate their cultural heritage by an enduring tradition of educating children about their Samaritan ancestors.

But they also drive cars and wear modern clothes.

Though the Samaritans are of Hebrew stock, Orthodox Jews do not accept them as true Jews.

Since Samaritans are a people, not a nation, their members reside in either Israel, Palestine or Jordan. They work in their respective countries _ something Tsedaka hopes will change if the peace center is built.

“The bottom line is the future of my people,” Tsedaka said. “They will work (at the center), they won’t have to go to other places to work.

“We have something to show the world,” he continued. “The combination of an ancient place and peace and nice people welcoming you.”

Ralph Benko, Tsedaka’s spokesman on his U.S. tour, said the Samaritans were a people unique among devoutly religious groups, such as Mennonites or Hasidic Jews.

“The Samaritans are a very cosmopolitan people,” he said. “They have assimilated all the best of the modern world without losing the essence of their faith and traditions.”

But Benko said their small numbers, pacifist views and good relationships with the bitterest enemies in the Middle East could hurt the chances for their proposal to build the peace center.

“Some people think the aspirations of the Samaritans are romantic and impractical because they are such a small people,” Benko said. “When I hear that, I ask if they have ever heard a parable of the mustard seed. I offer you the Samaritans as the mustard seed with the power of faith. God willing, they will be the seed for peace.”

DEA END GABRIEL