Who are the Circassians of northern Israel?

Although they are Muslims and are often grouped with the Druze, the Circassians are neither ethnically Arabs nor even from the historical Levantine region — they are… Circassians and originate from the Black Sea region of the Caucasus.

In many ways, their history is similar to that of the Jews, with exile and genocide, preserving their culture and traditions while longing for their homeland, writes the Jerusalem Post.

Kfar Kama, one of the two Circassian villages in Israel, is located in the Lower Galilee near Kfar Tavor. This year, the UN World Tourism Organization selected it for inclusion in the list of tourist villages recommended for visiting in 2022, making it one of the 32 UNWTO-recognized “tourist villages” in the world. Last year, when this title was first given, 44 villages were chosen.

The smaller sister village of Kfar Kama, Rehaniya, is located on the border with Lebanon near Safed.

The UNWTO award ceremony will take place in Saudi Arabia on February 26, with representatives from Israel’s Ministry of Tourism and Kfar Kama attending.

The details of the actual logistics of the Israeli delegation’s visit to a country with which Israel has no official diplomatic relations have yet to be clarified, according to Nira Fisher, director of the ministry’s international relations, who accompanied Kfar Kama in the application process.

Refugee Village

“Kfar-Kama is not just another village in Israel,” stated Zakaria Napso, head of the Kfar-Kama local council.

“It is a settlement of refugees who came here a century and a half ago by force, after we were expelled… by the Russian Empire from our homeland in the Caucasus.

But despite the years that have passed, we have managed to preserve our language, culture, and cuisine. We are the largest authentic [Circassian] village. This is what sets us apart from other exiles; we make a lot of effort to preserve our traditions.”

According to him, the fact that they are so often grouped with the Druze in budgetary matters is largely due to being granted minority status by the government, serving in the army. But they work hard to make the distinctions between them known, he said.

Both Circassian villages in Israel were founded about 150 years ago — four years before Rosh Pina, the first Jewish agricultural settlement in the Galilee — survivors of the Circassian genocide and the expulsion of Circassians from their native land in the Caucasus at the end of the 101-year Russo-Circassian War.

Jewish newcomers to the Yishuv and Circassian refugees found common ground in their history of persecution by the Russians and knowledge of the Russian language, as well as cooperation in agriculture and security.

Located in an area of strategic importance to various empires, the Caucasus and its peoples found themselves caught in the crossfire of various political interests after the Russian Empire sought to impose its influence in the region between the Black and Caspian Seas (some things don’t seem to change) and rid it of predominantly Muslim ethnic tribes, including Chechens and Circassians.

The Tsarist Russian Empire and the weakening Ottoman Empire fought for control of the territory from 1763 to 1864, resulting in the death of about 2 million Circassians, with 90% of the remaining population being expelled.

The last part of the Circassian army was defeated in a bloody massacre of soldiers and civilians on May 21, 1864, in Sochi, which many Circassians considered their traditional capital. Known to Circassians as the Red Hill, it was here in 2014 that skiing and snowboarding competitions were held during the Sochi Winter Olympics. Circassians claim that the Olympic Village was built on the mass graves of their slain ancestors.

“It is very difficult for us to talk about Sochi,” said Aibek Napso, director of the Kfar Kama Circassian Heritage Center, who calls himself a third-generation Israeli. Napso is a common Circassian surname, and Aibek and Zakaria are not related.

“For Circassians, saying ‘Sochi’ is like saying ‘Auschwitz’. It is a huge cemetery under the entire Olympic [construction]. More than 230,000 bodies from my tribe are buried in Sochi… We ask every country to recognize the Circassian Genocide and the need for our own state.”

He quickly added: “We are asking for land not in Israel — there are enough conflicts here — but in the Caucasus, in a place called Circassia.”

While Georgia recognizes the Circassian genocide, Russia does not.

Despite this, Napso emphasized: “If I were born 10 times, I would choose to be born in Kfar-Kama again and again. It is like a piece of paradise.”

Arrival in the Promised Land

Survivors of the 1864 genocide sought refuge with the Ottoman Empire, which saw them as a group of experienced fighters.

“The sick man of Europe” — as the Ottoman Empire was called by Tsar Nicholas I — sent them across the sea on arduous journeys, many of which did not survive, mainly to the Middle East to protect territories under Ottoman control from nomadic Bedouin tribes in what are now Jordan, Syria, and Israel.

There are also exiled Circassian communities in Europe, the USA, and Turkey, where the majority of the community resides, but only a small Circassian community remains on the historical lands of Circassia, which are now controlled by Russia.

But in the quiet and extraordinarily clean village of Kfar-Kama, home to about 3,300 residents, the memory of the homeland is visible everywhere, in the names of streets — named after Circassian cultural traditions, regions, and 12 Circassian tribes, which are written on street signs in Hebrew, Arabic, and Circassian — and businesses with traditional Circassian names. Mount Elbrus, after which the Thakoo cheese factory is named, is the highest peak in the Caucasus Mountains in the western part of the Caucasus, on the territory that is now the Russian-Georgian border.

“Israel is the only place where you have Circassian street names,” said Aibek Napso.

Preserving Ancestral Memory

The connection to the community’s ancestral homeland, which was divided by Russia into separate southern republics of Adygea, Karachay-Cherkessia, and Kabardino-Balkaria, is also preserved in the form of traditional dishes, dances, and language, which it resolutely maintains.

Thanks to its educational system, which it has managed separately from the Arab sector since 1976, the community ensures the transmission of its culture to the younger generation.

Along with Circassian history and traditions, schoolchildren are taught the Adyghe Circassian language, as well as Hebrew, Arabic, and English. Due to its complexity, the language has been preserved mainly in spoken form.

The village has two elementary schools where boys and girls study together, and several kindergartens. Circassian youth attend the local council’s high school together with Jewish students.

“90% of the Circassian population in 50 different countries no longer speaks this language,” noted Aibek Napso. “I believe that by the end of the century, there will not be a single Circassian left on this planet.”

Since there are fewer than 5,000 Circassians in Israel, he is used to explaining to Israelis who his people are and where they come from.

“After all the time we’ve lived here, we still need to explain who we are,” he said.

Sometimes there are minor verbal skirmishes with co-religionists because, on the one hand, Circassians are Muslims. But on the other hand, they are not Arabs, he said. But overall, Circassians have good relations with everyone.

Indeed, Circassians also maintain a connection with their distant pagan past by celebrating their New Year on March 22, the day after the vernal equinox.

Many Israeli football fans know about the Circassian community thanks to Bibras Natcho, who plays as a midfielder for the Serbian club Partizan and is the captain of the Israeli national team.

In every country where they reside, Circassian communities have assimilated with the majority society, and these days, although young people from the Circassian community serve in the IDF, the community prefers to maintain neutrality regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Easy Does It

According to him, Aibek Napso hopes that inclusion in the UN list will attract more attention to the unique cultural and historical heritage of his community. At the same time, however, he said he intends to help implement a careful and measured process of attracting tourists to his village in a way that is sustainable and manageable, so as not to disrupt its unique way of life.

Since the village is already of interest to a certain segment of Israelis, such as local school groups and retirees, residents want to ensure that it does not turn into Daliyat al-Karmel of souvenir shops and grilled meat restaurants. According to Aibek Napso, parking will need to be organized outside the village, sufficient public toilets provided, and strict waste disposal rules enforced.

“Last week, in addition to our residents, there were 1,000 tourists in Kfar-Kama in their cars,” he said. According to him, the quiet streets of the village, where some people move around in golf carts, are not suitable for such a number of traffic jams, and a solution will need to be found.

“It’s a lot, a lot. We have some concerns; not all tourists may be educated, and if there are 1,000 people, 500 are enough to throw their cigarette butts or water bottles on the street instead of in the trash can to [pollute the village]. We want to do it step by step and educate them. We are also learning. This is something new for us.”

In the Heritage Center he manages, visitors will be able to arrange a visit to watch a short video presentation about the history of the Circassians and see the center’s small but interesting exhibition dedicated to items from the daily life of the Circassians.

People will be able to walk through the narrow streets of the old town, see old houses built of basalt stones, and notice small details of bygone times, such as a tiny metal window latch in the shape of a person on a house, sometimes used by a young lady being courted to let her suitor know by tilting the latch whether it was safe for him to visit the house, whether her parents were home or not.

The uniquely shaped village mosque embodies the three different stages the community has gone through: the square bottom represents the shape of traditional Circassian houses; the middle octagonal part symbolizes the transition the Circassians underwent; and the minaret denotes the Ottoman Empire, explained Aibek Napso.

“Rural tourism can introduce people to other cultures and provide economic [growth] in small places,” said Fisher. “We want to start communicating [with other villages] to learn how to do tourism properly and find solutions to problems.”

Currently, the village has four bed-and-breakfast hotels, as well as other accommodation options in the surrounding area, including in Kfar Tavor and hotels in Tiberias, which is a 20-minute drive away.

“We don’t want the impact of this designation to remain only in this area but also in the surrounding circles. We want to preserve the uniqueness of the village. We don’t want tourists walking around the neighborhood 24 hours a day.”

Connections with the International Circassian Diaspora

Young Circassians in Israel attend annual summer camps, and there is an international exchange with other Circassian communities abroad, allowing for the maintenance of cultural and national ties, as well as helping young Circassians get to know each other, encouraging marriages within the community, while being exposed to the “brotherhood of Circassians,” said Aibek Napso.

The community does not approve of mixed marriages to preserve its cultural identity, but there are about 20 mixed marriages in the village, including with Russians, Ukrainians, and Israeli Jews. He noted that there are few mixed marriages with Arab Muslims due to cultural differences.

Most young people from the village return to Kfar-Kama after studying and traveling, added Aibek Napso.

“We have our unique goal, and everyone lives with one goal: to be Circassian,” he said.

Sixty-eight percent of young Circassian women pursue higher academic education in various disciplines such as high technology, nursing, accounting, law, and business management, while only 38 percent of young men do so after military service.

“Military service has its consequences,” said Zakaria Napso, noting that men usually work in local industries and businesses.

The birth rate among the Circassian community in Israel is low, averaging 1.6 children per couple, and this is a concern, says Zakaria Napso, who has four children, all with professional education.

“This is a problem now because young couples are busy with their lives and careers, and this affects the number of children they have,” he said. “For our community to survive, there should be an average of two children.”

Being a Bridge

He said that over the past 10 years, the local council has tried to fill the gaps in infrastructure and planning that existed between Kfar-Kama and its neighbors, partly due to government neglect and partly due to poor local governance and a lack of knowledge about how the planning system works at the village level. He said there is a master plan for the village.

“We have invested a lot in [closing the gaps],” he said. “Now we have all the permits for the master plan.”

According to him, living in the Lower Galilee, they have good relations with all their neighbors and cooperate with local councils.

“There is no racism in our area,” he added. “We cooperate with Arabs and Jews. We have managed to build a bridge between them.”

In addition to the Circassian cheeses of the Elbrus Dairy, visitors to Kfar Kama are attracted by traditional Circassian food. Entrepreneur Suzie Ashmuz opened Suzie’s Kitchen, a home-cooked restaurant where visitors can pre-order traditional Circassian dishes such as matza, cheese-filled pastries; haluz, fried bread; khajagas-pasta, a dish similar to polenta with a fried vegetable filling khajagas-nataf; and round date cookies called halgujhan. Just don’t expect to find hummus on the table.

Romantic and Bold Traditional Dance

Marriages with Circassians from abroad have also brought new initiatives to the village. A German Circassian who married a local opened a German waffle shop.

Rustam Apsha, a Russian Circassian who married a local woman, became a football coach and teaches dance in a traditional Circassian dance troupe, which provides a very colorful spectacle.

Traditionally, the dance gave young people the opportunity to connect with each other, as a young woman used her subtle movements to give subtle hints to her potential suitors whether courting attempts were welcome or not.

“I know that there are Circassians in Syria and Turkey, but I wanted to see what it’s like here. It’s better than Turkey; there’s democracy here,” said 40-year-old Apsha, a father of two. “I just want to live. It’s more comfortable here. There [in Russia] it’s not so free. Here we can commemorate May 21, the day of our genocide. Every year we walk from our village to the Knesset.”

As in other communities, many unique traditions are disappearing as young people are drawn into the pop culture of mobile phones and social media apps, but food and beautiful traditional dances have retained their significance for much of the Circassian community at weddings and public events.

The traditional dance troupe led by Apsha is a popular ensemble in the village. With men in fur hats, long coats with belts studded with [fake] bullets and daggers, and women dressed in long, flowing, intricately embroidered dresses and tall characteristic headpieces, the performances are both romantic and bold. With their graceful movements, the women seem to float above the ground, while the men fiercely jump and spin in steps stemming from their warrior past.

“For us as a community, it is very important to maintain our culture,” said 19-year-old Nafna Napso, a dancer in the Kfar Kama dance troupe. “Not all Circassians in other parts of the world speak Circassian, but wherever we are, what unites us is what we do together — our traditional dances.”

She noted that in everyday life she usually speaks Hebrew with her friends, but when she sends texts, she uses Hebrew letters to write in Circassian.

“We are very welcome here, even though we are not Middle Easterners and live here [in Kfar-Kama] very differently,” she said. “This is our home, and Circassia is our homeland.”

Discuss:

Who are the Circassians of northern Israel?

Who are the Circassians of northern Israel? – source Jerusalem Post.