Welcome to the "Shmuel and the Samaritans" blog!

 Hello! I am Yossi Shmuel Tabeili and this is my blog, "Shmuel and the Samaritans". In this blog, I will be exploring the Israelite Samaritans. I will be discussing aspects of their culture and society both modern and ancient.

My hope here is to educate the world about this fascinating group of people who are more than just a saying.

Who are the Samaritans?

The Samaritans are a very tiny Levantine minority group consisting of some 800 members. As the indigenous people of Israel and Palestine, they are stuck in a conflict between Jews and Arabs while being neither themselves. Like many indigenous groups in the modern era, they have struggled to maintain their culture and numbers in the wake of centuries of colonization, ethnic cleansing, and forced conversions.  Now, they are caught in the middle of one of the most hotly contested conflicts in the world. They have chosen a path of stringent neutrality, and seek only to keep their people alive in their ancestral homeland, where they were once the majority. This is difficult as the two dominant groups (Jews and Arabs) both attempt to claim the Samaritans in order to portray themselves as the true indigenous population of Palestine.

The Samaritans have proven to be a tenacious people, refusing to leave their homeland or assimilate into the prevailing culture. 

This blog will seek to explore and celebrate all things Samaritan, analyzing their religion, culture, and community, and exploring how they have managed to survive in the background through 2000 years of oppression. 

I hope you will come along with me on my virtual journey! 

If you have any questions, ideas, or objections I can be contacted at tabeili0303@gmail.com