Doms in Israel

There is a Dom community in Israel.^[3][4] It is estimated that about 5,000 Dom live in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. Invisible to most Jerusalemites, between 1,200 and 3,000 of Dom reside inside the Lions’ Gate, in and around Burj Laklak Street. The Dom population in Israel have dwindled over the years because many fled to Jordan during Israel's wars, particularly the Six-Day War in 1967.^[5] Israeli Doms are concentrated in Jerusalem and in the West Bank and Gaza.^[6] They are integrated into Muslim Palestinian society and are regarded by Israeli authorities as an integral part of the Arab population of East Jerusalem and the West Bank,^[7] internationally recognized as the occupied Palestinian territories.

Doms in Israel

דומס בישראל
Total population
9,100[1]
Regions with significant populations
Jerusalem[2]
Languages
Domari, Hebrew, Arabic
Religion
Judaism, Islam

Domari encampment north of the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem, 1914

Historical evidence about Doms in Israel

In the mid-18th century, German pilgrims told of encounters with Gypsies: German traveler Stephan Schulz met Gypsies near Acre, and Ulrich Jasper Zatzen met groups of Gypsies near Bethlehem, near Carmel on Mount Hebron and near the city of Nablus. In the 1840s, the German Krieger met gypsies in the Bethlehem area. In those years, the British John Wilson met Gypsies in the Majdal area west of the Sea of Galilee. The poet Ludwig August Frankl visited Israel in 1856 and met a group of gypsies near the Nablus Gate in Jerusalem. In 1855, the British Mary Rogers met Gypsies near the village of Araba in the Nablus region. Sep Wilson published in 1870, an article about gypsies they met near Jericho. In 1890, the archaeologist Flinders Petrie met a group of gypsies in an open field near the city of Jaffa. In 1909, an article was written in the "Haharot" newspaper, which told about the arrest of gypsies who were engaged in theft in Jaffa. Robert McAllister published in 1914 a book about the language of the Gypsies. The book also included a hundred stories that dealt with their lives.^[8]

See also

• Jewish–Romani relations

References

1. "Romani, Domari in Israel people group profile". Joshua Project. Frontier Ventures. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
2. The Last Migration? Jerusalem's Gypsy Community
3. Heruti-Sover, Tali (26 October 2016). "Jerusalem's Gypsies: The Community With the Lowest Social Standing in Israel". Haaretz. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
4. van der Zande, Petra (3 March 2012). "Hidden Gypsies of Jerusalem". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
5. "Feature: Gypsies in Jerusalem". Hadassah Magazine. 11 June 2006.
6. "Gypsies in Israel struggle to rise above circumstances". J. November 2013.
7. Matras 2012, pp. 27–29.
8. י. יניב, הצוענים ביהודה ובירושלים, הוצאת אריאל, עמודים 17–23, ירושלים, 1980

Bibliography

• Matras, Yaron (2012). "The Dom community of Jerusalem". A Grammar of Domari (PDF). Germany: De Gruyter. pp. 27–30. ISBN 9783110291421.