Israel razed their ancestral village 56 years ago, but some Christians are determined to preserve its heritage by keeping alive the language that Jesus spoke.

"Shlomo malfonito" --"Hello teacher" -- intone some 20 pupils in the Arab-Israeli village of Jish, where half the population is Maronite, a people who for centuries have lived in the mountains of Lebanon and nearby. The children get free lessons in Aramaic, an ancient tongue spoken during the time of Jesus Christ and kept alive down the centuries by fellow Maronites.