The Circassians are an ethnic group that lived formerly in the North Caucasus region and by the northeast shore of the Black Sea and that had a stable civilization from the third millennium BCE. They spoke their own Circassian language. Many made their living through shepherding. They were Christian for over a thousand years, but converted to Islam beginning in the sixteenth century. Because of the position of their country as a bridge between Europe and Asia and the Black Sea they developed a strong military tradition. However, this was not enough to prevent a Russian invasion by a technologically superior enemy during the Russian-Circassian War in the mid-nineteenth century. During this war about 1.5 million people, or two-thirds of the population, were murdered and most of the survivors were expelled to the Ottoman Empire. Their previous homeland is now part of Russia.

 

The Ottomans welcomed the exiles as they recognized the Circassians as experienced warriors and they settled them in sparsely populated areas of their empire, including the Galilee. There are two Circassian settlements in Israel – one in Kfar Kama, which was established in 1876, and the other in Rehaniya in the northern Galilee, established in 1878. Kfar Kana has about 3,000 inhabitants and Rehaniya about 1,000.

 

The Circassians maintain their own educational system. They speak their own language, know Hebrew, and many also speak Arabic and English. They find knowledge of these languages helpful to them in maneuvering between the different cultures in Israel. The males perform mandatory military service in the Israeli army, although not the girls. About 80% of the younger generation have a post-secondary degree. Very few intermarry. They are Sunni Muslims and there is a central mosque in the town. They have not forgotten their homeland and regard their scattered nation as their primary loyalty.

 

Their Cultural Center was inaugurated in an old flour mill in 2009. A tour usually includes a lecture by a local guide, and this can also be in English, a movie, and a tour of the museum. Around the walls of the flour mill hall are archival material about the Russian genocide. The museum contains Circassian costumes, and these types of costume are still used on special occasions, weaponry, musical instruments and cooking and kitchen utensils.

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The mosque in Kfar Kama is one of the architectural highlights of this historic Circassian village. The mosque is unusual among Galilean mosques and reflects both local traditions and the Circassians' own heritage. Its principal features include construction from the black basalt that characterizes many buildings in Kfar Kama, decorative alternating black-and-white stonework, recalling Mamluk architecture, a distinctive octagonal minaret, unlike the more common cylindrical minarets seen elsewhere in Israel, and a relatively modest prayer hall, in keeping with the size of the village during the Ottoman period. For the Circassians of Kfar Kama, the mosque served as more than a place of worship. It was also a meeting place for village affairs, a center for religious education, and a symbol of the preservation of Circassian Muslim identity in exile.