Актуальные вопросы тюркологических исследований

XXXIII–XXXIV Kononov Memorial Lectures 102 in 1867. Initially, the village was built as a typical Circassian settlement. Detached houses were surrounded by a high wall. The village of Rehaniya was founded in 1878. It was also modelled on Circassian villages. Part of the wall surrounding the village has survived to this day. In both villages there were built Caucasian-style mosques, very different fromArab mosques [ ]. After the First World War, Palestinian territory was ceded to Great Brit- ain. The two Circassian villages thus became part of the British Mandate. At that time, 900 people lived in them - the Shapsug in Kfar Kama and Abzakhs in Rehaniya. During the British mandate in Palestine (1920–1948), residents of Circassian villages gained the right to join the Transjordan border troops and police units. In the 20–30s. XX century with the onset of Arab-Jewish clashes and conflicts in Palestine, the Circassians maintained a neutral posi- tion. After the establishment of the State of Israel Circassians joined a sepa- rate cavalry unit (squadron). Already in 1948–49 during the first Arab-Israeli war, the Circassian squadron as part of the seventh brigade of the Israeli army participated in the military action. It should be noted that the Circassians quite willingly joined the ranks of the Israeli army. Perhaps this was due to the fact that military service was considered an honourable and traditional thing for any Circassian man. In June 1958 at the request of the residents of Kfar Kama and Rehaniya, the Government of Israel granted Circassian men the right to serve in the armed forces of the country [9: 62]. Apart from the Circassians of Rehaniya and Kfar Kama, some residents of the settlements in the Golan Heights are also ascribed to Palestinian Circassians. Until 1967, there were 12 villages there whose residents were forced to move to Damas- cus and its surroundings as the result of the Arab-Israeli conflict of 1967 [6]. According to A. Kushkhabiev, there are a little more than 3000 Circas- sians in Israel nowadays. The population of the Kfar Kama city is 2600 people, that of Rehaniya — 800 people. In addition, individual Circassian families live in the cities of Safed, Haifa, Nazareth and some others [9: 62]. Initially, teaching in the schools of Circassian villages was carried out in Arabic. After 1977, schools switched to the Jewish general education system in Hebrew, with Arabic and English being studied as foreign languages. It is noteworthy that even before the transition to the Jewish general educa- tion system, the Adyghe language was introduced as a subject in the school curriculum (1976). Now it is being taught starting from sixth grade using the textbooks compiled from educational materials originally published in