Not that it has hit the news widely, but it has been reported (as a footnote to a BBC article) that, Syrian rebels have launched an assault on the religiously mixed village of Ma'loula, in western Syria, held by government forces.
This is the same Ma'loula that harbors the largest community of modern Western Neo-Aramaic speakers and Ma'loula is the last surviving Western Neo-Aramaic dialect (the same Aramaic language family as Galilean, Samaritan, and Christian Palestinian Aramaic).
A Christian nun in Maaloula told the Associated Press news agency that the rebels had seized a mountain-top hotel and were shelling the community below.
Please keep them in your prayers.
Peace,
-SteveLabels: aramaic, attack, Ma'loula, neo-aramaic, syria