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The last name Issac or Ishaq from Beit Sahour stems from a common ancestor which also includes these last names- Habbas, AbuAitah, Salem, Qassis, Ibrahim, among others. If you trace the Ishaq ancestor back to 1630 you come to Dawoud Al-Qazaha. My grandmother's maiden name and her mother's maiden name is Ishaq. But on my grandfather's side, his mother's maiden name is Habbas, descending also from Dawoud Al-Qazaha through the branch of AbuAitah.

It has been passed down that our ancestor, Dawood, came from Wadi Mousa in Jordan and settled in Beit Sahour. He followed other families like Shomali who were there first and also came from Wadi Mousa. We do not know how long they were in Wadi Mousa or the reason why or where they came from before. But, it seems there is a strong connection between many of the Christian families surrounding Bethlehem and Ramallah, also Jerusalem and Beersheeba. Further back in time, there is a connection between families in Lebanon and Syria with our families in Beit Sahour. I have discovered many connections through DNA testing for genealogy, and I will explain more in another post soon.

Right now I count 5 connections through my grandparents that I have to the Dawoud ancestor. How many do you have?

Until next time,
Janis