Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Aramaic alphabet" in English language version.
Several years ago, the political leadership in Syria decided to establish an institute where Aramaic could be learned. Rizkalla was tasked with writing a textbook, primarily drawing upon his native language proficiency. For the script, he chose Hebrew letters.
Before the Islamic conquest, Aramaic was spoken throughout Syria and was a global language. There were many variants, but Aramaic did not exist as a written language everywhere, including the Ma'alula region, notes Professor Jastrow. The decision to use the Hebrew script, in his opinion, was made arbitrarily."
