'Haifa' ( ''Ḥefa'';
[1]) is the largest city in northern
Israel and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of about 267,800.
[2][3] The city is a
seaport located on Israel's
Mediterranean coastline in the
Haifa Bay, about 90 km north of
Tel Aviv, and is one of the country's major industrial centers.
[4]
The city is built on a hill, below and on the historic
Mount Carmel, and is first mentioned in the
3rd century CE as a dye making center. Today, the city is home to a mixed population of Jews and Muslim and Christian Arabs, who are mostly secular. As such, Haifa is unique in Israel because its public transport runs on Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath. The city is also home to the
Bahá'í World Centre (including the Bahá'í Gardens), a centre of the
Bahá'í Faith. Haifa also hosts two world-class academic institutions, the
University of Haifa, and the
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. Recently, hi-tech industry has started to invest in the city with the likes of
Intel,
IBM and
Microsoft locating Research and Development facilities here.
Etymology
thumb
The city's sole official
romanization ''Haifa'' and the common
English pronunciation are based on the Arabic name ''Ḥayfā'', although the unused Standard Hebrew name is actually ''Ḥefa''. The local Hebrew pronunciation of the city's name is .
[5]
The origin of the name Haifa is unclear and whilst some tie it to the Hebrew word חוף (''hof'', meaning "beach"), or חוף יפה (''hof yafe'', meaning "Beautiful beach"), some also tie it to the Hebrew verb root חפה (''hafa'', meaning "to cover or hide").
Christian pilgrims of the Middle Ages (and later the
Crusaders) called the town 'Caiphas' or 'Caifa'. The Christians believe the name derives from
Caiaphas, the High Priest of
Jerusalem during the time of
Jesus, or from the
Aramaic name of
Saint Peter, 'Cephas' or 'Kepah' (כפא). Additionally, the name 'Sycaminon' or 'Sykaminos', meaning "wild strawberry", is also used. Some also believe the name originates from the words חי-פה ("hai-po", meaning "living-here") presuming God resides in the city.
History
Haifa is first mentioned in
Talmudic literature around the
3rd century CE, as a small town near
Shikmona, the main Jewish town in the area at that time and a center for making the traditional
Tekhelet dye used for
Jewish Priests' temple cloth. The archaeological site of Shikmona lies southwest of the modern Bat Galim neighborhood. The
Byzantine ruled there until the
7th century, when the city was conquered — first by the
Persians, then by the
Arabs. In 1100, it was conquered again by the
crusaders, after a fierce battle with its
Jewish and
Muslim inhabitants.
[6] Under crusader rule, the city was a part of the
Principality of Galilee until the Muslim
Mameluks captured it in 1265.
In 1761
Daher El-Omar,
Bedouin ruler of
Acre and
Galilee, destroyed and rebuilt the town in a new location, surrounding it with a wall. This event is marked as the beginning of the town's modern era. After El-Omar's death in 1775, the town remained under
Ottoman rule until
1918, except for two brief periods: in 1799,
Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Haifa as part of his unsuccessful campaign to conquer
Palestine and
Syria, but withdrew the same year ; and between 1831 and 1840, the
Egyptian viceroy
Mehemet Ali governed, after his son
Ibrahim Pasha wrested control from the Ottomans.
In the years following the Egyptian occupation, Haifa grew in population and importance while
Acre suffered a decline. The arrival of the
German Templers in
1868, who settled in what is now known as the
German Colony of Haifa, was a turning point in Haifa's development. The Templers played a major role in commerce and industry, and helped to modernize the city.
Haifa's population increased from 1,000 in 1800 to 2,000 by 1840, 6000 in 1880, 20,000 in 1914 and 24,600 in 1922.
[7].
At the beginning of the
20th Century, Haifa had emerged as an industrial port city and growing population center, reflected by the establishment of facilities like the
Hejaz railway and
Technion. At that time
Haifa District (which included a number of Arab locales surrounding the city of Haifa itself) was home to approximately 20,000 inhabitants, comprised of 82% Muslim Arab, 14% Christian Arabs, and 4% Jewish residents. Jewish population increased steadily with
immigration primarily from Europe, so that by 1945 the population had shifted to 33% Muslim, 20% Christian and 47%
Jewish.
[8]
. In 1947 its population was estimated to consist of 41,000 Muslims, 74,230 Jews and 29,910 Christians. The Christian community was composed mostly of
Greek-Orthodox(
Arab Orthodox).
Haifa is located in the northernmost reach of the
coastal plain designated as Jewish territory in the
1947 UN Partition Plan dividing
mandatory Palestine, and was not excepted to that plan and culminating in the
1948 Arab-Israeli War. On
30 December,
1947 members of the Jewish militant group
Irgun hurled two bombs into a crowd of Arabs who were waiting for construction jobs outside the gates of the Consolidated Refineries in Haifa, killing 6 and injuring 42, whereupon 2,000 Arab employees rioted and killed 39 Jewish employees in what has become known as the
Haifa Oil Refinery massacre. Jewish forces retaliated by raiding the Arab village of
Balad al-Shaykh on
December 31,
1947. Jewish forces deemed control of Haifa a critical objective in the ensuing
1948 Arab-Israeli War, as it was the major industrial and
oil refinery port in
Palestine.
The British withdrew from Haifa on the 21st of April, 1948. The city
was captured on
April 23,
1948 by the Units of the Carmeli Brigade of the
Haganah who were ordered into action by Mordechai Maklef at 10:30am on the 21st of April following three months of unsuccessful attacks by Arab forces. The majority of the
Muslim population fled through the British-controlled port. However as many as 2,000 Christians remained in the city by June of 1948 and there were an additional 1,300 Muslims remaining as well.
Haifa was the target of many
Hezbollah rockets during the
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, which caused suffering for Jews and Arabs alike.
Religion
View of the Bahá'í Gardens from above.
Haifa, home to Jews, Muslim and
Christian Arabs,
Ahmadis (in
Kababir),
Druze (in
Daliyat al-Carmel), and
Bahá'ís, is often portrayed as a mosaic of peaceful coexistence.
Mount Carmel (Hebrew: God's vinyard) and Kishon River are both mentioned in the Bible.
Mount Carmel is riddled with caves, and one of those near Haifa is traditionally known as the "Cave of Elijah", and considered by many Jews to have been the home of the Jewish biblical Prophet
Elijah and his apprentice, Elisha. The highest peak of the Mount Carmel range is named ''El-Muhrrakah'', an
Arabic term meaning ''the burning'', named on account of the belief that this was the exact spot of Elijah's biblical confrontation with hundreds of priests of a
Baal; the Baal in question was probably
Melqart[9].
The
Carmelites were founded at, and named after, Mount Carmel, in the 12th century. Since that time, at the peak of the Mount near Haifa, there has historically been a building that has variously been a
mosque,
monastery, and
hospital; in the 19th century it was reconstructed as a Carmelite monastery, and a cave located there, which functions as the monastery's
crypt, was treated as having once been Elijah's cave. It is now a popular tourist and
pilgrimage destination.
Haifa is also cherished by members of the
Bahá'í Faith as it is an important site of worship,
pilgrimage and administration for the members of the religion. The
Bahá'í World Centre (comprising the
Shrine of the Báb,
terraced gardens and
administrative buildings) are all on
Mount Carmel's northern slope. The location of the Bahá'í holy places in Haifa has its roots to the imprisonment of the religion's founder,
Bahá'u'lláh, near Haifa by the
Ottoman Empire during the Ottoman Empire's rule over
Palestine. The Bahá'í holy places are also the most visited tourist attraction of the city.
The ruins of
Shikmona, at the foot of Mount Carmel, is also considered historically important by Jews.
Shikmona is also mentioned in the Talmud as the coastal town in which the blue dye for the Jewish prayer shawl
Talit (the Techelet thread) was extracted from sea-snails.
The Cave of Elijah - Elijah is considered a prophet by Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baha'i Faith. The Carmelites have a tradition that they were founded by Elijah at this time. According to tradition Elijah lived in a cave on Mt. Carmel during the reign of King Ahab.
Stella Maris is a French Carmelite church, monastery and hospice. The Carmelite Order, a religious order of the Roman Catholic Church, was named after this location, where it was founded. Located atop Mount Carmel, there is a hiking trail connecting it to the Cave of Elijah below.
[10]
Demographics
The city has a population of about 267,800 people. 90% of the population are Israeli-Jews with some "others". The others consist of Israelis that aren't classified by religion for various reasons. They consist of Russian non-Jews that are connected to other Jews through marriage or not at all, and partial Jews from mixed marriages. According to the
Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics,
Israeli-Arabs constitute 9% of Haifa's population, the majority living in the
Wadi Nisnas,
Hadar Elyon and
Halisa neighborhoods.
[11]
Politics
In the past, Haifa's
docks and industrial areas have made the city a consistent stronghold for the
Israeli Labor party; these
Socialist tendencies led to the nickname 'Red Haifa'. This name was also earned due to the fact that prominent Arab leaders of the Israeli Communist Party such as Tewfiq Tubi, Emile Habibi, Zaki Karkabi, Bulus Farah and Emili Toma were all from Haifa.
[12][13][14] One ramification of this history is that Haifa is the only major city in Israel in which public transport operates on
Shabbat.
Since then, Haifa's Labor-leanings have tipped in favor of centrist ideologies. In
the 2006 legislative elections, the
Kadima party received about 28.9% of the votes in Haifa, while Labor lagged behind with 16.9%.
Mayors of Haifa since 1873
★
Najib Effendi al-Yasin (1873-1877)
★
Akhmad Effendi Jalabi (1878-1881)
★
Mustafa Bey al-Salih (1881-1884)
★
Mustafa Pasha al-Khalil (1885-1903)
★
Jamil Sadiq (1904-1910)
★
Rif'at al-Salah (1910-1911)
★
Ibrahim al-Khalil (1911-1913)
★
Abd al-Rahman al-Haj (1920-1927)
★
Hasan Shukri (1914-1920, 1927-1940)
★
Shabtai Levy (1940-1951)
★
Abba Hushi (1951–1969)
★
Moshe Flimann (1969–1973)
★
Yosef Almogi (1974–1975)
★
Yeruham Zeisel (1975–1978)
★
Arie Gur'el (1978–1993)
★
Amram Mitzna (1993–2003)
★
Giora Fisher (interim mayor, 2003)
★
Yona Yahav (2003–)
Economy
The industrial region of Haifa is north of the city, near the
Kishon River. Haifa is home to one of the two
oil refineries in Israel (the other located in
Ashdod). The refinery in Haifa is capable of processing about 9 million tons (66 million barrels) of
crude oil a year and is the center of a wide array of
petrochemical industries located in and around Haifa. Its twin 76-meter cooling towers, built in the 1930s, have long symbolized the city of Haifa.
Matam (Merkaz Ta'asiya v'Meida/Scientific Industries Center), the largest and oldest business park in Israel, is located at the southern entrance to the city, hosting manufacturing and
R&D facilities for a large number of Israeli and international hi-tech companies, such as
Intel,
Elbit,
Zoran,
Microsoft,
Philips,
Google and
Amdocs. The campus of the
University of Haifa is also home to
IBM Haifa Labs.
The
Port of Haifa is the leader in passenger traffic among
Israeli ports,
[3] and is also a major cargo
harbor, though deregulation has seen its dominance challenged by the
port of Ashdod.
Transportation
Haifa at sunrise.
For international travel,
Haifa Airport, located on the
Gulf of Haifa, serves flights to
Eilat and
Cyprus.
Port of Haifa, which is Israel's main international passengers seaport, is located in the city as well.
For intercity transport, there are six
Israel Railways railroad stations and three "central"
bus stations. The
Nahariya-
Tel Aviv main line railway runs along the
Gulf of Haifa; stations within the municipal boundaries of Haifa, from the direction Tel Aviv, are:
★
Hof HaCarmel Railway Station near
Haifa Hof HaCarmel Central Bus Station
★
Haifa Bat-Galim Railway Station near
Haifa Bat Galim Central Bus Station
★
Haifa Merkaz (Central) near
Haifa Seaport
★
Lev HaMifratz Railway Station near
Lev HaMifratz Mall and
Mifratz Central Bus Station
★
Hutzot HaMifratz Railway Station in the
Hutzot HaMifratz Shopping Center
★
Kiryat Haim Railway Station
A seventh stop is in nearby
Kiryat Motzkin (
Kiryat Motzkin Railway Station), a Northern suburb. Haifa Mizrach (Haifa East) now out of passenger use, houses the
Israel Railway Museum.
The railway lines also serve a metropolitan train with 7 stops only, called the Parvarit.
The bus stations, from Tel Aviv northwards, are:
Hof HaCarmel,
Bat Galim, and
Merkazit HaMifratz. All of these stations are served by
Egged city, suburban, and intercity buses.
Other intracity transport options include Israel's only
subway system (
funicular) and a
cablecar.
★ The
Carmelit subway runs from Kikar Paris downtown to Gan HaEm (Mother's Park) on
Mount Carmel. With a single track, six stations and two trains, it is in the
Guinness World Records for the world's shortest metro line.
★ The Stella Maris cablecar, consisting of 6 cabins, connects Bat Galim on the coast to the Stella Maris observation deck and monastery atop Mount Carmel; it is chiefly a
tourist attraction.
★ In 2006, Haifa also implemented a trial network of neighborhood mini-buses - named "Shchunatit" run by
Egged.
★ In 2008, Haifa and the Krayot region will also be linked via
Metronit - a bus rapid transit/light rail system.
''See also:'' .
Education
Haifa University, The Eshkol Tower
As a major city in Israel, Haifa also a major education center, being home to two internationally well-regarded universities and several colleges. The
University of Haifa was founded in 1963,it is located at the top of Mt. Carmel, the campus was originally designed by the architect of Brasilia and UN building in New York, Oscar Niemeyer. Newer buildings were added later. The top 30th floor of the Eshkol Tower, provides an incredible view of almost the entire North of Israel. The campus is also a home of Hecht Museum with its rich archeology and art collections. Yet The
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology was founded in 1924 and is Israel's oldest university.
Colleges in Haifa include:
★
Gordon College of Education - Education & Teaching.
★ Wizo Design Academy - Arts and Architecture.
★ Michlala Leminhal - Haifa branch.
★
Open University of Israel - Haifa Campus (degrees hold university status).
★ Tiltan - College of Design.
★ Nursing College - Nursing.
★ Sha'anan College - Religious Education & Teaching.
★ P.E.T Practical Engineering School - Engineering.
Tourism
Haifa, the seaport of Israel and the capital of the north, located in the northern part of Israel, eastern boarded by the Mediterranean Sea. Haifa is divided into three major topographical levels. The lower city is the commercial center of the town with modern harbor facilities. The middle level is an older residential zone and the upper level consists of modern neighborhoods, overlooking the sandy beaches of Haifa's cosmopolitan bay. Haifa is the world center for the Bahai faith.
Located on the western slopes of Mount Carmel, overlooking the Mediterranean sea shore and the Crusader castle of Atlit is the Ein Hod Artists' Village, established in 1953 by Marcel Janco, a leading artist of the Dada movement, as an artist colony. Today, ninety artists and craftsmen have studios there and exhibit their work in the main gallery and other artspaces.
[15]
Haifa has a wide variety of malls and shopping centers, among them Kiryon, Kastra Center, Kanyon Haifa, Lev Hamifratz and Grand Kanyon.
Climate
Haifa has a
Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and cool, rainy winters. The average temperature in summer is 26 °C and in winter, 12 °C.
Snow is rare in Haifa, but temperatures around 6 °C can sometimes occur, usually in the early morning. The wet season is from October to April.
Sports
The city has eight
football (soccer) clubs, the two first are in the major leagues in Israel:
★
Maccabi Haifa
★
Hapoel Haifa
★ Beitar Haifa
★ Akhva Haifa
★ Spartak Haifa
★ Neve Yosef
★ Bnei Kababir
★ Hapoel Neve Sha'anan
Maccabi Haifa is one of the most successful football clubs today in Israel, with 10
championships, 5
cups and 3
League cups. Both Hapoel and Maccabi have football schools in Haifa suburbs and other villages (including Arab and Druze villages) in the northern part of Israel.
Haifa also has
basketball,
volleyball,
tennis, and
handball clubs.
The city boasts some of the best
surfing beaches in the country near Bat Galim, with
kite surfing and
sailing clubs. The
Haifa Tennis Club located nearby the south-west entrance is one of the largest in Israel.
The main stadiums are
Kiryat Eliezer, seating 14,000, and
Kiryat Haim. The main basketball arena is Romema Sports Arena, seating 2,000; Neve Sha'anan Athletic seats 1,000. A
UEFA-approved stadium is planned for south-west Haifa. It will seat 30,000 people.
Sister cities
Haifa has
Sister Cities all over the world. The year in parentheses indicates the year in which the agreement was made.
★ 'Aalborg', Denmark (1973)
★ 'Antwerp', Belgium (1986)
★ 'Boston', Massachusetts, United States (1999)
★ 'Bremen', Germany (1978)
★ 'Cape Town', South Africa (1975)
★ 'Düsseldorf', Germany (1988)
★ 'Erfurt', Germany (2005)
★ 'Fort Lauderdale', Florida, United States (2002)
★ 'Hackney', London, United Kingdom (1968)
★ 'Limassol', Cyprus (2000)
★ 'Mainz', Germany (1987) |
★ 'Mannheim', Germany (2005)
★ 'Manila', Philippines (1971)
★ 'Marrakech', Morocco
★ 'Marseille', France (1962)
★ 'Newcastle', United Kingdom
★ ' Odessa', Ukraine (1992)
★ 'Portsmouth', United Kingdom (1962)
★ 'Rosario', Argentina (1988)
★ 'San Fransisco', California, United States (1973)
★ 'Shanghai', China (1994) |
Neighborhoods
Famous residents
{|style="width:80%"
|-
|width=45%|
★
Abed Abdi (painter, sculpturor)
★
Reuven Atar (footballer)
★
Ralph Bakshi (
animator and
director)
★
Tal Banin (footballer)
★
Arik Benado (footballer)
★
Mike Brant (pop star)
★
David Broza (musician)
★
Aaron Ciechanover (Biologist, 2004 Nobel Prize, Chemistry)
★
Yaakov Dorchin {painter)
★
Amos Gitai (film director)
★
Ivry Gitlis (violinist)
★
Amir Gutfreund (author}
★
Emile Habibi (Arab communist politician)
★
Zevulun Hammer (politician)
★
Abba Hushi (politician, mayor)
★
Moshe Kahlon (politician)
★
Leila Khaled (reformed Arab hijacker)
[16]
★
Uzi Landau (politician)
★
Avi Lerner (movie executive)
★
Ari Libsker (journalist)
★
Uri Lupolianski (Mayor of
Jerusalem)
★
Shiri Maimon (singer)
|width=45%|
★
Sami Michael (Iraqi-Jewish Writer)
★
Izidore Musallam (film director)
★
Noam Okun (tennis player)
★
Yehuda Poliker (singer)
★
Galila Ron-Feder Amit (author)
★
Moshe Safdie (Architect)
★
Simon Shaheen (Musician-Oud Player)
★
Ehud Shani (General)
★
Ahlam Shibli (Arab Israeli photographer)
★
Gene Simmons (musician
Kiss)
★
Hillel Slovak (musician
Red Hot Chili Peppers)
★
Daniel Salomon (musician)
★
David Tartakover (artist)
★
Emile Toma (politician)
★
Tewfik Toubi (Arab Communist politician)
★
Dan Tichon (politician)
★
Eithan Urbach (swimmer)
★
Delilah (fictional character from
John Rain series)
★
Yochanan Vollach (footballer, president of
Maccabi Haifa)
★
Yona Yahav (Mayor of Haifa)
★ [Jasmine Lee] (musician)
|}
References
★
The History of Haifa Under Turkish Rule, , Alex, Carmel, Pardes, 2002, ISBN 965-7171-05-9 (in Hebrew)
★
Haifa and its sites, Shiller, Eli & Ben-Artzi, Yossi, , , Ariel, 1985, (in Hebrew)
★ http://www.city-journal.org/html/eon_5_31_02td.html
★ Benny Morris, ''Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem''
★ Seth J. Frantzman ''The Strength of Weakness: The Arab Christians in Mandatory Palestine,'' unpublished M.A thesis, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
1. Many Hebrew speakers, though, particularly those who come from Haifa, refer to the city by its Arab pronunciation.
2. Haifa
3. Population of Localities numbering above 1,000 residents and other rural population on 31/12/2006
4. Haifa Port
5. Behind the Name Haifa
6. The History of Haifa Under Turkish Rule, , Alex, Carmel, Pardes, 2002, ISBN 965-7171-05-9
7. Data based on Be-Arieh “Population of the Towns”, as reproduced in Ben-Arieh Jerusalem page 466
8. Supplement to a Survey of Palestine (p. 12-13) which was prepared by the British Mandate for the United Nations in 1946-7.
9. ''Peake's commentary on the Bible''
10. [1].
11. [2]
12. http://mondediplo.com/2005/12/13haifa
13. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-20132871.html
14. http://www.islamicpluralism.org/articles/2006a/mysteriessafed.htm
15. [4].
16. http://www.city-journal.org/html/eon_5_31_02td.html
External links
City and universities
★
Haifa Municipality
★
University of Haifa
★
Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
Bahá'í
★
Bahá'í World Centre, Haifa
★
Photos of the Bahá'í Gardens in Haifa
★
More photos of the Bahá'í Gardens
Monastery
★
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Monastery, Haifa, Israel
Travel
★
The Carmelit subway and map of Haifa
★
Wikitravel: Haifa
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