Karmiel
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| Hebrew | כַּרְמִיאֵל |
| Founded in | 1964 |
| Government | City |
| Standard Hebrew | Karmiʼel |
| Unofficially also spelled | Carmiel |
| District | North |
| Population | 43,500 (CBS end of 2004) |
| Jurisdiction | 24,000 dunams (24 km²) |
| Mayor | Adi Eldar |
Karmiel is a city in northern Israel. Established in 1964, Karmiel is located in the Beit HaKerem Valley, which divides the Upper and Lower Galilee. The city is located at the center of the main network of roads in the northern area. Karmiel is 35 km from Tiberias, 30 km from Safed, 22 km from Acre and 45 km from Haifa.
The name Karmiel means My Vineyard is of God, reflecting the vineyards growing in the vicinity. Karmiel is known as "The Heart of the Galilee" or alternatively "The Town of Coexistence" because of its efforts to be a truly multi-cultural community. During the period of large-scale Jewish immigration from the former Soviet Union to Israel in the early 1990s after the fall of the communism, Karmiel was one of the major centers of absorption of newcomers. Karmiel strives always to be on good terms and in communication with the Arab villages nearby, Dir Al-Assad, Majd Al-Krum, Ba'ane, and Rama.
The city has a developed industrial zone, and is a center of employment for people from the neighboring villages and from other towns in the area.
[edit] History
In 1956, about 1275 acres belonging to the Israeli Arab villages Dir-Al-Assad, Ba'ane and Nahf were declared as "closed areas" by Israeli authorities. This area, situated by the main road between Acre and Safad, included some of the finest marble quarries in Israel. 5 years later, in 1961, the Israeli authorities could then expropriate the land (giving the reason that the land was not in use) for the building of Karmiel.
The expropriation met with strong resistance from the Arab villagers. The villagers first offered the government other land which was more suitable for building a town. The government refused, offering instead substituting with "equally good land" in the same area.
When Moshe Sneh (Communist party) and Yusef Khamis (Mapam) brought the case to the Knesset on behalf of the villagers, it turned out that there was no "equally good land" in the area.[1]
After the Knesset debate the villagers arranged a protest meeting in March 1962. But the military Governor of Galilea declared the villagers "closed areas" on the day of the protest, so nobody could contact the villagers and the meetings were therefore cancelled. The same happened with a protest meeting planned for January 1964.
After the first part of Karmiel was finished and Jews had started moving in, some local Arabs applied for permission to move into the town, but were denied. The Minister of Housing, Joseph Almogi, refused in a Knesset debate in 1964 to answer whether it was forbidden for Arabs to live in Karmiel. He only replied that "Karmiel was not build to solve the problems for the people in the surrounding area."[2]
Many Jewish Israelis were upset by what they saw as discrimination against Arabs. In February 1965 about 400 people walked from Tel Aviv to the "closed-off" areas around Karmiel, protesting against "discrimination of a group of our citizens". Representatives of the protesters went to a local police station, informing the police that they were staying in the area without permission. Nobody was arrested immediately, but as soon as things had quiet down the perceived leaders were arrested and put before military tribunal.[3]
In January/February 1972 an Israeli Arab entrepreneur offered to invest money in building industry in the town, industry where both Jews and Arabs could work. The offer divided the town, but those who opposed won, and the offer was rejected.[4]
During the 2006 conflict with Hezbollah, approximately 180 Katyusha rockets fired from Lebanon landed in and around the town of Karmiel and the neighboring villages[5], leading to casualties and to damage to structures, roads, and cars.
As of 2006, the city encompasses an area of about 24,000 dunams (24 km²) with a population of more than 50,000 residents. According to the master plan, in the future Karmiel will have a population of approximately 120,000 residents.
Karmiel is a Sister city to Pittsburgh and Denver.
[edit] References
- ^ Knesset debate, 31 Jan. 1962, page 1126-30, cited in Jiryis
- ^ Knesset debate, 2 Des. 1964, page 486, cited in Jiryis
- ^ Maariv, 14 Feb., 1965, cited in Jiryis
- ^ Maariv, 30 Jan., 1972, Davar, 10. and 16. February 1972, cited in Jiryis
- ^ [1]
- Sabri Jiryis: The Arabs in Israel 1st American edition 1976 ISBN 0-85345-377-2 (updated from the 1966 ed.) With a foreword by Noam Chomsky. (First English edition; Beirut, Institute for Palestine Studies, 1968). Chapter 5.
[edit] External links
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