Haifa

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Haifa

Seal
Haifa Bay from atop Mt. Carmel looking down past the Bahá'í Gardens and the Shrine of the Báb
Hebrew חיפה
Arabic حَيْفَا
Government City
District Haifa
Population 267 000 (metropolitan 1,000,000[citation needed])
Jurisdiction 63 666 dunams (63.7 km²)
Mayor Yona Yahav
For other uses, see Haifa (disambiguation).

Haifa (Hebrew חֵיפָה Ḥefa; Arabic حَيْفَا Ḥayfā (help·info)[1]) is the main city of northern Israel and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of about 267,800 (as of May 2006). The city and areas and towns around it are deemed to be in the Haifa District. It is a seaport, located below and on Mount Carmel, and lies on the Mediterranean coast.

Contents

[edit] History

View of Haifa's port
View of Haifa's port
The view across Haifa Bay from Mount Carmel.
The view across Haifa Bay from Mount Carmel.
The main attraction of the terraced gardens at the Bahá'í World Centre is the Shrine of the Bab.
The main attraction of the terraced gardens at the Bahá'í World Centre is the Shrine of the Bab.
A panoramic view of the city
A panoramic view of the city
The Bahai Gardens
The Bahai Gardens
Top view of the Bahai Gardens
Top view of the Bahai Gardens
Haifa as seen from the south
Haifa as seen from the south
The Bahai Gardens and German Colony
The Bahai Gardens and German Colony
Haifa at sunrise
Haifa at sunrise
The industrial area at sunrise
The industrial area at sunrise
Stair-alleys go up and down the Carmel mountain through the city
Stair-alleys go up and down the Carmel mountain through the city

The city's sole official romanization Haifa and the common English pronunciation /ˈhaɪ.fə/ are based on the Arabic name Ḥayfā, whilst the unused Standard Hebrew name is Ḥefa, and the local Hebrew pronunciation is typically /xei.ˈfa/.

The origin of the name Haifa is not clear. Some tie it to the Hebrew word חוף (hof, meaning "beach"), or חוף יפה (hof yafe, meaning "Beautiful beach"), or maybe the Hebrew verb root חפה (hafo, 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. [2]

Some also believe the name came from the words חי-פה("hai-po", meaning "living-here") presuming God resides in the city.

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.[3] 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 thin wall.[citation needed] This event is marked as the beginning of the town's modern era.[citation needed] 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 brief and failed campaign to conquer Palestine and Syria, but withdrew the same year[citation needed]; 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 terms of traffic, population and importance, as Acre suffered a decline due to a succession of battles and wars.[citation needed] Development of Haifa increased further with the arrival of members of the Temple Society in 1868, who settled a modern neighbourhood near the city, now known as the "German Colony". The Templers greatly contributed to the town's commerce and industry, playing an important role in its modernization.

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 was home to approximately 20,000 inhabitants, comprised of 82% Muslim Arab, 14% Christian Arabs, and 4% Jewish residents.[citation needed] Jewish population increased steadily with immigration primarily from Europe, so that by 1945 the population had shifted to 38% Muslim, 13% Christian and 47% Jewish.[citation needed]

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 the violence following 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. As the major industrial and oil refinery port in the Palestine, Jewish forces deemed control of Haifa, a critical objective in the ensuing 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It was captured on April 23, 1948 by a force of 5,000 Israeli soldiers led by the Carmeli Brigade. The campaign resulted in Israeli control over the area and the flight of about 80,000 Palestinian Arabs from Haifa District.

Haifa was the target of many Hezbollah rockets during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, which was considered a major escalation by Israel.

[edit] Religion

Haifa is home to significant populations of Jews, Muslim and Christian Arabs, Ahmadis (in Kababir), Druze (in Daliyat al-Carmel), Bahá'ís, and others, and subsequently has often been characterised as a mosaic of peaceful coexistence between the communities.

It is noted by Jews for the Cave of Elijah and the historic Jewish town of Shikmona at the foot of Mount Carmel.[citation needed] The highest peak of Mt. Carmel is called Muchraka and there is a Carmelite monastery there. This is, by legend, the exact place where Elijah had his confrontation with the emissaries of Baal. (1 King 18:20)

Haifa is also cherished by the Christian and Bahá'í faiths.[citation needed] The Bahá'í World Centre (comprising the Shrine of the Báb, terraced gardens and administrative buildings on the Carmel's northern slope; see photo) is an important site of worship and administration for the members of the Bahá'í Faith, as well as providing the city with the most visited tourist attraction. Haifa was also a favourite monastic spot for the Carmelites in the 12th century;[citation needed] a 19th century monastery, Stella Maris, was rebuilt at Carmel's head. It is now a popular tourist and pilgrim's attraction.[citation needed]

[edit] Academic institutions

Haifa is the site of a number of universities, including the University of Haifa and the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology.

[edit] 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'.[citation needed] One ramification of this history is that Haifa is the only major city in Israel in which public transport operates on Shabbat.[citation needed]

Since then, Haifa's Labor-leanings have tipped in favor of centrist ideologies.[citation needed] In the 2006 legislative elections, the Kadima party received about 28.9% of the votes in Haifa, while Labor lagged behind with 16.9%.[citation needed]

[edit] 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) - The last Muslim mayor
  • Shabtai Levy (1940-1951) - The first Jewish mayor
  • 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 (2003)
  • Yona Yahav (2003–)

[edit] 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.[citation needed] Its twin 76-meter cooling towers, built in the 1930s, have long symbolized the city of Haifa.[citation needed]

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. IBM has an office on top of Carmel at Haifa University.[citation needed]

The Port of Haifa is the leader in passenger traffic among Israeli ports,[citation needed] and is also a major cargo harbor, though deregulation has seen its dominance challenged by the port of Ashdod.

[edit] Transportation

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:

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 bus stations, again 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 among the smallest subway systems in the world. The cablecar connects Bat Galim on the coast to the Stella Maris monastery atop Carmel; it is chiefly a tourist attraction.

[edit] Climate

Haifa has a Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and cold, 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.

[edit] Sports

The city has eight football (soccer) clubs, the two first are in the major leagues in Israel:

Maccabi Haifa is one of the most successful football clubs today in Israel, with 9 championships, 5 cups and 2 league-cups (as of 2005). 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 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.

[edit] Sister Cities

Haifa has Sister Cities all over the world:

[edit] Neighborhoods

[edit] Born in Haifa

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Carmel, Alex (2002). The History of Haifa Under Turkish Rule, 4th Edition, Haifa: Pardes. ISBN 965-7171-05-9.  (in Hebrew)
  • Shiller, Eli & Ben-Artzi, Yossi (1985). Haifa and its sites. Jerusalem: Ariel.  (in Hebrew)

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Many Hebrew speakers, though, particularly those who come from Haifa, refer to the city by its Arab pronunciation.
  2. ^ Welcome to Haifa
  3. ^ Carmel, Alex (2002). The History of Haifa Under Turkish Rule, 4th Edition, Haifa: Pardes, 16-17. ISBN 965-7171-05-9. 

[edit] External links

Flag of Israel
Haifa District
Cities Baqa-Jat | Carmel City | Hadera | Haifa | Kiryat Atta | Kiryat Bialik | Kiryat Motzkin | Kiryat Yam | Nesher | Or Akiva | Tirat Karmel | Umm al-Fahm
Local councils Ar'ara | Binyamina-Giv'at Ada | Jisr az-Zarqa | Kfar Qara | Ma'ale Iron | Pardes Hanna-Karkur | Fureidis | Kiryat Tiv'on | Rekhasim | Zikhron Ya'aqov
Regional councils Alona | Hof Karmel | Menashe | Zevulun

Coordinates: 32°49′N 34°59′E

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