History of Haifa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The History of Haifa dates back to the 3rd century B.C. Since then it has been controlled by several civilizations, including the Canaanites, Israelites, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders, Kurds, the Mamluks, the Ottoman Turks and it is currently a major city in Israel. Today, it is a mixed city of Jews and Arabs.

Contents 1 Early history 2 Byzantine and Crusader rule 3 Ottoman and Egyptian control 4 Recent history 5 References

[edit] Early history

Haifa is first mentioned in Talmudic literature around the 3rd century CE, as a small town with a well-established Jewish community.^[1] It was described as being near the town of 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.^[2] Furthermore, Mount Carmel and the Kishon River are also mentioned in the Bible.^[3][4] Mount Carmel is riddled with caves, one of which 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.^[3] Furthermore, 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.^[5]

There are disputes over the exact location of early Haifa with many researchers believing that the name ‘Haifa’ is identical to a settlement of which the remains are found in an area that extends from the present-day Rambam Hospital to the Jewish Cemetery in Yafo Street.^[6] The residents of this time were largely thought to have been involved in various coastal industries, including fishing and agriculture as well as acting as a port welcoming groups of people who eventually settled in the city.^[6] Before the Persians came to the area in 600 CE, the population of Haifa is thought to have been very spread across the area.^[6]

[edit] Byzantine and Crusader rule

Under Byzantine rule, Haifa continued to flourish, although never grew to great importance due to its proximity to Acre.^[7] The Byzantine ruled the settlement until the 7th century, when the city was conquered – first by the Persians, and then by the Arabs. In 1100, it was conquered again by the crusaders, after a fierce battle with its Jewish and Muslim inhabitants.^[8] Under crusader rule, the city was a part of the Principality of Galilee until the Muslim Mameluks captured it in 1265.^[9]

The Carmelites were founded at, and named after, Mount Carmel, in the 12th century.^[10] 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.

[edit] Ottoman and Egyptian control

In 1761 Dhaher al-Omar, Bedouin ruler of Acre and Galilee, destroyed and rebuilt the town in a new location, surrounding it with a wall.^[11] 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 in the same year; and between 1831 and 1840, the Egyptian viceroy Mehemet Ali governed, after his son Ibrahim Pasha wrested control from the Ottomans.^[12][13]

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.^[13] The Templers built and operated a steam-based power station, opened factories and inaugurated carriage service to Acre, Nazareth and Tiberias, playing a key role in modernizing the city.^[14]

[edit] Recent history

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 the Technion.^[13] At that time, the Haifa District (which included a number of Arab locales surrounding the city of Haifa itself) was home to approximately 20,000 inhabitants, comprising 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.^[15] 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 Church (Arab Orthodox).

It was in the late 19th century that the area rose to importance in the Bahá'í Faith as the remains of the Báb were moved to Acre and on, in 1909, to Haifa where a special tomb was erected for this purpose by `Abdu'l-Bahá, on Mount Carmel. Haifa remains 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.^[16] The Bahá'í holy places are also the most visited tourist attraction of the city.

Today, Haifa has a population of about 266,300 people. 90% of the population are predominantly Israeli-Jews and a few "others". The latter group consists of Israelis without religious classification, mostly immigrants from the former Soviet Union, from mixed-marriage families of Jewish origin. According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, Israeli-Arabs constitute 9% of Haifa's population, the majority living in Wadi Nisnas, Abbas and Halisa neighborhoods.^[17]

Haifa is 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. 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 April 21, 1948. The city was captured on April 23, 1948 by the Carmeli Brigade of the Haganah who were ordered into action by Mordechai Maklef at 10:30 am on 21 April following three months of unsuccessful attacks by Arab forces. Most of the Muslim population fled through the British-controlled port. However as many as 2,000 Christians remained in the city by June 1948 and there were an additional 1,300 Muslims remaining as well.

[edit] References