Holon

Holon
PikiWiki Israel 6312 Children Park in Holon.JPG
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District Tel Aviv
Government City (from 1950)
Hebrew חוֹלוֹן
Arabic حولون
Name meaning (Little) sand
Population 170,900 (2008)
Area 18,927 dunams (18.927 km2; 7.308 sq mi)
Mayor Moti Sasson
Founded in 1936
Location of Holon in the Tel Aviv District

Holon (Hebrew: חוֹלוֹן‎‎ (audio)) is a city in Israel, on the central coastal strip south of Tel Aviv. Holon is part of the metropolitan area known as Gush Dan in the Tel Aviv District. In 2007, it had a population of 168,800.[1] Holon has the second largest industrial zone in Israel, after Haifa.

Contents

Etymology

New neighborhood in Holon

The name of the city comes from the Hebrew word holon, meaning "(Little) sand". The name Holon also appears in the Bible: "And Holon with its suburbs, and Debir with its suburbs" (Book of Joshua, 21:15).

History

Holon was founded on sand dunes six kilometers from Tel Aviv in 1935.[2] The Łódzia textile factory was established there by Jewish immigrants from Łódź, Poland, along with many other industrial enterprises.[2]

In the early months of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, with Jewish-Zionist and Arab-Palestinian militias fighting each other while the British were in the process of evacuating the country, Holon was on the front line, with constant shooting going on the border with the village of Tel A-Rish to its northwest—a suburb of Arab Jaffa—and clashes also in the direction of the town of Yazur to the east. An attack by the Holon-based Hagana militia units on Tel A-Rish was repulsed with considerable losses. However, the fall of Jaffa—center of the Palestinian Arab forces in this region—to an attack launched from Tel Aviv precipitated the fall of both Tel A-Rish and Yazur, as of numerous other Arab villages and towns in this region. Their inhabitants shared in the fate of many other Palestinians and ended up in refugee camps.

Following the war, Holon Mayor Haim Kugel, a supporter of David Ben Gurion's ruling Mapai party, annexed Tel A-Rish (renamed "Tel Giborim", "The Mound of the Heroes") and of much of Yazur's agricultural lands, formerly planted with orange groves. The built up area of Yazur, emptied of its inhabitants, was made into the new Israeli town of Azor, but in much narrower municipal boundaries.

Holon thus doubled its territory within a single year, with its population increasing accordingly, mainly with Jewish immigrants from Arab and Mulsim countries arriving in the 1950s. The orange groves were cut down and replaced with residential neighbourhoods, as well as Israel's second-largest industrial zone. Some of the former buildings of Tel A-Rish still exist, now inhabited by Israelis, and a Muslim domed building marking the reputed grave of a Medieval Muslim saint is surrounded on all sides by Holon's industrial zone. Otherwise, few remains of the pre-1948 villages are to be seen within Holon.

Holon, an important part of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, is experiencing a new burst of building on the remaining sand dunes to its south, creating a continuum with Rishon Lezion. Environmentalist groups have been campaigning to preserve some of the sand dunes, with their unique flora and fauna, and prevent them from all being engulfed by the real estate boom.

Local government

Mediatheque cultural center

Mayors

Culture

The Yanshul, half-cat half-owl, symbol of the Holon Children's Museum

Holon used to host the annual Storytellers Festival, now held in Giv'atayim. It also hosts the annual Yemay Zemer song festival and a spring festival devoted to women. Daniel Barenboim organizes an annual summer music camp in the city. Since the election of Moti Sasson as the mayor of Holon in 1993, many cultural projects have been inaugurated. Billing itself as a "children's city," Holon is home to the Holon Children's Museum and the Mediatheque youth theater.[3] Holon also plays host each year to a street carnival in celebration of the Jewish holiday of Purim, the Adloyada. Thousands of children dress up in costumes and the streets close down for a parade featuring colorful floats. The city has many parks and lush greenery. The park on the corner of streets HaHistadrut and Eilat is famed for the backgammon or "shesh besh" tournaments which take place daily. The Holon cemetery contains memorials for Jewish communities wiped out in the Holocaust.

Transportation

Holon is surrounded by a few intercity roads. The main road serving the city is the Ayalon Expressway, passing alongside Holon's western border. Road 44 passes by on the northeastern side of the city, connecting it with Lod and Ramle. Road 4 passes by on the eastern border. Holon's public transport is based solely on bus service, operated by both Egged and Dan transport companies. The majority of the bus routes are regional, connecting the city to neighboring cities in the metropolitan area, but there are also a few local routes. Train service to the city is planned to be established in 2011, with the opening of the "Tel Aviv—West Rishon Le Zion" suburban line. Four stations would serve the city: "Sha'ar Holon" at the northern main entrance to the city, and "Wolfson", "Yoseftal" and "Komemiyut" along the western side.

Demographics

Holon's Samaritan synagogue

Samaritan community

In 1954, the president of Israel, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi helped to establish a Samaritan quarter on the outskirts of Holon. The quarter was named Neve Pinchas after Pinhas Ben-Abraham, the high priest of the Samaritan community.[4] Holon is one of only two cities in the world to have a Samaritan community, the other being the village of Kiryat Luza on Mount Gerizim above Nablus on the West Bank. That community fled Nablus for Kiryat Luza following the outbreak of the First Intifada (1987–1993).

Sports

Notable residents

View of Holon from park

Twin cities

Sister city shields at the city entrance
See also: Town twinning.

Partnership of kindness with:

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Table 3 - Population of Localities Numbering Above 1,000 Residents and Other Rural Population". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. 2008-06-30. http://www.cbs.gov.il/population/new_2009/table3.pdf. Retrieved 2008-10-18. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Guide to Israel, Zeev Vilnay, Hamakor Press, Jerusalem, 1972, p.239
  3. ↑ "Post-championship Holon dreams of prosperity, tourism – Haaretz – Israel News". Haaretz. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/988802.html. Retrieved 2009-05-05. 
  4. ↑ "Samaritans". Jewishmag.com. http://www.jewishmag.com/78mag/samaritans/samaritans.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-05. 

External links

Tel Aviv District
Cities
Bat Yam · Bnei Brak · Giv'atayim · Herzliya · Holon · Kiryat Ono · Or Yehuda · Ramat Gan · Ramat HaSharon · Tel Aviv-Jaffa
 Israel telaviv dist.png
Local councils
Azor · Kfar Shmaryahu
Other sub-divisions: Center District · Haifa District · Jerusalem District · Judea and Samaria Area · North District · South District
Israeli cities with a 50,000+ population
500,000+
200,000 – 499,999
100,000 – 199,999
Beersheba • Holon • Netanya • Bnei Brak • Ramat Gan • Bat Yam • Rehovot • Ashkelon
50,000 – 99,999
Herzliya • Kfar Saba • Ra'anana • Hadera • Beit Shemesh • Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut • Lod • Nazareth • Ramla • Giv'atayim • Rahat • Nahariya • Kiryat Ata