| Eilabun | |
|---|---|
| Hebrew transcription(s) | |
| • Hebrew | עַילַבּוּן, עֵילַבּוּן |
| • ISO 259 | ʕeilabbun |
| • Also spelled | Illabun (official) Eilaboun, Ailabun (unofficial) |
| Arabic transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | عيلبون |
|
Eilabun
|
|
| Coordinates: | |
| District | North |
| Founded | 19th century |
| Government | |
| • Type | Local council (from 1973) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 4,835 dunams (4.8 km2 / 1.9 sq mi) |
| Population (2005) | |
| • Total | 4,400 |
Eilabun (Arabic: عيلبون Ailabun, Hebrew: עַילַבּוּן, עֵילַבּוּן) is an Israeli-Arab local council in Israel's North District, located in the Beit Netofa Valley. According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, Eilabun had a population of 4,400 inhabitants in 2005.[1] The population is predominantly Christian. In 1973, Eilabun achieved local council status by the Israeli government.[2]
Contents |
Eilabun is a small town in the Galilee; in Northern Israel, it consists of a Christian and Muslim Arabic population. Christians being the majority and they consist of about 70% of the town's total population.
According to the Survey of Western Palestine, the name Eilabun comes from Arabic, meaning "hard, rocky ground."[3] An Israeli theory is that the place was built on the ancient site of "Ailabu" (Hebrew: עַיְלַבּוּ), a possible variation of the name Ein Levon.[4]
In 1596, the population was recorded as 13 Muslim families.[5] In 1881, it was described as "a stone village, well built, containing about 100 Christian Arab. It is situated on a ridge, surrounded by brushwood, with arable land in the valley. A good spring exsist to the west of the village."[6]
At the time of the 1931 census, 'Ailabun had 85 occupied houses and a population of 404, 32 Muslims and 372 Christians[7]
In 1945, the population comprised 530 Christians and 20 Muslims,[8] who owned a total of 11,190 dunams of land, while 3,522 dunams of land was public.[9]
Israel's Golani Brigade's 12th Battalion captured Eilabun on October 30, 1948—during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War—from the Arab Liberation Army (ALA). After the town's surrender, negotiated by four priests, the commander of the Golani troops selected 14 young Arab men and had them executed, in what became known as the Eilabun massacre. The village was then looted.[10] Most of the town's residents were marched out to the Lebanese border, while hundreds fled to nearby gullies, caves and villages.[11][12] As part of an agreement between Archbishop Hakim and the leader of the "Arab Section" in the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the Eliabun exiles in Lebanon were allowed to return in summer of 1949.[11]
|
|||||||||||||
