Haifa
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For the Lebanese singer, see Haifa Wehbe
Haifa (Hebrew חֵיפָה Ḥefa, Ḥeyfa; Arabic حَيْفَا Ḥayfā) is the third-largest city in Israel, with a population close to 300,000. Areas and towns around it are deemed to be in the Haifa District, of which it is also a part. It is a seaport, located below and on Mount Carmel, and lies on the Mediterranean coast.
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 /χei.ˈfa/.
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History
The name Haifa is derived from the Levantine Arabic word الحيفة al-Ḥayfah meaning 'nearby'. Under Roman rule it was known by Efa, and the Crusaders called Haifa Cayphas and also Sycaminon which means Wild Strawberry. During the Islamic period, Acre dominated the coastal area, and Haifa was a minor port[1] (http://www.palestineremembered.com/Haifa/Haifa/index.html). Haifa is first mentioned in written records around 3rd century AD, as a small town near Shikmona, the main town in the area at that time. It had been under Byzantine rule until the 7th century, when it 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 inhabitants. It then became part of the Principality of Galilee. The town was taken again by the Muslim Mameluks in 1265, and was ruined and mostly abandoned until the 17th century.
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. This event is marked by many as the beginning of the town's modern era. After El-Omar's death in 1775, the town remained mostly 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; and between 1831 and 1840, the town had been under the rule of the Egyptian viceroy Mehemet Ali, after having been conquered by his son Ibrahim Pasha. In the years following the Egyptian occupation, the town saw rise in traffic, population and importance, while Acre was declining due to the damages it suffered in a succession of battles and wars. The town saw another surge of development with the arrival of members of the Temple Society in 1868, who settled in Haifa and built their sturdy houses in the town's "German colony". The Templars greatly contributed to the town's commerce and industry, and played an important role in its stride towards modernization.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Haifa had emerged as an industrial port city and growing population center. At that time Haifa district was home to approximately 20,000 inhabitants, comprised of 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 38% Muslim, 13% Christian and 47% Jewish. Haifa is located in the northernmost reach of the Coastal Plain designated as Jewish territory in the 1947 UN Partition Plan dividing mandatory Palestine. As the major industrial and oil-refinary port in the British mandate of Palestine, Jewish forces deemed control of Haifa a critical objective in the ensuing 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It was captured on April 23rd, 1948 by a force of 5,000 Israeli soldiers led by the Carmeli Brigade whose attack was met by a defending force of 350-500[2] (http://www.palestineremembered.com/Haifa/Haifa/index.html). The campaign resulted in Israeli control over the area and the flight of about 60,000 Palestinian Arabs from Haifa District.
Today, Haifa is a thriving and diverse cultural and ethnic center, home to Jews, Arabs, Ahmedis, Bahá'í and Druze, and marked for its relatively high level of coexistence.
Religion
Noted by Jews for the Cave of Elijah and the historic Jewish town of Shikmona at the foot of Mount Carmel, Haifa is also cherished by the Muslim, Christian and Bahá'í faiths. The Bahá'í World Center (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 a much visited tourist attraction. Haifa is a mosaic of relatively peaceful yet visibily segregated coexistence between Jews, Muslim and Christian Arabs, Ahmedis (Kababir), Druze, Bahai, and others. Noted also for being a favourite monastic spot for the Carmelites in the 12th century, with a 19th century rebuilt monastry Stella Maris at the Carmel's head, a popular tourist and pilgrim's attraction.
Academic institutions
Haifa is the site of two universities, the University of Haifa and the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology.
Politics
In the past, its docks and industrial areas have made the city a consistent stronghold for the Israeli Labor party, and it was often dubbed 'Red Haifa' (One result of this has been that Haifa is the only city in Israel in which public transport operates on Saturdays); this status is now debatable, however, the centrist party Shinui's candidate, Yona Yahav, having won the 2003 municipal elections and having become the mayor (The labor party's candidate, Elize Shenhar, had removed her candidacy prior to the elections with the intention of raising Yahav's chances of overcoming the Likud party's candidate, since the polls indicated that he had much more electoral support than she did).
Industry and economics
Haifa is home to one of the two oil refineries in Israel (the other located in Ashdod). The refineries are capable of processing about 9 million tons of crude oil a year, and are the center point of a wide array of petrochemical industries located in Haifa and the vicinity. Its twin 76-meters-high cooling towers, built in the 1930's, have long become a landmark tightly identified with the city of Haifa. The Refineries and other industries are located in a large industrial zone in the north of the city, near the Kishon river.
Matam park, one of the largest industrial hi-tech parks in Israel, is located at the southern entrance to city, hosting manufacturing and R&D facilities for a large number of Israeli and international hi-tech companies, such as Intel, IBM, Elbit, Zoran, Microsoft, and Amdocs.
Transportation
There are 6 railroad stations along the the Nahariya-Tel Aviv line within the municipal boundaries of Haifa. In order coming from Tel Aviv, the stops are: Hof HaCarmel (Near the Haifa Hof HaCarmel Central Bus Station.) Bat Galim (Near the Haifa Bat Galim Central Bus Station.), Haifa Mercaz (Haifa Central Train Station), Lev Hamifratz (Near Lev Hamifratz Mall and the Mifratz Central Bus Station.), Hutzot HaMifratz (In the Hutzot HaMifratz Shopping Center.), and Kiryat Haim. A seventh stop, Kiryat Motzkin, is in Kiryat Motzkin, a Northern suburb of Haifa. The line goes along the coastline of the Gulf of Haifa. A stop that is now out of use, Haifa Mizrach (Haifa East), is now the home of the Railway Museum.
Haifa has 3 central bus stations: the Haifa Hof HaCarmel Central Bus Station, the Haifa Bat Galim Central Bus Station, and the Mifratz Central Bus Station. Haifa is served by Egged city, suburban, and intercity buses.
Haifa has a funicular subway, the Carmelit, that runs from the bottom of Mount Carmel to the top of Mount Carmel. It is the smallest subway system in the World. It only has one train to the top and one to the bottom. It has a single track except for where the two trains pass each other. It is powered by a cable. It has six stations.
Haifa also has a cablecar that climbs on a cable through the air from the coast to the top of the mountain. This serves mainly as a tourist attraction.
Haifa's airport is Haifa Airport, located on the Gulf of Haifa, serving domestic flights.
Haifa Seaport, which is Israel's main international seaport, is located in the city as well.
Mayors of Haifa
- Najib Afendi Alyasin (1873-1877)
- Akhmad Afendi Jalabi (1878-1881)
- Mustafa Bar Alsalekh (1881-1884)
- Mustafa Pasha Alkhalil (1885-1903)
- Jamil Sadeq (1904-1910)
- Rif'at Alsalakh (1910-1911)
- Ibrahim Alkhalil (1911-1913)
- Abd-Alrakhman Alkhaj (1920-1927)
- Khasan Shukri (1914-1920, 1927-1940)
- Shabtai Levy (1940-1951)
- 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–)
Neighborhoods
- Ha-Ir - "The City", Downtown, or Lower City.
- Bat Galim
- Qiryat Eliezer
- Hadar
- Hadar Hacarmel
- Achuza
- Mercaz Hacarmel
- Shprintzack
- En Ha'Yam
- Carmel Ma'aravi (Western Carmel)
- Hof HaCarmel
- Carmelia
- French Carmel
- Stela Maris
- Romema - Ramot Ben Guryon
- Neve Shaanan
- Vardia
- Denya (Hod Ha'Carmel)
- Ramot Sapir
- Ramat Hen
- Ramat Almogi
- Ramat Golda
- Ramat Remez
- Ramat Begin
- Ramat Eshkol
- Halisa
- Wadi Nisnas
- German colony
- HaMifratz - Gulf of Haifa
- Qiryat Haim
- Kababir
Sports
The city has two football clubs - Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel Haifa. Maccabi Haifa is one of the most successful football clubs today in Israel, with 9 championships, 5 cups and 2 Toto-cups (as for 2005). Both clubs have football schools in Haifa suburbs and other villages (including Arab and Druze villages) in the northern part of Israel.
See also
External links
- Municipality of Haifa (http://www.haifa.muni.il/English/Default.htm)
- University of Haifa (http://www.haifa.ac.il/)
- Technion's home page (http://www.technion.ac.il/english/index.html)
- Bahá'í World Centre, Haifa (http://www.bahai.org)
- Wikitravel: Haifa (http://wikitravel.org/en/Haifa)
- Haifa on Palestine Remembered (http://www.palestineremembered.com/Haifa/Haifa/)ca:Haifa
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