Arraba, Israel
Arraba
| |
---|---|
City (from 2016) | |
Hebrew transcription(s) | |
• ISO 259 | ʕarrabba |
• Also spelled | Arrabe (official) 'Arrabat-Batuf (unofficial) |
Coordinates: 32°51′2″N 35°20′20″E / 32.85056°N 35.33889°E | |
Grid position | 181/250 PAL |
Country | Israel |
District | Northern |
Government | |
• Head of Municipality | Omar Wakid Nassar |
Area | |
• Total | 8,250 dunams (8.25 km2 or 3.19 sq mi) |
Population (2022)[1] | |
• Total | 27,115 |
• Density | 3,300/km2 (8,500/sq mi) |
Name meaning | The steppe or plateau of the Buttauf[2] |
Arraba (
During the Roman period, Arraba was a Jewish settlement known as Arab or Gabara, and was home to the priestly family of Petahiah. In the fifth or sixth century CE, it was inhabited by Christians, as evidenced by the discovery of a church. The Arab Muslim tribe of Zayadina arrived in Arraba in the middle of the 17th century and later gained control of the town. In the 18th century, Zahir al-Umar, an autonomous ruler of Galilee, lived in Arraba. In the late Ottoman period, the town had a sizable Christian minority, but since then, many have emigrated to Haifa, leaving only a small number of Christian households in the predominantly Muslim city.
History
Antiquity
Arraba is
Arabba is home to the grave of Hanina ben Dosa, a Jewish scholar who lived in the village during the first and second generations after the destruction of the Second Temple.[8][13]
In the 5th or 6th century CE, there were Christians living here, as witnessed by a church whose mosaic floor and inscription have been unearthed.[14][15] The church was destroyed either at the end of the 6th century or the beginning of the 7th century.[4]
The oldest settled section of Arraba lies at the village's south-east side, near the Christian church. Archaeological artefacts have been discovered there dating back to the Roman and Byzantine periods.[16]
Middle Ages
In the
In the 13th century, Arrabah is mentioned by
Ottoman Empire
The village was incorporated into the
At some point in the mid-17th century the Zayadina, an Arab Muslim tribe, immigrated to Arraba. Its sheikh ("chief") later acquired control of the town and its district after wresting control of the area from the Druze sheikh of Sallama. Sallama and other Druze villages in the vicinity were subsequently destroyed, Druze suzerainty over the Shaghur district came to an end and the Zayadina consequently gained significant influence in the area, including the role of tax collector of Shaghur on behalf of the Ottoman wali ("governor") of Sidon Province.[24] Arraba became home to Zahir al-Umar, a later sheikh of the Zayadina tribe. According to local legend, he sought refuge there after killing a Turkish soldier. He won the support of the local sheikh, Muhammad Nasser, by helping him settle a score with a neighboring village, which set off a series of campaigns that led to the conquest of the entire Galilee. A building said to be the home of Zahir is still standing.[25]
In 1838, Arabeh was noted as a Muslim and Christian village in the Esh-Shagur district, located between
In 1875 Victor Guérin found Arrabah to have 900 Muslim inhabitants and 100 Greek-Orthodox Christians.[27] In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Arrabet al Buttauf as "A large stone-built village, containing about 1,000 Moslems and Christians, and surrounded by groves of olives and arable land. Water is obtained from a large birkeh and cisterns. This was the place where Dhaher el Amr´s family was founded, and was long occupied by them."[28]
A population list from about 1887 showed that Arrabet had 970 inhabitants; about 80% Muslim and 20% Catholic Christians.[29]
British Mandate
In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Arrabeh had a population of 984, 937 Muslim and 47 Christian,[30] of the Christians, 42 were Melkite, 4 Orthodox and one was Anglican.[31] At the time of the 1931 census, Arraba had 253 occupied houses and a population of 1187 Muslims and 37 Christians.[32]
In the 1945 statistics the population was 1,800; 1,740 Muslims and 60 Christians,[33] with 30,852 dunams (a dunam is a unit of area equivalent to 1000 square metres or one-tenth of a hectare) of land, according to an official land and population survey.[34] 3,290 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land, 14,736 dunams for cereals,[35] while 140 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[36]
Israel in the 20th century
In 1948, during Operation Hiram (October 29–31), the town surrendered to the advancing Israeli army. Many of the inhabitants fled but some remained.[37] Arraba became a local council in 1965. The village remained under Martial Law until 1966.
Arraba was home to the first Land Day demonstrations in 1976 demanding the state of Israel to stop the expropriation of Palestinian Arab lands. Together with Sakhnin and Deir Hanna, it formed what is called the triangle of Land Day. Israel's reaction to control the protest was forceful and six people were killed by Israeli police. The reason for the Land Day follows:
On March 11, 1976, the
Israel in the 21st century
Arraba became a city in 2016. In the late 2010s, Arraba native and
In one of the chapters he invites the entire State of Israel to visit his parental home in Arraba.Economy
The symbol of the local council is an onion, a watermelon and a cantaloupe which symbolize the crops for which Arraba is famous. Throughout history Arraba was mostly an
Holy Sites
Arraba houses the tomb of Hanina Ben Dosa, a Jewish scholar and miracle worker who lived in the first century CE.[8][13] It is known to locals as "maqam as-Siddiq".[42]
Arraba is also home to the shrine of ash-Sheikh Dabus, attributed to a Sufi sheikh from the 17th century by local tradition. Alternative traditions suggest the shrine is associated with the family of Zahir al-Umar, or a commander from Saladin's army. The ash-Sheikh Dabus shrine is located 50 meters away from Hanina Ben Dosa's tomb, within the cemetery belonging to the Na'amneh and Hatib families.[42]
Architecture
In the 1870s, Guerin saw the mosque which he thought had probably once been a church on the basis of its east–west orientation. Inside there were two monolithic columns which he took as further proof of its antiquity.[27]
Andrew Petersen, an archaeologist specializing in Islamic architecture, surveyed the place in 1994, and found several interesting buildings.[25] The modern-day mosque was built in 1953 on the site of an older building.[25] Opposite the mosque is a palatial house with an ablaq entrance made of black and white masonry. This is the house associated with the family of Zahir al-'Umar/Dhaher el-Omar.[25]
Sports
The town's football club Ahva Arraba dissolved in 2019 due to debts. It was replaced by a new club, Hapoel Arraba.
Notable people
- Asel Asleh, young peace activist killed during the Second Intifada
- Ali Nassar (born 1954), film director
- Nuseir Yassin, travel video blogger with over 20 million Facebook followers
See also
- Arab localities in Israel
- F.C. Bnei Arraba
- Land Day
- House demolition in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
References
- ^ a b "Regional Statistics". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
- ^ Palmer, 1881, p. 124
- ^ Klausner (1934), pp. 261–263; Rappaport (2013), p. 44 (note 2); Safrai (1985), pp. 59–62; Tsafrir (1994), p. 127. On the evolution of this place name, see Robinson, E. (1856), p. 83 (note 3)
- ^ ISBN 978-3-11-071577-4, retrieved 2024-02-07
- ^ Shabbat 16:7 (in Hebrew)
- ^ HaReuveni (1999), p. 779
- ^ Klein (1915), p. 157; Klein (1909), pp. 75-ff.
- ^ a b c d Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 206
- ^ Jerusalem Talmud, Shabbat 16:8 (81b)
- ^ Meyers (1976), p. 95, citing Neusner (1962), 28: A Life of Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai, Brill: Leiden 1962
- Wars of the Jews) iii.vii.1
- ^ Avi-Yonah (1964), pp. 24–28
- ^ OCLC 695990313.
- ^ Ribak (2007), p. 128
- ^ Dauphin, 1998, p. 715
- ^ Zaharoni (1978), vol. 3, p. 114
- ^ Frankel, 1979, p. 255
- ^ Strehlke, 1869, p. 8, No. 7; cited in Röhricht, 1893, RHH, p. 137, No. 517; cited in Ellenblum, 2003, p. 109, note 16 and Frankel, 1988, p. 255
- ^ Strehlke, 1869, p. 64, No.81; cited Röhricht, 1893, RHH, p. 269, No. 1069; cited in Frankel, 1988, p. 265
- ^ Le Strange, 1890, p. 399
- ^ Sa'd Sabbagh, Biladuna Filasteen, Vol. 11
- ^ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 187
- ^ Note that Rhode, 1979, p. 6 Archived 2019-04-20 at the Wayback Machine writes that the Safad register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9
- ^ Firro, 1992, p. 45
- ^ a b c d Petersen, 2001, p. 95
- ^ Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 3, 2nd appendix, p. 133
- ^ a b Guérin, 1880, pp. 466-468
- ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 364
- ^ Schumacher, 1888, p. 173
- ^ Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Acre, p. 37
- ^ Barron, 1923, Table XVI, p. 50
- ^ Mills, 1932, p. 99
- ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 4
- ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 40
- ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 80
- ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 130
- ^ Morris, 1987, p. 226
- ISBN 0472065920, 9780472065929
- ^ Orly Halpern (March 30, 2006). "Israel's Arabs to Mark Land Day". The Jerusalem Post, English Online Edition. Retrieved 2006-11-01.[dead link]
- ISBN 1850432899, 9781850432890. McDowall, 1990, p. 157-158.
- Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
Nuseir Yassin, 28, a native of Arrabe in the Lower Galilee, operates a Facebook page with over 17 million subscribers. He rose to popularity featuring one-minute daily videos of his worldly travels.
- ^ ISBN 978-965-217-452-9.
Bibliography
- JSTOR 23614642.
- Barron, J.B., ed. (1923). Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922. Government of Palestine.
- Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. Vol. 1. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
- ISBN 0-860549-05-4.
- ISBN 9780521521871.
- Firro, Kais (1992). A History of the Druzes. Vol. 1. BRILL. ISBN 9004094377.
- Frankel, Rafael (1988). "Topographical notes on the territory of Acre in the Crusader period". Israel Exploration Journal. 38 (4): 249–272.
- Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945.
- Guérin, V. (1880). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine (in French). Vol. 3: Galilee, pt. 1. Paris: L'Imprimerie Nationale.
- Hadawi, S. (1970). Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine. Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center.
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- Le Strange, G. (1890). Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
- Meyers, E.M. (1976), "Galilean Regionalism as a Factor in Historical Reconstruction," in: Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research (No. 221)
- Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
- ISBN 0-521-33028-9.
- Palmer, E.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
- Petersen, Andrew (2001). A Gazetteer of Buildings in Muslim Palestine (British Academy Monographs in Archaeology). Vol. I. ISBN 978-0-19-727011-0.
- OCLC 646350156. (first printed in 2006)
- Rhode, H. (1979). Administration and Population of the Sancak of Safed in the Sixteenth Century (PhD). Columbia University. Archived from the original on 2020-03-01. Retrieved 2017-11-03.
- Ribak, Eliya (2007). Religious Communities in Byzantine Palestina. Oxford: Archaeopress. OCLC 238875853.
- Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. Vol. 3. Boston: Crocker & Brewster.
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- OCLC 1000664189)
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External links
- Official website (in Arabic and Hebrew)
- Welcome To 'Arraba - Buttof
- Statistical profile at the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (2016)
- Survey of Western Palestine, Map 6: IAA, Wikimedia commons