Qana
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Qana
قانا | |
---|---|
Town | |
Coordinates: 33°12′33″N 35°17′57″E / 33.20917°N 35.29917°E | |
Grid position | 178/290 PAL |
Country | Lebanon |
Governorate | South Governorate |
District | Tyre |
Elevation | 950 ft (290 m) |
Population | |
• Total | 10,000 (Estimate) |
Qana, also spelled Cana or Kana, (
The 10,000 residents of Qana are primarily
Biblical controversy
In the
In 1994, Nabih Berri, Lebanon's Parliament Speaker and leader of the secular Shia Amal Movement, wanted to establish a Christian shrine at a cave in Qana to attract tourists and pilgrims.[2] The government sent a 100-man company of troops to Qana to prevent potential religious conflict. This proposal was revived in 1999.[7]
History
There are many ancient ruins around the village.[8]
In 1596, it was named as a village, Qana, in the
In 1875
In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it: "A large village of well-built houses, whose inhabitants are partly Christians, partly Moslems. There are about 400 Christians to 500 Moslems. The ground is cultivated, and planted with olives and figs. The village is divided into two parts, with a birket between. There is a Christian church. It is situated on high ground, and is well supplied with water from the two springs, 'Ain el Gharbiyeh and 'Ain el Kussis.[12]
Modern era
Qana is known internationally for two separate incidents in which the
- 1996 shelling of Qana: On 18 April 1996, amid heavy fighting between the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah fighters during Operation Grapes of Wrath, a Fijian UNIFIL compound in the village was shelled by Israeli artillery, killing 106 civilians and injuring around 116 others who had taken refuge there to escape the fighting. Four UNIFIL soldiers were also seriously injured.[13][14]
- Red Cross originally stated that at least 56 people were killed, 32 of whom were children. Human Rights Watch later announced that at least 22 people escaped the basement, and 28 were confirmed dead, of whom 16 were children, with 13 more than still missing.[15]
After both attacks the residents of Qana built memorials to commemorate the deaths.
Location
Qana is located in the
Residents
In 2007, the registered population was an estimated 7,700 (based on the number of voters in the year 2000 that reached around 4,940). The resident population did then not exceed 3,800 and the number of households was estimated at 620. In terms of confession, Shiites constituted 95% of Qana's resident population, but the registered population was distributed as follows:[16]
- Shiite: 83%
- Melkite Greek Catholics: 13%
- Maronite Catholics: 3%
- Other confessions: 1%
According, to the Paris-based Centre de ressources sur le développement local au Liban, one can count approximately 100 families in Qana, with the largest, based on the number of voters, being the following: Attieh (580 voters), Borji (200 voters), Chalhoub (196 voters), Abdel Rida (186 voters), Sa’egh (184 voters), Jaber (158 voters), Zaarour (134 voters), Hammoud (130 voters), Dakhlallah (124 voters), Haidar (116 voters), Adib (104 voters), Salami (103 voters), Farnoune (78 voters), Madi (71 voters), Hodroj (69 voters), Haddad (152 voters), Boutros (77 voters), Shami (72 voters), Hajj (66 voters), and Abdelhussein (21 voters).
Local authorities
The local administration in Qana is headed by a Municipal Council composed of 15 members and headed by Dr. Salah Salami. In addition, the town has four mayors: Afif Haddad, Ali Ismail, Ali Attieh and Kemel Farnoune.
Educational sector
There are two public schools in Qana (Qana Public High School with around 600 students and the Public Intermediate School of Qana that has approximately 550 students), and two private schools (Jabal Amel Typical school which is subsidized and numbers 370 students and Jabal Amel High School with 142 students).
Service and trade institutions
The number of service and trade institutions in the town are estimated to be in the region of 263, dealing mainly in the fabric trade and clothing (26), food products (51), restaurants (7), barber shops (9), household items (14), bakeries and butcheries (12), pharmacies (4), smithery and mechanics (19), sawmills and galleries (13), gas stations (4), smithery and aluminum (11), libraries (4).
Agricultural sector
The municipality of Qana owns approximately 23% of the town's total area. Agricultural land constitutes 37% of the terrain and land ownership is distributed among approximately 220 families i.e. the town's real estate is owned by 22% of the families in the town.
Olive cultivation consumes around 65% of agricultural land, with 15% for grains and 20% for tobacco. In addition, 62 people are employed in the agriculture sector, which is approximately 7% of the labor force.
Clubs and associations
There are seven associations in the village of Qana distributed as follows: Qana sports club, Qana's agricultural cooperative, Association of Qana El Jalil, El Jalil club (non-active), as well as the family associations of the Attieh, Hammoud and Zaarour families.
Historic sites
There are natural, rock-dug caves to be found in Qana that carry old inscriptions. It is said that
There are also two mosques in Qana, as well as the Saint Joseph Church for Catholics.
Characteristics
Qana can be characterized by the high emigration rates it has seen, dating back to the 1920s. Increasing progressively, the current number of those who have emigrated has reached 2,500 people, which is equivalent to 32% of the registered population.
Main destinations for Qana residents include the Côte d'Ivoire (46%), Senegal (15%), Saudi Arabia (6%), the United States (6%), Zaïre (5%) as well as other countries (Sierra Leone, Kuwait, Liberia, Nigeria, France and the UK).
Finally, Qana’s name has become synonymous with the deaths of 100 of its residents under the Israeli ‘Grapes of Wrath’ bombardment in April 1996.
References
- ^ From a personal name, according to Palmer 1881, p. 5
- ^ a b c Fisk, Robert (7 January 1994). "Imam finds miracle hard to swallow: A battle is looming in the village". The Independent.
- ^ Ewing, W (1915). "Cana". In James Orr (ed.). International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
- ^ Eusebius, of Caesarea (2006) [manuscript, 1971]. "Kappa, in Joshua". In Wolf, Carl Umhau (ed.). THE ONOMASTICON OF EUSEBIUS PAMPHILI, COMPARED WITH THE VERSION OF JEROME AND ANNOTATED. tertullian.org. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
- OCLC 490976390. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
- ^ Ward, B (1908). "Cana". Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- ^ "Lebanon to develop Qana into Christian tourist site", Agence France-Presse, 7 December 1999.
- ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 64
- ^ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 180
- ^ Note that Rhode, 1979, p. 6 Archived 10 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine writes that the register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9
- ^ Guérin, 1880, pp. 390-392; as given in Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 49
- ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 49
- ^ "Question of the violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine: written statement submitted by the Hariri Foundation". United Nations. United Nations Commission on Human Rights. 29 January 2004. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
- ^ "Letter Dated 7 May 1996 from the Secretary-General Addressed to the President of the Security Council". United Nations Security Council. 7 May 1996. Archived from the original on 20 May 2007. Retrieved 5 July 2007.
- ^ Human Rights Watch puts Qana death toll at 28 Archived 30 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine, Reuters, 3 August 2006.
- ^ موقع Localiban
Bibliography
- 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.
- Guérin, V. (1880). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine (in French). Vol. 3: Galilee, pt. 2. Paris: L'Imprimerie Nationale.
- Hütteroth, Wolf-Dieter; Abdulfattah, Kamal (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. ISBN 3-920405-41-2.
- 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.
- Rhode, H. (1979). Administration and Population of the Sancak of Safed in the Sixteenth Century. Columbia University. Archived from the original on 10 October 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
External links
- Survey of Western Palestine, Map 1: IAA, Wikimedia commons
- Qana, Localiban