Shefa-Amr

Shefa-Amr שְׁפַרְעָם‎ شفاعمرو
City
Hebrew transcription(s)
• ISO 259	Šparˁam
• Also spelled	Shfar'am[citation needed] (official)
View of Shefa-Amr
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Coordinates: 32°48′20″N 35°10′10″E / 32.80556°N 35.16944°E / 32.80556; 35.16944
Grid position	166/245 PAL
Country	Israel
District	Northern
Founded	Bronze age
Government
• Mayor	Orsan Yasen
Area
• Total	19,766 dunams (19.766 km2 or 7.632 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[1]
• Total	43,543
• Density	2,200/km2 (5,700/sq mi)

Shefa-Amr or Shfar'am (

Palmer writes that the name meant: "The margin or edge of 'Amr. Locally and erroneously supposed to mean the healing of 'Amer (ed Dhaher)."^[3] The city is identified with Shefar'am, an ancient Jewish town of great significance during Talmudic times. Some have proposed that its original meaning may be linked to the Hebrew words "Shefer" (שֶׁפֶר), signifying something nice, beautiful or good, and "'Am", (עַם) which translates to people.^[4]

History

Ancient period

Walls, installations and pottery

Shefa-Amr is first mentioned under the name Shefar'am (Hebrew: שפרעם) in the Tosefta (Tractate Mikvaot 6:1), followed by the Talmud redacted in 500 CE where it is mentioned in several places, in Tractate Avodah Zarah 8b and Rosh Hashanah 31b, et al.

Settlement has existed there without interruption since the Roman period, when it was one of the cities mentioned in the

Under the Crusaders the place was known as "Safran", "Sapharanum", "Castrum Zafetanum", "Saphar castrum" or "Cafram".^[13] The Crusaders built a fortress, used by the Knights Templar, in the village. At the foot of the castle was a fortified settlement with a church, inhabited either by local Christians or Crusaders.^[14] The village, then called "Shafar 'Am", was used by Muslim leader Saladin between 1190–91 and 1193-94 as a military base for attacks on Acre.^[15]

By 1229, the place was back in Crusader hands; this was confirmed by Sultan

In the 18th century the village rose to prominence. At the beginning of the century the village was under the control of Shaykh Ali Zaydani, the uncle of

During this period Shefa-Amr was a regional centre of some importance due to its location in the heart of the cotton-growing area and its natural and man-made defenses. The significance of cotton to the growth of Shefa-Amr was fundamental. Tax returns for the village attest to the large returns expected of this crop.[29] There was definite indication of a Jewish presence in Shefa-ʻAmr in the 18th century.^[22] In the census taken by Moses Montefiore in 1839 there were numbered 107 Sephardic Jews living in Shefa-ʻAmr.^[30] Their condition worsened with the departure of Muhammad Ali Pasha, during which time Shefa-Amr was nearly emptied of its Jewish citizens, who had opted to move to Haifa and to Tiberias.^[31] In 1850 and 1887, some 42 Jewish families from Morocco settled in Shefa-ʻAmr, but by 1920 all Jews had left the city.^[32]

A map by Pierre Jacotin from Napoleon's invasion of 1799 showed the place, named as Chafa Amr.^[33]

James Finn wrote in 1877 that "The majority of the inhabitants are Druses. There are a few Moslems and a few Christians; but [in 1850] there were thirty Jewish families living as agriculturists, cultivating grain and olives on their own landed property, most of it family inheritance; some of these people were of Algerine descent. They had their own synagogue and legally qualified butcher, and their numbers had formerly been more considerable." However, "they afterwards dwindled to two families, the rest removing to [Haifa] as that port rose in prosperity."^[34] Conder and Kitchener, who visited in 1875, was told that the community consisted of "2,500 souls—1,200 being Moslems, the rest Druses, Greeks, and Latins."^[35] The town's Druze community dwindled considerably in the 1880s as its members migrated east to the Hauran plain to avoid conscription by the Ottoman authorities.^[36]

A population list from about 1887 showed that Shefa-Amr had about 2,750 inhabitants; 795 Muslims, 95 Greek Catholics, 1,100 Catholic, 140 Latins, 175 Maronites/Protestants, 30 Jews and 440 Druze.^[37]

British Mandate

The British Mandate of Palestine was established in 1920. At the time of the 1922 census of Palestine, Shefa-Amr had a population of 2,288 inhabitants: 1,263 Christians, 623 Muslims, and 402 Druze.^[38] Of the Christians, 1,054 were Melkites, 94 Anglicans, 70 Roman Catholics, 42 Greek Orthodox and three Maronite.^[39] By the 1931 census, Shefa-Amr had 629 occupied houses and a population of 1,321 Christians, 1,006 Muslims, 496 Druze, and one Jew. A further 1,197 Muslims in 234 occupied houses was recorded for "Shafa 'Amr Suburbs".^[40]

Statistics compiled by the Mandatory government in the 1945 statistics showed an urban population of 1,560 Christians, 1,380 Muslims, 10 Jews and 690 "others" (presumably Druze) and a rural population of 3,560 Muslims.^[41][42][43]

Israel

20th century

In 1948 Shefa-Amr was captured by the

On 16 May 2004, Whehebe Moheen, a man in his sixties, murdered Manal Najeeb Abu Raed, his widowed daughter-in-law, wife of his son, and mother of his two granddaughters.

Shefa-Amr is located in the

Demographics

In 1951, the population was 4450, of whom about 10% were internally displaced persons from other villages.^[51] During the early 1950s, about 25,000 dunams of the land of Shefa-Amr were expropriated by the following method: the land was declared a closed military area, then after enough time had passed for it to have become legally "uncultivated", the Minister of Agriculture used his powers to "ensure that it was cultivated" by giving it to neighboring Jewish majority communities. Some of the land was owned by Jews.^[52] Another 7,579 dunams were expropriated in 1953–4.^[53] The total land holdings of the village fell from 58,725 dunams in 1945 to 10,371 dunams in 1962.^[53]

According to CBS, in 2012 the religious and ethnic makeup of the city was mostly

According to CBS, in 2012 there were 38,300 registered citizens in the city. 40.4% of the population was not over 19 years old, 14.9% between 20 and 29, 21.1% between 30 and 44, 17.8% from 45 to 64, and 5.7% 65 or older.

Population in Shefa-Amr over the years:

Economy

According to CBS, in 2012 there were 12,494 salaried and 1062 self-employed workers in the city. The mean monthly wage in 2012 for a salaried worker in the city was

ILS

 5,412. Salaried males had a mean monthly wage of ILS 6,312 versus ILS 3,904 for females. The mean income for the self-employed was ILS 7,381. 235 people received unemployment benefits and 3,971 received an income guarantee.

Education and culture

In 2012, there were 24 schools serving a student population of 9,459: 15 elementary schools with 5,360 students and 13 high schools with 4,099 students. In 2012, 53.7% of twelfth grade students earned a matriculation certificate. In the eastern part of the city,

Mifal HaPayis

built a public computer center, a public library, a large events hall and more.

Shefa-Amr is also home to Tamrat El Zeitoun, an elementary school (about 150 students) notable for serving Muslim, Christian, and Druze together and being the only Arabic language Waldorf school. In collaboration with Waldorf educators at Harduf the school developed a language curriculum accommodating the differences between written and spoken Arabic. The school celebrates the festivals from all three religions.^[55][56][57]

The Beit Almusica conservatory was founded in 1999 by musician Aamer Nakhleh in the center of Shefa-ʻAmr. It offers a year-round programs of music studies in various instruments, and holds music performances and concerts.^[58] Every year Shefa-ʻAmr holds a music festival known as the "Fort Festival." Arab children from all over the country compete in singing classic Arabic songs and one is chosen as "Voice of the Year." The Ba'ath choir, established by Raheeb Haddad, performs all over the country and participates in many international events. ^{[citation needed]} Singer Reem Talhami performs all over the Arab world. Oud player and violinist Tayseer Elias, on the Beit Almusica staff, is a composer, conductor and musicologist who also lectures at Bar-Ilan University.^[59] Butrus Lusia, a painter, specializes in icons.^{[citation needed]}

The first plays in Shefa-Amr were performed in the 1950s by the Christian scouts. Since the 1970s, many theaters have opened. among them the sons of Shefa-ʻAmr theater, Athar theater, house of the youth theater, Alghurbal Al Shefa-Amry theater and Al Ufok theater. The largest theater in the city is the Ghurbal Establishment, a national Arab theater. Sa'eed Salame, an actor, comedian and pantomimist, established a 3-day international pantomime festival that is held annually.^{[citation needed]}

Shefa-Amr is known for its mastic-based ice cream, bozet Shefa-'Amr.The Nakhleh Coffee Company is the leading coffee producer in Israel's Arab community. New restaurant-cafes opened in parts of the old city^[when?] and encouraged nightlife, being patronised by the youth of Shefa-ʻAmr. The Awt Cafe started holding musical nights where local singers and instruments players including oud and others perform for the audience.^{[citation needed]}

Landmarks and religious sites

• A fort was built in 1760 by Zahir al-Umar to secure the entrance to Galilee. The fort was built on the ruins of a Crusader fort called "Le Seffram". The ground floor of the fort stabled the horses, the first floor above ground was for Zahir's residential quarters. Zahir's fort is considered the biggest fort remaining in the Galilee. After the establishment of the state, the fort was used as a police station. After a new station was built in the "Fawwar" neighbourhood, the fort was renovated and converted to a youth center, which has since closed down.^[60]
• "The Tower" or "al Burj" is an old Crusader fort located in the southern part of the city.

• The old market of Shefa-Amr was once the bustling heart of the city. Now all that remains is one coffee shop where elderly men gather every day to play backgammon and drink coffee. According to the mayor of Shefa-Amr, Nahed Khazem, the government provided a budget for improving and reviving the old market and developing the area around the fort as a tourist attraction.^{[citation needed]}
• The
  Judah ben Baba
  , a well-known rabbi from the 2nd century who was captured and executed by the Romans, is still standing and many Jewish believers come to visit it.
• Byzantine period tombs are located in the middle of the city. They were the graves of the 5th and 6th-century Christian community. The tomb entrances are decorated with sculptures of lions and Greek inscriptions which make mention of Jesus.^[5]
• In the center of the city, where the
  Sisters of Nazareth convent
  now stands, was a 4th-century church, St. Jacob's. This church is mentioned in the notes of ecclesiastical historians, although the original church has been replaced by the monastery. Some marble columns remain, similar to those used to build the earliest churches.
• St. Peter & St. Paul Church
  is located in one of the town's peaks near the fort, it has a high bell tower and a large purple dome. The church was built by Otman, who made a promise to build it if his fort was finished successfully. The walls of the church began to weaken, and in 1904 the entire church building was reinforced and renovated. This is the main church of the local Greek Catholic community.
• The Mosque of Ali Ibn Abi Talib (Old Mosque) was constructed near the castle in the days of Sulayman Pasha

Notable people

• Karimeh Abbud (1893–1940), photographer and artist
• Ghassan Alian (born 1972), first non-Jewish commander of the Golani Brigade
• Hamad Amar (born 1974), Member of the Knesset
• Mansour F. Armaly (1927–2005), physician who studied glaucoma
• Zahi Armeli (born 1957), former footballer
• Mohammad Barakeh (born 1955), Member of the Knesset
• Emile Habibi (1922–1996), Christian Palestinian writer and communist politician
• Salah-Hassan Hanifes (1913–2002), Member of the Knesset
• Iyad Shalabi (born 1987), who represented Israel at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, where he won a gold medal in swimming
• Rami Hamadeh (born 1994), Palestinian footballer, who represented Palestine at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup

See also

• Arab localities in Israel
• People from Shefa-'Amr

References