Information about Haifa

Haifa
View from Carmel across the Bahá'í shrine, city of Haifa and Haifa Bay
Emblem of Haifa
Hebrew	חֵיפָ?
Arabic	حَيْفَ?
Founded in	3rd century CE
Government	City
District	Haifa
Population	267,000 1,039,000 (metropolitan area)
Jurisdiction	63,666 dunams (63.7 km)
Mayor	Yona Yahav

Haifa (Hebrew: חֵיפָה‎ Ḥefa; Arabic: حَيْفَا Ḥayfā (helpinfo)^[1]) is the largest city in northern Israel and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of about 267,800.^[2][3] The city is a seaport located on Israel's Mediterranean coastline in the Haifa Bay, about 90 km north of Tel Aviv, and is one of the country's major industrial centers.^[4]

Haifa is built on the slopes of the historic Mount Carmel. It was known in the 3rd century CE as a dye making center. Today, the city is home to a mixed population of Jews and Arabs. The city is home to the Bahá'í World Centre (including the Bahá'í Gardens), as well as two world-class academic institutions, the University of Haifa and the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. High-tech companies such as Intel, IBM, Microsoft, Motorola, and Google have opened branches in Haifa in recent years, and built R&D facilities there.

Etymology

The city's official romanization Haifa and common English pronunciation /ˈhaɪ.fə/ are based on the Arabic name Ḥayfā, although the Standard Hebrew name is Ḥefa. The local Hebrew pronunciation is /xei.ˈfa/.^[5]

The origin of the name Haifa is unclear. Some believe it comes from the Hebrew word חוף (hof), meaning "beach"), or חוף יפה (hof yafe), meaning "beautiful beach". Some say it comes from the Hebrew verb root חפה (hafa, meaning "to cover or hide"). Christian pilgrims of the Middle Ages (and later the Crusaders) called the town Caiphas or Caifa. Christians believe the name derives from Caiaphas, the High Priest of Jerusalem during the time of Jesus, or from the Aramaic name of Saint Peter, Cephas or Kepah (כפא). Another explanation is that name originates from the words חי-פה ("hai-po"), meaning "lives here," which is to say, God lives here.

Early history

Haifa is first mentioned in Talmudic literature around the 3rd century CE, as a small town near Shikmona, the main Jewish town in the area at that time and a center for making the traditional Tekhelet dye used for Jewish Priests' temple cloth. The archaeological site of Shikmona lies southwest of the modern Bat Galim neighborhood. The Byzantine ruled there until the 7th century, when the city 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 and Muslim inhabitants.^[6] Under crusader rule, the city was a part of the Principality of Galilee until the Muslim Mameluks captured it in 1265.

In 1761 Daher El-Omar, Bedouin ruler of Acre and Galilee, destroyed and rebuilt the town in a new location, surrounding it with a wall. This event is marked as the beginning of the town's modern era. After El-Omar's death in 1775, the town remained under Ottoman rule until 1918, except for two brief periods: in 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Haifa as part of his unsuccessful campaign to conquer Palestine and Syria, but withdrew the same year ; and between 1831 and 1840, the Egyptian viceroy Mehemet Ali governed, after his son Ibrahim Pasha wrested control from the Ottomans.

Modern Haifa

In the years following the Egyptian occupation, Haifa grew in population and importance while Acre suffered a decline. The arrival of the German Templers in 1868, who settled in what is now known as the German Colony of Haifa, was a turning point in Haifa's development. The Templers played a major role in commerce and industry, and helped to modernize the city.

Haifa's population increased from 1,000 in 1800 to 2,000 by 1840, 6000 in 1880, 20,000 in 1914 and 24,600 in 1922.^[7].

At the beginning of the 20th Century, Haifa had emerged as an industrial port city and growing population center, reflected by the establishment of facilities like the Hejaz railway and the Technion. At that time, the Haifa District (which included a number of Arab locales surrounding the city of Haifa itself) 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 33% Muslim, 20% Christian and 47% Jewish.^[8] In 1947 its population was estimated to consist of 41,000 Muslims, 74,230 Jews and 29,910 Christians. The Christian community was composed mostly of Greek Orthodox Church (Arab Orthodox).

Haifa is located in the northernmost reach of the coastal plain designated as Jewish territory in the 1947 UN Partition Plan dividing mandatory Palestine, and was not excepted to that plan and culminating in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. On 30 December, 1947 members of the Jewish militant group Irgun hurled two bombs into a crowd of Arabs who were waiting for construction jobs outside the gates of the Consolidated Refineries in Haifa, killing 6 and injuring 42, whereupon 2,000 Arab employees rioted and killed 39 Jewish employees in what has become known as the Haifa Oil Refinery massacre. Jewish forces retaliated by raiding the Arab village of Balad al-Shaykh on December 31, 1947. Jewish forces deemed control of Haifa a critical objective in the ensuing 1948 Arab-Israeli War, as it was the major industrial and oil refinery port in Palestine. The British withdrew from Haifa on the 21st of April, 1948. The city was captured on April 23, 1948 by the Carmeli Brigade of the Haganah who were ordered into action by Mordechai Maklef at 10:30am on the 21st of April following three months of unsuccessful attacks by Arab forces. The majority of the Muslim population fled through the British-controlled port. However as many as 2,000 Christians remained in the city by June of 1948 and there were an additional 1,300 Muslims remaining as well.

Haifa was the target of many Hezbollah rockets during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, which caused suffering for Jews and Arabs alike.

Religious sites

Haifa, home to Jews, Muslim and Christian Arabs, Ahmadis (in Kababir), Druze (in Daliyat al-Carmel), and Bahá'ís, is often portrayed as a mosaic of peaceful coexistence.

Mount Carmel (Hebrew: God's vinyard) and Kishon River are both mentioned in the Bible. Mount Carmel is riddled with caves, and one of those near Haifa is traditionally known as the "Cave of Elijah", and considered by many Jews to have been the home of the Jewish biblical Prophet Elijah and his apprentice, Elisha. The highest peak of the Mount Carmel range is named El-Muhrrakah, an Arabic term meaning the burning, named on account of the belief that this was the exact spot of Elijah's biblical confrontation with hundreds of priests of a Baal; the Baal in question was probably Melqart^[9].

The Carmelites were founded at, and named after, Mount Carmel, in the 12th century. Since that time, at the peak of the Mount near Haifa, there has historically been a building that has variously been a mosque, monastery, and hospital; in the 19th century it was reconstructed as a Carmelite monastery, and a cave located there, which functions as the monastery's crypt, was treated as having once been Elijah's cave. It is now a popular tourist and pilgrimage destination.

Haifa is also cherished by members of the Bahá'í Faith as it is an important site of worship, pilgrimage and administration for the members of the religion. The Bahá'í World Centre (comprising the Shrine of the Báb, terraced gardens and administrative buildings) are all on Mount Carmel's northern slope. The location of the Bahá'í holy places in Haifa has its roots to the imprisonment of the religion's founder, Bahá'u'lláh, near Haifa by the Ottoman Empire during the Ottoman Empire's rule over Palestine. The Bahá'í holy places are also the most visited tourist attraction of the city.

The ruins of Shikmona, at the foot of Mount Carmel, is also considered historically important by Jews. Shikmona is also mentioned in the Talmud as the coastal town in which the blue dye for the Jewish prayer shawl Talit (the Techelet thread) was extracted from sea-snails.

The Cave of Elijah - Elijah is considered a prophet by Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baha'i Faith. The Carmelites have a tradition that they were founded by Elijah at this time. According to tradition Elijah lived in a cave on Mt. Carmel during the reign of King Ahab.

Stella Maris is a French Carmelite church, monastery and hospice. The Carmelite Order, a religious order of the Roman Catholic Church, was named after this location, where it was founded. Located atop Mount Carmel, there is a hiking trail connecting it to the Cave of Elijah below.^[10]

Demographics

The city has a population of about 267,800 people. 90% of the population are Israeli-Jews with some "others". The latter group consists Israelis without religious classification, mostly immigrants from the former Soviet Union, from mixed-marriage families. According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, Israeli-Arabs constitute 9% of Haifa's population, the majority living in Wadi Nisnas, Abbas and Halisa neighborhoods.^[11]

Politics

As an industrial port city, Haifa has traditionally been a Labor party stronghold. The strong presence of dock workers and trade unions earned it the nickname 'Red Haifa.' In addition, many prominent Arabs in the Israeli Communist Party, among them Tewfiq Toubi, Emile Habibi, Zaki Karkabi, Bulus Farah and Emili Toma, were all from Haifa. In recent years, there has been a drift toward the center.^[12][13][14] In the 2006 legislative elections, the Kadima party received about 28.9% of the votes in Haifa, while Labor lagged behind with 16.9%.^[15]

Mayors of Haifa

• Najib Effendi al-Yasin (1873-1877)
• Akhmad Effendi Jalabi (1878-1881)
• Mustafa Bey al-Salih (1881-1884)
• Mustafa Pasha al-Khalil (1885-1903)
• Jamil Sadiq (1904-1910)
• Rif'at al-Salah (1910-1911)
• Ibrahim al-Khalil (1911-1913)
• Abd al-Rahman al-Haj (1920-1927)
• Hasan Bey 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 (interim mayor, 2003)
• Yona Yahav (2003–)

Economy

The industrial region of Haifa is north of the city, near the Kishon River. Haifa is home to one of the two oil refineries in Israel (the other located in Ashdod). The refinery in Haifa is capable of processing about 9 million tons (66 million barrels) of crude oil a year and is the center of a wide array of petrochemical industries located in and around Haifa. Its twin 76-meter cooling towers, built in the 1930s, have long symbolized the city of Haifa.

Matam (Merkaz Ta'asiya v'Meida/Scientific Industries Center), the largest and oldest business park in Israel, is located at the southern entrance to the city, hosting manufacturing and R&D facilities for a large number of Israeli and international hi-tech companies, such as Intel, Elbit, Zoran, Microsoft, Philips, Google and Amdocs. The campus of the University of Haifa is also home to IBM Haifa Labs.

The Port of Haifa is the leader in passenger traffic among Israeli ports,[1] and is also a major cargo harbor, though deregulation has seen its dominance challenged by the port of Ashdod.

Transportation

International

Flights to Cyprus depart from Haifa Airport, and international cruise ships call at Haifa port.

Rail

For intercity transport, there are six Israel Railways railroad stations and three "central" bus stations. The Nahariya-Tel Aviv main line railway runs along the Gulf of Haifa; stations within the municipal boundaries of Haifa, from the direction Tel Aviv, are:

• Hof HaCarmel Railway Station near Haifa Hof HaCarmel Central Bus Station
• Haifa Bat-Galim Railway Station near Haifa Bat Galim Central Bus Station
• Haifa Merkaz (Central) near Haifa Seaport
• Lev HaMifratz Railway Station near Lev HaMifratz Mall and Mifratz Central Bus Station
• Hutzot HaMifratz Railway Station in the Hutzot HaMifratz Shopping Center
• Kiryat Haim Railway Station

A seventh stop is in nearby Kiryat Motzkin (Kiryat Motzkin Railway Station), a Northern suburb. Haifa Mizrach (Haifa East) now out of passenger use, houses the Israel Railway Museum. The railway lines also serve a metropolitan train with 7 stops only, called the Parvarit.

Bus

The bus stations, from Tel Aviv northwards, are: Hof HaCarmel, Bat Galim, and Merkazit HaMifratz. All of these stations are served by Egged city, suburban, and intercity buses.

In 2006, Haifa also implemented a trial network of neighborhood mini-buses - named "Shchunatit" run by Egged.

Haifa is the only city in Israel where buses operate on Shabbat.

In 2008, Haifa and the Krayot region will also be linked via Metronit - a bus rapid transit/light rail system.

Underground

Main article: Carmelit

Haifa is the home to Israel's only subway system. It is called Carmelit (כרמלית) and is implemented as an underground funicular.

It runs from Kikar Paris downtown to Gan HaEm (Mother's Park) on Mount Carmel. With a single track, six stations and two trains, it is listed in the Guinness World Records as world's shortest metro line.

Other

The Stella Maris gondola lift cable car, consisting of 6 cabins, connects Bat Galim on the coast to the Stella Maris observation deck and monastery atop Mount Carmel; it is chiefly a tourist attraction.

Culture and Art

Haifa is the cultural capital of northern Israel, but being just an hour away from Tel-Aviv, and being mostly seen as an industrial city, it has always struggled to maintain a lively cultural scene. During the 1950s, mayor Abba Hushi made a special effort to encourage authors and poets to move to Haifa. Hushi also founded Haifa Theatre, a repertory theater based in the city.

Haifa also has an orchestra, the New Haifa Symphony Orchestra, originally founded in 1950 ^[16]. The Haifa Cinematheque, founded in 1975, hosts the annual Haifa International Film Festival during the intermediate days of the Sukkot holiday.

Education

Haifa is home to two internationally acclaimed universities and several colleges. The University of Haifa, founded in 1963, is located at the top of Mt. Carmel. The campus was designed by the architect of Brasilia and United Nations Headquarters in New York, Oscar Niemeyer. More buildings have been added since then. The top floor of the 30-story Eshkol Tower provides a panoramic view of northern Israel. The Hecht Museum, with important archeology and art collections, is located on the campus of Haifa University. The Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, described as Israel's MIT, was founded in 1924. It has 18 faculties and 42 research institutes. The original building is now home to the Israel National Museum of Science, Technology, and Space. The first technological high school in Israel, Basmat, was established in Haifa in 1933. ^[17]

Colleges

Colleges in Haifa include:

• Gordon College of Education
• WIZO Design Academy
• Michlala Leminhal College of Management, Haifa branch
• Open University of Israel - Haifa branch
• Tiltan College of Design
• Nursing College
• Sha'anan Religious Teachers' College
• P.E.T Practical Engineering School

Tourism

The city of Haifa is divided into three topographical levels. The lower city is the commercial center with modern port facilities. The middle level is an older residential zone and the upper level consists of modern neighborhoods, overlooking the sandy beaches of Haifa Bay. The Carmelit connects the upper and lower city, and many neighborhoods are connected by long flights of stairs.

The Bahá'í World Centre, with the golden Shrine of the Báb and the surrounding gardens, is the main tourist attraction of Haifa. The restored German Colony, founded by the Templers, Stella Maris and the Carmelite monastery are also popular tourist sites.

In Haifa area, the artist's village of Ein Hod attracts many tourists. It was established in 1953 by Marcel Janco, a leading artist of the Dada movement, and it overlooks the Mediterranean coast and the Crusader castle of Atlit. Today, ninety artists and craftsmen have studios there and exhibit their work in the main gallery and other art spaces. ^[18]

In Mount Carmel national park, visitors can see the caves where Neanderthal and early Homo Sapiens remains were found, and the location where tradition places Elijah's confrontation with the Ba'al prophets, and where now another Carmelite monastery is located. The Carmel is also a popular hiking area.

Haifa has a wide variety of malls and shopping centers, the largest being Hutsot Hamifratz, Horev Center Mall, Panorama Center, Castra Center, Colony Center (Lev HaMoshava), Hanevi'im Tower Mall, Kenyon Haifa, Lev Hamifratz Mall and Grand Kenyon.

Climate

Haifa has a Mediterranean climate with hot, humid summers and cool, rainy winters. The average temperature in summer is 26 °C and in winter, 12 °C. Snow is rare in Haifa, but temperatures around 6 °C can sometimes occur, usually in the early morning. The wet season is from October to April.

Sports

The city has eight football (soccer) clubs, the two first are in the major leagues in Israel:

• Maccabi Haifa
• Hapoel Haifa
• Beitar Haifa
• Akhva Haifa
• Spartak Haifa
• Neve Yosef
• Bnei Kababir
• Hapoel Neve Sha'anan

Maccabi Haifa is one of the most successful football clubs today in Israel, with 10 championships, 5 cups and 3 League cups. Both Hapoel and Maccabi have football schools in Haifa suburbs and other villages (including Arab and Druze villages) in the northern part of Israel. Haifa also has basketball, volleyball, tennis, and handball clubs.

The city boasts some of the best surfing beaches in the country near Bat Galim, with kite surfing and sailing clubs. The Haifa Tennis Club located nearby the south-west entrance is one of the largest in Israel.

The main stadiums are Kiryat Eliezer, seating 14,000, and Kiryat Haim. The main basketball arena is Romema Sports Arena, seating 2,000; Neve Sha'anan Athletic seats 1,000. A UEFA-approved stadium is planned for south-west Haifa. It will seat 30,000 people.

Sister cities

Haifa has Sister Cities all over the world. The year in parentheses indicates the year in which the agreement was made.

Aalborg, Denmark (1973) Antwerp, Belgium (1986) Boston, Massachusetts, United States (1999) Bremen, Germany (1978) Cape Town, South Africa (1975) Düsseldorf, Germany (1988) Erfurt, Germany (2005) Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States (2002) Hackney, London, United Kingdom (1968) Limassol, Cyprus (2000) Mainz, Germany (1987)

Mannheim, Germany (2005) Manila, Philippines (1971) Marrakech, Morocco Marseille, France (1962) Newcastle, United Kingdom Odessa, Ukraine (1992) Portsmouth, United Kingdom (1962) Rosario, Argentina (1988) San Fransisco, California, United States (1973) Shanghai, China (1994)

Neighborhoods

Bat Galim Kiryat Eliezer Kiryat Eliyahu Hadar (Hadar HaCarmel) Hadar Elyon Ahuza (Horev) Merkaz Ha-Carmel ("Carmel Center") Shprintzak Carmel Ma'aravi (Western Carmel) Hof Hacarmel (Carmel Beach) Carmeliya Carmel Tzarfati (French Carmel) Ramat HaTishbi

Stella Maris Neve Sha'anan Neve Yosef Vardiya Ramot Sapir Ramat Chen Ramat Almogi Ramat Alon Ramat Alon South Ramat Golda Ramat Remez Ramat Haviv Ramat Hadar Ramat Denia Ein HaYam

Ramat Begin (Soroka) Ramat Eshkol Halisa Wadi Nisnas Wadi Salib German Colony HaMifratz (Haifa Bay Gulf of Haifa) Kiryat Haim Kiryat Shmuel Kababir Romema Shambur Neve Paz Kiryat Rabin (Government District)

Famous residents

Abed Abdi (painter, sculptor) Reuven Atar (footballer) Ralph Bakshi (animator and director) Tal Banin (footballer) Arik Benado (footballer) Mike Brant (pop star) David Broza (musician) Aaron Ciechanover (Biologist, 2004 Nobel Prize, Chemistry) Yaakov Dorchin {painter) Amos Gitai (film director) Ivry Gitlis (violinist) Amir Gutfreund (author} Emile Habibi (author) Zevulun Hammer (politician) Abba Hushi (Mayor of Haifa) Moshe Kahlon (politician) Uzi Landau (politician) Avi Lerner (movie executive) Ari Libsker (journalist) Uri Lupolianski (Mayor of Jerusalem) Shiri Maimon (pop singer)

Sami Michael (author) Izidore Musallam (film director) Noam Okun (tennis player) Yehuda Poliker (singer) Galila Ron-Feder Amit (author) Moshe Safdie (architect) Simon Shaheen (musician-Oud Player) Ehud Shani (general) Ahlam Shibli (photographer) Gene Simmons (musician Kiss) Hillel Slovak (musician Red Hot Chili Peppers) Daniel Salomon (musician) David Tartakover (artist) Emile Toma (politician) Tewfik Toubi (politician) Dan Tichon (politician) Eithan Urbach (swimmer) Delilah (fictional character from John Rain series) Yochanan Vollach (footballer, president of Maccabi Haifa) Yona Yahav (Mayor of Haifa)

References

• Carmel, Alex (2002). The History of Haifa Under Turkish Rule, 4th Edition, Haifa: Pardes. ISBN 965-7171-05-9.  (in Hebrew)
• Shiller, Eli & Ben-Artzi, Yossi (1985). Haifa and its sites. Jerusalem: Ariel.  (in Hebrew)
• http://www.city-journal.org/html/eon_5_31_02td.html
• Benny Morris, Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem
• Seth J. Frantzman The Strength of Weakness: The Arab Christians in Mandatory Palestine, unpublished M.A thesis, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

External links

City and universities

• Haifa Municipality
• University of Haifa
• Technion – Israel Institute of Technology

Bahá'í

• Bahá'í World Centre, Haifa
• Photos of the Bahá'í Gardens in Haifa
• More photos of the Bahá'í Gardens

Monastery

• Our Lady of Mount Carmel Monastery, Haifa, Israel

Travel

• The Carmelit subway and map of Haifa

•  • [ e]  Haifa District
Cities	Baqa-Jatt | Carmel City | Hadera | Haifa | Kiryat Atta | Kiryat Bialik | Kiryat Motzkin | Kiryat Yam | Nesher | Or Akiva | Tirat Carmel | Umm al-Fahm
Local councils	Ar'ara | Basma | Binyamina-Giv'at Ada | Jisr az-Zarqa | Kafr Qara | Ma'ale Iron | Pardes Hanna-Karkur | Fureidis | Kiryat Tiv'on | Rekhasim | Zikhron Ya'aqov
Regional councils	Alona | Hof Karmel | Menashe | Zevulun

Coordinates: