Haifa
Encyclopedia
Haifa is the largest city
in northern Israel
, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel
, Daliyat al-Karmel
and Nesher
. Together these areas form a contiguous urban area home to nearly 600,000 residents which makes up the inner core of the Haifa metropolitan area
. Haifa is mixed city: 90% are Jews, more than a quarter of whom are immigrants from the former Soviet Union, while 10% are Arabs
, predominantly of the Christian faith. It is also home to the Bahá'í World Centre
, a UNESCO
World Heritage Site
.
Built on the slopes of Mount Carmel
, the history of settlement at the site spans more than 3,000 years. The earliest known settlement in the vicinity was Tell Abu Hawam
, a small port city established in the Late Bronze Age
(14th century BCE). In the 3rd century CE, Haifa was known as a dye-making center. Over the centuries, the city has changed hands: It has been conquered and ruled by the Phoenicians, Hebrews
, Persians, Hasmoneans, Romans
, Byzantines
, Arab
s, Crusaders
, Ottomans
, British, and the Israelis. Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the city has been governed by the Haifa Municipality.
Today, the city is a major seaport
located on Israel's Mediterranean
coastline in the Bay of Haifa covering 63.7 square kilometres (24.6 sq mi). It is located about 90 kilometres (56 mi) north of Tel Aviv
and is the major regional center of northern Israel
. Two respected academic institutions, the University of Haifa
and the Technion, are located in Haifa, and the city plays an important role in Israel's economy
. It has several high-tech parks, among them the oldest and largest in the country, an industrial port, and a petroleum refinery. Haifa was formerly the western terminus of an oil pipeline
from Iraq
via Jordan
.
Tell el-Semak (or Tell es-Samak, meaning "mound of the fish") preserved and transformed this ancient name, with locals using it to refer to a coastal tell
at the foot of the Carmel Mountains that contains its remains. In Hebrew
, it is known as Tel Shiqmona or Shikmonah. Shiqmona is mentioned once in the Mishnah
(composed c. 200 CE) for the wild fruits that grow around it.
The name Efa first appears during Roman rule, some time after the end of the 1st century, when a Roman fortress and small Jewish settlement were established not far from Tell es-Samak . Haifa is also mentioned more than 100 times in the Talmud
, a book central to Judaism
.
Hefa or Hepha in Eusebius of Caesarea
's 4th century work, Onomasticon (Onom. 108, 31), is said to be another name for Sycaminus. This synonimizing of the names is explained by Moshe Sharon who writes that the twin ancient settlements, which he calls Haifa-Sycaminon, gradually expanded into one another, becoming a twin city known by the Greek names Sycaminon or Sycaminos Polis. References to this city end with the Byzantine period.
Around the 6th century, Porphyreon or Porphyrea is mentioned in the writings of William of Tyre
, and while it lies within the area covered by modern Haifa, it was a settlement situated south of Haifa-Sycaminon.
Following the Arab conquest in the 7th century, Haifa was used to refer to a site established on Tell es-Samak upon what were already the ruins of Sycaminon (Shiqmona). Haifa (or Haifah) is mentioned by the mid-11th century Persian chronicler Nasir Khusraw
, and the 12th and 13th century Arab chroniclers, Muhammad al-Idrisi
and Yaqut al-Hamawi
.
The Crusaders
, who captured Haifa briefly in the 12th century, call it Caiphas, and believe its name related to Cephas, the Greek name of Simon Peter. Eusebius is also said to have referred to Hefa as Caiaphas civitas, and Benjamin of Tudela
, the 12th century Jewish traveller and chronicler, is said to have attributed the city's founding to Caiaphas
, the Jewish high priest at the time of Jesus
.
Other spellings in English have included Caipha, Kaipha, Caiffa, Kaiffa and Khaifa .
Haifa al-'Atiqa (Arabic: "Ancient Haifa") is another name used by locals to refer to Tell es-Samak, as it was the site of Haifa when it is was a hamlet of 250 residents, before it was moved in 1764-5 to a new fortified site founded by Daher el-Omar
one and half miles to the east. The new village, the nucleus of modern Haifa, was originally named al-imara al-jadida (Arabic: "the new construction"), but locals called it Haifa al-Jadida (Arabic: "New Haifa") at first, and then simply Haifa. In the early 20th century, Haifa al 'Atiqa was repopulated as a predominantly Arab Christian neighborhood of Haifa as it expanded outward from its new location.
The ultimate origin of the name Haifa remains unclear. One theory holds it derives from the name of the high priest Caiaphas. Some Christians believe it was named for Saint Peter, whose Aramaic
name was Keiphah. Another theory holds it could be derived from the Hebrew
verb root חפה (hafa), meaning to cover or shield, i.e. Mount Carmel covers Haifa; others point to a possible origin in the Hebrew word חוֹף (hof), meaning shore, or חוֹף יָפֶה (hof yafe), meaning beautiful shore.
was established Late Bronze Age
(14th century BCE). During the 6th century BCE, Greek geographer Scylax
told of a city "between the bay and the Promontory of Zeus" (i.e., the Carmel) which may be a reference to Haifa during the Persian period. By Hellenistic
times, the city had moved to a new site south of what is now Bat Galim
because the port's harbour had become blocked with sand. About the 3rd century CE, the city was first mentioned in Talmud
ic literature, as a Jewish fishing village and the home of Rabbi Avdimos and other Jewish scholars. A Greek
-speaking population living along the coast at this time was engaged in commerce.
Haifa was located near the town of Shikmona
, a center for making the traditional Tekhelet dye used in the garments of the high priests in the Temple. The archaeological site
of Shikmona is southwest of Bat Galim. Mount Carmel and the Kishon River
are also mentioned in the Bible. A grotto on the top of Mount Carmel is known as the "Cave of Elijah", traditionally linked to the Prophet Elijah and his apprentice, Elisha. In Arabic, the highest peak of the Carmel range is called the Muhraka, or "place of burning," harking back to the burnt offerings and sacrifices there in Canaanite and early Israelite times
Early Haifa is believed to have occupied the area which extends from the present-day Rambam Hospital to the Jewish Cemetery on Yafo Street. The inhabitants engaged in fishing and agriculture.
rule, Haifa continued to grow but did not assume major importance. Following the Arab conquest of Palestine in the 630s-40s, Haifa was largely overlooked in favor of the port city of 'Akka
. Under the Rashidun Caliphate
, Haifa began to develop. In the 9th century under the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates, Haifa established trading relations with Egypt
ian ports and the city featured several shipyards. The inhabitants, Arab
s and Jews, engaged in trade and maritime commerce. Glass production and dye-making from marine snails were the city's most lucrative industries.
Prosperity ended in 1100, when Haifa was besieged and blockaded by the Crusaders
and then conquered after a fierce battle with its Jewish and Muslim
inhabitants. Under the Crusaders, Haifa was reduced to a small fishing and agricultural village. It was a part of the Principality of Galilee
within the Kingdom of Jerusalem
. Following their victory at the Battle of Hattin
, Saladin
's Ayyubid
army captured Haifa in mid-July 1187. The Crusaders
under Richard the Lionheart
retook Haifa in 1191. The Carmelites
established a church on Mount Carmel in the 12th century. Under Muslim rule, the building was turned into a mosque, later becoming a hospital. In the 19th century, it was restored as a Carmelite monastery over a cave associated with Elijah, the prophet.
The city's Crusader fortress was destroyed in 1187 by Saladin
. In 1265, the army of Baibars
the Mamluk
captured Haifa, destroying its fortifications, which had been rebuilt by King Louis IX of France
, as well as the majority of the city's homes to prevent the European Crusaders
from returning. For much of their rule, the city was desolate in the Mamluk period between the 13th and 16th centuries. Information from this period is scarce. During Mamluk rule in the 14th century, al-Idrisi
wrote that Haifa served as the port for Tiberias and featured a "fine harbor for the anchorage of galleys and other vessels.
In 1596, Haifa appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Sahil Atlit of the Liwa
of Lajjun. It had a population of 32 Muslim households and paid taxes on wheat, barley, summercrops, olives, and goats or beehives.
Haifa was a hamlet of 250 inhabitants in 1764-5 that was located at Tell el-Semak, the site of ancient Sycaminum. Daher el-Omar
, the Arab
ruler of Acre
and Galilee
, moved the population to a new fortified site one and half miles to the east and laid waste to the old site. This event is marked as the beginning of the town's life at its modern location. After al-Omar's death in 1775, the town remained under Ottoman
rule until 1918, with the exception of two brief periods.
In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte
conquered Haifa during his unsuccessful campaign to conquer Palestine and Syria
, but soon had to withdraw; in the campaign's final proclamation, Napoleon took credit for having razed the fortifications of "Kaïffa" (as the name was spelled at the time) along with those of Gaza
, Jaffa
and Acre
. Between 1831 and 1840, the Egypt
ian viceroy Muhammad Ali
governed Haifa, after his son Ibrahim Pasha
had wrested its control from the Ottomans.
When the Egyptian occupation ended and Acre
declined, the importance of Haifa rose. In 1854, the city had a population of 2,070 Arabs (1,200 Muslims, 870 Christians) and 32 Jews. 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 built and operated a steam-based power station
, opened factories and inaugurated carriage service to Acre, Nazareth
and Tiberias, playing a key role in modernizing the city.
The first European Jews arrived at the end of the 19th century from Romania
. The Central Jewish Colonisation Society in Romania purchased over 1000 acres (4 km²) near Haifa. As the Jewish settlers had been city dwellers, they hired the former fellahin tenants to instruct them in agriculture. In 1909 Haifa became central to the Bahá'í Faith
, when the remains of their prophet, the Báb
, were moved to Acre
and a shrine built on Mount Carmel by `Abdu'l-Bahá.
Haifa was captured from the Ottomans in September 1918 by Indian horsemen serving in the British Army after overrunning Turkish positions armed with spears and swords. On 22 September, British troops were heading to Nazareth when a reconnaissance report was received indicating that the Turks were leaving Haifa. The British made preparations to enter the city and came under fire in the Balad al-Sheikh district (today Nesher
). After the British regrouped, an elite unit of Indian horsemen were sent to attack the Turkish positions on the flanks and overrun their artillery guns on Mount Carmel.
Under the British Mandate, Haifa became an industrial port city. The Hejaz railway and the Technion were built at this time. Haifa District
was then home to approximately 20,000 inhabitants, 96 percent of them Arabs (82 percent Muslim and 14 percent Christian), and four percent Jews. Over the next few decades the number of Jews increased steadily, due to immigration
, especially from Europe. The Arab immigration on the other hand swelled by influx of Arabs, coming mainly from surrounding villages as well as Syrian Hauran. The Arab immigration mainly came as a result of prices and salary drop. The Arab population of Haifa almost doubled between 1922 and 1931, increasing from 18,404 to 34,560.
By 1945 the population had shifted to 53 percent Arab (33 percent Muslim, 20 percent Christian) and 47 percent Jewish. In 1947, about 70,910 Arabs (41,000 Muslims, 29,910 Christians) and 74,230 Jews were living there. The Christian community were mostly Greek-Melkite Catholics
.
The 1947 UN Partition Plan designated Haifa as part of the proposed Jewish state
. On 30 December 1947, members of the Irgun
, a Jewish underground militia, threw bombs into a crowd of Arabs outside the gates of the Consolidated Refineries in Haifa, killing six and injuring 42. In response Arab employees of the company killed 39 Jewish employees in what became known as the Haifa Oil Refinery massacre
. The Jewish Haganah
militia retaliated with a raid on the Arab village of Balad al-Shaykh, where many of the Arab refinery workers lived, in what became known as the Balad al-Shaykh massacre
. Control of Haifa was critical in the ensuing Arab-Israeli war, since it was the major industrial and oil refinery
port in British Palestine.
British forces
in Haifa redeployed on 21 April 1948, withdrawing from most of the city while still maintaining control over the port facilities. Two days later the downtown, controlled by a combination of local and foreign (ALA) Arab irregulars was assaulted by Jewish
forces in Operation Bi'ur Hametz, by the Carmeli Brigade
of the Haganah
, commanded by Moshe Carmel
. The operation led to a massive displacement
of Haifa's Arab population. According to The Economist at the time, only 5,000-6,000 of the city's 62,000 Arabs remained there by 2 October 1948.
Contemporaneous sources emphasized the Jewish leadership's attempt to stop the Arab exodus from the city and the Arab leadership as a motivating factor in the refugees' flight. According to the British district superintendent of police, "Every effort is being made by the Jews to persuade the Arab populace to stay and carry on with their normal lives, to get their shops and business open and to be assured that their lives and interests will be safe." Time Magazine
wrote on 3 May 1948:
Benny Morris
said Haifa's Arabs left due to of a combination of Zionist threats and encouragement to do so by Arab leaders. Ilan Pappé
writes that the shelling culminated in an attack on a Palestinian crowd in the old marketplace using three-inch (76 mm) mortars on 22 April 1948. Shabtai Levy
, the Mayor of the city, and some other Jewish leaders urged Arabs not to leave. According to Ilan Pappé, Jewish loudspeakers could be heard in the city ordering Arab residents to leave "before it's too late."
Morris quotes British sources as stating that during the battles between 22 and 23 April 100 Arabs were killed and 100 wounded, but he adds that the total may have been higher.
, were built to accommodate them. Bnei Zion Hospital (formerly Rothschild
Hospital) and the Central Synagogue in Hadar Hacarmel
date from this period. In 1953, a master plan was created for transportation and the future architectural layout.
In 1959, a group of Mizrahi Jews
, mostly Moroccan Jews, rioted in Wadi Salib
, claiming the state was discriminating against them. Their demand for “bread and work” was directed at the state institutions and what they viewed as an Ashkenazi elite in the Labor Party and the Histadrut
.
Tel Aviv
gained in status, while Haifa suffered a decline in the role as regional capital. The opening of Ashdod as a port exacerbated this. Tourism shrank when the Israeli Ministry of Tourism placed emphasis on developing Tiberias as a tourist centre.
Nevertheless, Haifa's population had reached 200,000 by the early 1970s, and mass immigration from the former Soviet Union
boosted the population by a further 35,000.
Many of Wadi Salib's historic Ottoman buildings have now been demolished, and in the 1990s a major section of the Old City was razed to make way for the municipal center.
From 1999 to 2003, several suicide attacks took place in Haifa (Maxim
and Matza restaurants, bus 37, etc.), resulting in 68 killings.
In 2006, Haifa was hit by 93 Hezbollah rockets during the conflict with Lebanon, killing eleven civilians and leading to half of the city's population fleeing at the end of the first week of the war. The oil refinery complex was also struck by a rocket.
Haifa is Israel's third-largest city, consisting of 103,000 households, or a population of 266,300. Immigrants from the former Soviet Union
constitute 25% of Haifa's population. According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics
, Arab citizens of Israel
constitute 10% of Haifa's population, the majority living in Wadi Nisnas
, Abbas and Halissa neighborhoods.
Haifa is commonly portrayed as a model of co-existence between Arabs and Jews in Israel
, although tensions and hostility do still exist. Several Palestinian organizations
have been established to fight perceived discrimination in the allocation of resources, to protest the displacement of the Haifa Arabs whose homes were occupied by Jews, and to halt the destruction of Arab cultural property in the Haifa region.
The city has an aging population
compared to Tel Aviv
and Jerusalem, as young people have moved to the center of the country for schooling and jobs, while young families have migrated to bedroom communities in the suburbs.
, 6% Christian Arab
and some 20% either Christian or unclassified Post-Soviet immigrants, many of whom from the Ukraine. Haifa also includes Druze and Bahai communities. As the young Jewish residents leave the city, the proportion of non-Jews is growing. In 2006, 27% of the Arab population was aged 14 and under, compared to 17% of the Jewish and other population groups. The trend continues in the age 15-29 group, in which 27% of the Arab population is found, and the age 30-44 group (23%). The population of Jews and others in these age groups are 22% and 18% respectively. Nineteen percent of the city's Jewish and other population is between 45 and 59, compared to 14% of the Arab population. This continues with 14% of Jews and others aged 60–74 and 10% over age 75, in comparison to 7% and just 2% respectively in the Arab population.
By national standards, Haifa's Jewish population is relatively secular. In 2006, 2.9% of the Jews in the city were Haredi
, compared to 7.5% on a national scale. 66.6% were secular, compared to a national average of 43.7%. A significant portion of the immigrants from the former Soviet Union either lack official religious-ethnic classification or are Non-Jews as they are from mixed-marriage families of some Jewish origin.
, the historic land bridge
between Europe, Africa, and Asia. Located on the northern slopes of Mount Carmel
and around Haifa Bay, the city is split over three tiers. The lowest is the center of commerce and industry including the Port of Haifa
. The middle level is on the slopes of Mount Carmel and consists of older residential neighborhoods, while the upper level consists of modern neighborhoods looking over the lower tiers. From here views can be had across the Western Galilee region of Israel towards Rosh HaNikra and the Lebanese border
. Haifa is about 90 kilometres (55.9 mi) north of the city of Tel Aviv
, and has a large number of beaches on the Mediterranean
.
s: Lotem, Amik and Si’ach. For the most part these valleys are undeveloped natural corridors that run up through the city from the coast to the top of the mountain. Marked hiking paths traverse these areas and they provide habitat for wildlife such as wild boar, golden jackal
s, Egyptian mongoose
and chameleons.
with hot, dry summers and cool, rainy winters (Köppen climate classification
Csa). Spring arrives in March when temperatures begin to increase. By late May, the temperature has warmed up considerably to herald warm summer days. The average temperature in summer is 26 °C (79 °F) and in winter, 12 °C (54 °F). Snow is rare in Haifa, but temperatures around 3 °C (37 °F) can sometimes occur, usually in the early morning. Humidity tends to be high all year round, and rain usually occurs between September and May. Annual precipitation is approximately 629 millimetres (25 in).
Haifa has developed in tiers, from the lower to the upper city on the Carmel. The oldest neighborhood in the modern Haifa is Wadi Salib
, the Old City center near the port, which has been bisected by a major road and razed in part to make way for government buildings
. Wadi Salib stretches across to Wadi Nisnas
, the center of Arab life in Haifa today. In the 19th century, under Ottoman rule, the German Colony
was built, providing the first model of urban planning
in Haifa. Some of the buildings have been restored and the colony has turned into a center of Haifa nightlife.
The first buildings in Hadar
were constructed at the start of the 20th century. Hadar was Haifa's cultural center and marketplace throughout the 1920s and into the 1980s, nestled above and around the Haifa's Arab neighborhoods. Today Hadar stretches from the port area near the bay, approximately halfway up Mount Carmel, around the German Colony, Wadi Nisnas and Wadi Salib. Hadar houses two commercial centers (one in the port area, and one midway up the mountain) surrounded by some of the city's older neighborhoods.
Neve Sha'anan, a neighborhood located on the second tier of Mount Carmel, was founded in the 1920s. West of the port are the neighborhoods of Bat Galim
, Shikmona Beach, and Kiryat Eliezer
. To the west and east of Hadar are the Arab neighborhoods of Abbas and Khalisa, built in the 1960s and 70s. To the south of Mount Carmel's headland, along the road to Tel Aviv, are the neighborhoods of Ein HaYam, Shaar HaAliya, Kiryat Sprinzak and Neve David.
Above Hadar are affluent neighborhoods such as the Carmel Tzarfati
(French Carmel), Merkaz Ha'Carmel, Romema, Ahuzat Ha'Carmel (Ahuza), Carmeliya, Vardiya
, Ramat Golda
, Ramat Alon and Denya. While there are general divisions between Arab and Jewish neighborhoods, there is an increasing trend for wealthy Arabs to move into affluent Jewish neighborhoods. Another of the Carmel neighborhoods is Kababir
, home to the National Headquarters of Israel's Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
; located near Merkaz HaCarmel and overlooking the coast.
and Kiryat Shmuel, with 75000 m² (89,699 sq yd) of new residential construction between 2002–2004, the Carmel, with 70000 m² (83,719 sq yd), and Ramot Neve Sha'anan with approximately 70000 m² (83,719 sq yd) Non-residential construction was highest in the Lower Town
, (90,000 sq m), Haifa Bay (72,000 sq m) and Ramot Neve Sha'anan (54,000 sq m). In 2004, 80% of construction in the city was private.
The Palace of the Pasha, a Turkish bathhouse, and a Middle Eastern music
and dance club
in Wadi Salib have been converted into theaters, and offices. The Haifa Economic Corporation Ltd is developing two 1,000 square metre lots for office and commercial use.
. It is home to the Haifa oil refinery
, one of the two oil refineries
in Israel (the other refinery
being located in Ashdod). The Haifa refinery processes 9 million tons (66 million barrels) of crude oil
a year. Its nowadays unused twin 80-meter high cooling tower
s, built in the 1930s, were the tallest buildings built in the British Mandate period.
Matam
(short for Merkaz Ta'asiyot Mada - Scientific Industries Center), the largest and oldest business park
in Israel, is 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
, IBM, Microsoft
, Motorola
, Google
, Yahoo!
, Elbit, CSR
, Philips
, 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 Israel
i ports, and is also a major cargo harbor
, although deregulation has seen its dominance challenged by the port of Ashdod
.
Haifa malls and shopping centers
include Hutsot Hamifratz, Horev Center Mall, Panorama Center, Castra Center, Colony Center (Lev HaMoshava), Hanevi'im Tower Mall, Kanyon Haifa, Lev Hamifratz Mall
and Grand Kanyon.
In 2005, Haifa had 13 hotels with a total of 1,462 rooms. The city has 17 kilometres (11 mi) of beaches, 5 kilometres (3 mi). Haifa's main tourist attraction is the Bahá'í World Centre
, with the golden-domed Shrine of the Báb
and the surrounding gardens. Between 2005 and 2006, 86,037 visited the shrine. In 2008, the Bahai gardens were designated a UNESCO
World Heritage Site
. The restored German Colony
, founded by the Templers
, Stella Maris
and Elijah's Cave also draw many tourists.
Located in the Haifa district are the Ein Hod
artists' colony, where over 90 artists and craftsmen have studios and exhibitions, and the Mount Carmel
national park
, with caves where Neanderthal
and early Homo Sapiens
remains were found.
A 2007 report commissioned by the Haifa Municipality calls for the construction of more hotels, a ferry line between Haifa, Acre
and Caesarea, development of the western anchorage of the port as a recreation and entertainment area, and an expansion of the local airport and port to accommodate international travel and cruise ship
s.
made a special effort to encourage authors and poets to move to the city, and founded the Haifa Theatre
, a repertory theater, the first municipal theater founded in the country. The principal Arabic theater servicing the northern Arab population is the al-Midan Theater. Other theaters in the city include the Krieger Centre for the Performing Arts
and the Rappaport Art and Culture Center. The Congress Center hosts exhibitions, concerts and special events.
The New Haifa Symphony Orchestra, established in 1950, has more than 5,000 subscribers. In 2004, 49,000 people attended its concerts. The Haifa Cinematheque, founded in 1975, hosts the annual Haifa International Film Festival
during the intermediate days of the Sukkot
holiday. Haifa has 29 movie theater
s. The city publishes a local newspaper, Yediot Haifa, and has its own radio station
, Radio Haifa.
During the 90's, Haifa hosted the Haifa Rock & Blues Festival which featured many distinguished musicians such as Bob Dylan
, Nick Cave
, Blur
and PJ Harvey
.
The last festival was held in 1995 with Sheryl Crow
, Suede
and Faith No More
as headliners of the festival.
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Haifa has over a dozen museums. The most popular museum is the Israel National Museum of Science, Technology, and Space
, which recorded almost 150,000 visitors in 2004. The museum is located in the historic Technion building in the Hadar neighborhood. The Haifa Museum of Art
houses a collection of modern and classical art, as well as displays on the history of Haifa. The Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art
is the only museum in the Middle East
dedicated solely to Japanese art
. Other museums in Haifa include the Museum of Prehistory, the National Maritime Museum and Haifa City Museum, the Hecht Museum, the Dagon Archeological Museum, the Railway Museum
, the Clandestine Immigration and Navy Museum, the Israeli Oil Industry
Museum, and Chagall Artists' House. As part of his campaign to bring culture to Haifa, Mayor Abba Hushi provided the artist Mane-Katz
with a building on Mount Carmel to house his collection of Judaica
, which is now a museum.
s earned it the nickname 'Red Haifa.' In addition, many prominent Arabs in the Israeli Communist Party
, among them Tawfik Toubi
, Emile Habibi
, Zahi Karkabi, Bulus Farah
and Emile Toma
, were from Haifa.
In recent years, there has been a drift toward the center. This was best signified by, in the 2006 legislative elections, the Kadima
party receiving about 28.9% of the votes in Haifa, and Labor lagging behind with 16.9%.
Before 1948, Haifa's Municipality was fairly unique as it developed cooperation between the mixed Arab and Jewish community in the city, with representatives of both groups involved in the city's management. Under mayor al-Haj, between 1920 and 1927, the city council
had six Arab and two Jewish representatives, with the city run as a mixed municipality with overall Arab control. Greater cooperation was introduced under Hasan Bey Shukri, who adopted a positive and conciliatory attitude toward the city's Jews and gave them senior posts in the municipality. In 1940, the first Jewish mayor, Shabtai Levy
, was elected. Levy's two deputies were Arab (one Muslim, the other Christian), with the remainder of the council made up of four Jews and six Arabs.
Today, Haifa is governed by its 12th city council, headed by the mayor Yona Yahav
. The results of municipal elections decide on the makeup of the council, similarly to the Knesset
elections. The city council is the legislative council in the city, and has the authority to pass auxiliary laws. The 12th council, which was elected in 2003, has 31 members, with the liberal Shinui
-Greens
ticket holding the most seats (6), and Likud
coming second with 5. Many of the decisions passed by the city council are results of recommendation made by the various municipal committees, which are committees where non-municipal organs meet with representatives from the city council. Some committees are spontaneous, but some are mandatory, such as the security committee, tender committee and financial committee.
Haifa medical facilities have a total of 4,000 hospital beds. The largest hospital is the government-operated Rambam Hospital
with 900 beds and 78,000 admissions in 2004. Bnai Zion Hospital and Carmel Hospital each have 400 beds. Other hospitals in the city include the Italian Hospital, Elisha Hospital (100 beds), Horev Medical Center (36 beds) and Ramat Marpe (18 beds). Haifa has 20 family health centers. In 2004, there were a total of 177,478 hospital admissions.
Rambam Medical Center was in the direct line of fire during the Second Lebanon War in 2006 and was forced to take special precautions to protect its patients. Whole wings of the hospital were moved to large underground shelters.
, founded in 1963, is at the top of Mt. Carmel. The campus was designed by the architect of Brasília
and United Nations Headquarters
in New York
, Oscar Niemeyer
. 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 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 institute
s. The original building now houses Haifa's science museum
. The first technological high school in Israel, Basmat, was established in Haifa in 1933.
Other academic institutions in Haifa are the Gordon College of Education
and Sha'anan Religious Teachers' College, the WIZO Haifa Academy of Design and Education
, and Tiltan College of Design. The Michlala Leminhal College of Management and the Open University of Israel
have branches in Haifa. The city also has a nursing college and the P.E.T Practical Engineering School.
As of 2006–07, Haifa had 70 elementary schools
, 23 middle school
s, 28 academic high school
s and 8 vocational high schools. There were 5,133 pupils in municipal kindergartens, 20,081 in elementary schools, 7,911 in middle schools, 8,072 in academic high schools, 2,646 in vocational high schools, and 2,068 in comprehensive district high schools. 86% of the students attended Hebrew-speaking schools and 14% attended Arab schools. 5% were in special education
. In 2004, Haifa had 16 municipal libraries stocking 367,323 books.
Two prestigious Arab schools in Haifa are the Orthodox School, run by the Greek Orthodox church, and the Nazareth Nuns' School, a Catholic institution.
stations and the Carmelit
, currently Israel's only subway
system (another is under construction in Tel Aviv). The Nahariya
–Tel Aviv
Coastal Railway
main line of Israel Railways
runs along the coast of the Gulf of Haifa and has six stations within the city. From south-west to north-east, these stations are: Haifa Hof HaCarmel, Haifa Bat Galim
, Haifa Merkaz HaShmona, Lev HaMifratz
, Hutzot HaMifratz
and Kiryat Haim. Together with the Kiryat Motzkin Railway Station in the northern suburb Kiryat Motzkin, they form the Haifa - Krayot suburban line ("Parvarit"). There are direct trains from Haifa to Tel Aviv
, Ben Gurion International Airport
, Nahariya
, Akko
, Kiryat Motzkin, Binyamina, Lod
, Kiryat Gat, Beer Sheva
and other locations.
Haifa's intercity bus
connections are operated almost exclusively by the Egged bus company, which operates two terminals:
Lines to the North of the country use HaMifratz Central Bus Station
and their coverage includes most towns in the North of Israel. Lines heading south use Haifa Hof HaCarmel Central Bus Station
.
Destinations directly reachable from Hof HaCarmel CBS include Tel Aviv
, Jerusalem, Eilat, Raanana
, Netanya
, Hadera
, Zikhron Ya'akov, Atlit, Tirat Carmel
, Ben Gurion International Airport
and intermediate communities. There are also three Egged lines that have their terminus in the Ramat Vizhnitz neighborhood and run to Jerusalem, Bnei Brak and Ashdod. These are mehadrin lines.
All urban lines are run by Egged. There are also service taxis that run along some bus routes but do not have an official schedule. In 2006, Haifa implemented a trial network of neighborhood mini-buses – named "Shkhunatit" and run by Egged. In the future, Haifa and the Krayot suburbs will be linked by the Metronit
, a Phileas concept
bus rapid transit
system currently under construction. Meanwhile, some sections of the Metronit have already been opened and are served by regular Egged buses.
Haifa is one of the few cities in Israel where buses operate on Shabbat
. Bus lines operate throughout the city on a reduced schedule from late Saturday morning onwards, and also connect Haifa with Nesher
, Tirat Karmel
, Yokneam, Nazareth
, Nazareth Illit
and intermediate communities. Since the summer of 2008, night buses are operated by Egged in Haifa (line 200) and the Krayot suburbs (line 210). During the summer of 2008 these lines operated 7 nights a week. During the winter their schedule is limited to Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, making them the only buses in Israel to operate on Friday night. Haifa is also the only city in Israel to operate a Saturday bus service to the beaches during summer time. Egged lines run during Saturday mornings from many neighborhoods to the Dado and Bat Galim
beaches, and back in the afternoon.
The Haifa underground railway system is called Carmelit
. It is a subterranean funicular
on rails, running from downtown Paris Square 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 the world's shortest metro line. Haifa also has a touristic cable car
. The Stella Maris gondola lift
cable car consists of six cabins and connects Bat Galim on the coast to the Stella Maris observation deck
and monastery atop Mount Carmel; although mainly for tourism purposes.
The Haifa Cable Car
serves mainly tourists, running from Bat Galim
to the top of Mount Carmel
however there are currently plans to expand this, to become an integrated part of Haifa's public transport
system running from Check point junction at the foot of Mount Carmel to the Technion, and then onto the University of Haifa
.
serves domestic flights to Tel Aviv and Eilat as well as international charters to Cyprus
, and Jordan
. There are currently plans to expand services from Haifa. Cruise ships previously operated from Haifa port
to Greece and Cyprus.
, the main highway along the coastal plain, beginning at Tel Aviv and ending at Haifa. Furthermore, Highway 4
runs along the coast to the north of Haifa, as well as south, inland from Highway 2. In the past, traffic travelling along Highway 2 to the north of Haifa would have to pass through the downtown area of the city, however, the Carmel Tunnels
, opened for traffic 1 December 2010, now re-route this traffic through tunnels under Mount Carmel, cutting down on congestion in the down-town area of the city.
The city's two main football clubs are Maccabi Haifa
and Hapoel Haifa who both currently play in the Israeli Premier League and share the Kiryat Eliezer Stadium
as their home pitch. Maccabi has won twelve Israeli titles, whilst Hapoel has won one.
The city has several clubs in the regional leagues, including Beitar Haifa
and Hapoel Ahva Haifa in Liga Bet
(the fourth tier) and Hapoel Spartak Haifa and Maccabi Neve Sha'anan Eldad in Liga Gimel
(the fifth tier).
In 1996, the city hosted the World Windsurfing Championship
. The Haifa Tennis Club, near the southwest entrance to the city, is one of the largest in Israel.
club, Maccabi Haifa
. Maccabi Haifa was recently promoted to Israeli Basketball Super League, the top division. The team plays at Romema Basketball Arena, which seats 3,000.
The main stadiums in Haifa are the 14,000-seat Kiryat Eliezer Stadium and Thomas D'Alesandro Stadium
. Neve Sha'anan Athletic Stadium seats 1,000. A UEFA
-approved stadium to seat 30,000 is planned for south-west Haifa, due to be completed in 2012.
are an ice hockey team based out of the city of Haifa. They participate in the Israeli League
, the top level of Israeli ice hockey.
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
in northern Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel
Tirat Carmel
Tirat Carmel , or Tirat HaCarmel, is a city in the Haifa District in Israel. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , at the end of 2007 the city had a total population of 18,700....
, Daliyat al-Karmel
Daliyat al-Karmel
Daliyat al-Karmel is a Druze local council in the North District of Israel, located around 20 km southeast of Haifa.-History:The town was given local council status in 1951. However, in 2003 it was merged with nearby Isfiya to create Carmel City...
and Nesher
Nesher
Nesher is a city in the Haifa District of Israel. In 2011, Nesher had a population of 23,000. The mayor of Nesher is David Amar.-Etymology:...
. Together these areas form a contiguous urban area home to nearly 600,000 residents which makes up the inner core of the Haifa metropolitan area
Haifa metropolitan area
Haifa metropolitan area is a metropolitan area including areas from both the Haifa and the North Districts of Israel. It is located along the Israeli Mediterranean coastline...
. Haifa is mixed city: 90% are Jews, more than a quarter of whom are immigrants from the former Soviet Union, while 10% are Arabs
Arab citizens of Israel
Arab citizens of Israel refers to citizens of Israel who are not Jewish, and whose cultural and linguistic heritage or ethnic identity is Arab....
, predominantly of the Christian faith. It is also home to the Bahá'í World Centre
Bahá'í World Centre
The Bahá'í World Centre is the name given to the spiritual and administrative centre of the Bahá'í Faith. The World Centre consists of the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh near Acre, Israel, the Shrine of the Báb and its gardens on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel, and various other buildings in the area...
, a UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
.
Built on the slopes of Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel ; , Kármēlos; , Kurmul or جبل مار إلياس Jabal Mar Elyas 'Mount Saint Elias') is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. Archaeologists have discovered ancient wine and oil presses at various locations on Mt. Carmel...
, the history of settlement at the site spans more than 3,000 years. The earliest known settlement in the vicinity was Tell Abu Hawam
Tell Abu Hawam
Tell Abu Hawam was a small city established in the Late Bronze Age on the site of Modern-day Haifa, Israel. The sixth century BCE geographer Scylax described the city as being located "between the bay and the promontory of Zeus "...
, a small port city established in the Late Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
(14th century BCE). In the 3rd century CE, Haifa was known as a dye-making center. Over the centuries, the city has changed hands: It has been conquered and ruled by the Phoenicians, Hebrews
Hebrews
Hebrews is an ethnonym used in the Hebrew Bible...
, Persians, Hasmoneans, Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, Byzantines
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
, Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
s, Crusaders
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
, Ottomans
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, British, and the Israelis. Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the city has been governed by the Haifa Municipality.
Today, the city is a major seaport
Port of Haifa
The Port of Haifa is the largest of Israel's three major international seaports, which include the Port of Ashdod, and the Port of Eilat. It has a natural deep water harbor which operates all year long, and serves both passenger and merchant ships. It is one of the largest ports in the eastern...
located on Israel's Mediterranean
Israeli Coastal Plain
The Israeli coastal plain is the narrow coastal plain along Israel's Mediterranean Sea coast which houses 70% of the country's population. The plain extends north to south and is divided into a number of areas; the Plain of Zebulun , Hof HaCarmel , the Sharon plain , and the Plain of Judea The...
coastline in the Bay of Haifa covering 63.7 square kilometres (24.6 sq mi). It is located about 90 kilometres (56 mi) north of Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
and is the major regional center of northern Israel
North District (Israel)
The Northern District is one of Israel's six administrative districts. The Northern District has a land area of 4,478 km², which increases to 4,638 km² when both land and water are included...
. Two respected academic institutions, the University of Haifa
University of Haifa
The University of Haifa is a university in Haifa, Israel.The University of Haifa was founded in 1963 by Haifa mayor Abba Hushi, to operate under the academic auspices of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem....
and the Technion, are located in Haifa, and the city plays an important role in Israel's economy
Economy of Israel
The economy of Israel is a technologically advanced market economy, including a rapidly-developing high-tech and service sectors. As of 2010, Israel has the 24th largest economy in the world, and ranks 15th among 169 world nations on the UN's Human Development Index, which places it in the category...
. It has several high-tech parks, among them the oldest and largest in the country, an industrial port, and a petroleum refinery. Haifa was formerly the western terminus of an oil pipeline
Pipeline transport
Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquids and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air are also used....
from Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
via Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
.
Etymology
The earliest named settlement within the site of the modern Haifa was a city known as Sycaminum. The ArabicArabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
Tell el-Semak (or Tell es-Samak, meaning "mound of the fish") preserved and transformed this ancient name, with locals using it to refer to a coastal tell
Tell
A tell or tel, is a type of archaeological mound created by human occupation and abandonment of a geographical site over many centuries. A classic tell looks like a low, truncated cone with a flat top and sloping sides.-Archaeology:A tell is a hill created by different civilizations living and...
at the foot of the Carmel Mountains that contains its remains. In Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
, it is known as Tel Shiqmona or Shikmonah. Shiqmona is mentioned once in the Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
(composed c. 200 CE) for the wild fruits that grow around it.
The name Efa first appears during Roman rule, some time after the end of the 1st century, when a Roman fortress and small Jewish settlement were established not far from Tell es-Samak . Haifa is also mentioned more than 100 times in the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
, a book central to Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
.
Hefa or Hepha in Eusebius of Caesarea
Eusebius of Caesarea
Eusebius of Caesarea also called Eusebius Pamphili, was a Roman historian, exegete and Christian polemicist. He became the Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine about the year 314. Together with Pamphilus, he was a scholar of the Biblical canon...
's 4th century work, Onomasticon (Onom. 108, 31), is said to be another name for Sycaminus. This synonimizing of the names is explained by Moshe Sharon who writes that the twin ancient settlements, which he calls Haifa-Sycaminon, gradually expanded into one another, becoming a twin city known by the Greek names Sycaminon or Sycaminos Polis. References to this city end with the Byzantine period.
Around the 6th century, Porphyreon or Porphyrea is mentioned in the writings of William of Tyre
William of Tyre
William of Tyre was a medieval prelate and chronicler. As archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from a predecessor, William of Malines...
, and while it lies within the area covered by modern Haifa, it was a settlement situated south of Haifa-Sycaminon.
Following the Arab conquest in the 7th century, Haifa was used to refer to a site established on Tell es-Samak upon what were already the ruins of Sycaminon (Shiqmona). Haifa (or Haifah) is mentioned by the mid-11th century Persian chronicler Nasir Khusraw
Nasir Khusraw
Abu Mo’in Hamid ad-Din Nasir ibn Khusraw al-Qubadiani or Nāsir Khusraw Qubādiyānī [also spelled as Nasir Khusrow and Naser Khosrow] Abu Mo’in Hamid ad-Din Nasir ibn Khusraw al-Qubadiani or Nāsir Khusraw Qubādiyānī [also spelled as Nasir Khusrow and Naser Khosrow] Abu Mo’in Hamid ad-Din Nasir ibn...
, and the 12th and 13th century Arab chroniclers, Muhammad al-Idrisi
Muhammad al-Idrisi
Abu Abd Allah Muhammad al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi al-Hasani al-Sabti or simply Al Idrisi was a Moroccan Muslim geographer, cartographer, Egyptologist and traveller who lived in Sicily, at the court of King Roger II. Muhammed al-Idrisi was born in Ceuta then belonging to the Almoravid Empire and died in...
and Yaqut al-Hamawi
Yaqut al-Hamawi
Yāqūt ibn-'Abdullah al-Rūmī al-Hamawī) was an Islamic biographer and geographer renowned for his encyclopedic writings on the Muslim world. "al-Rumi" refers to his Greek descent; "al-Hamawi" means that he is from Hama, Syria, and ibn-Abdullah is a reference to his father's name, Abdullah...
.
The Crusaders
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
, who captured Haifa briefly in the 12th century, call it Caiphas, and believe its name related to Cephas, the Greek name of Simon Peter. Eusebius is also said to have referred to Hefa as Caiaphas civitas, and Benjamin of Tudela
Benjamin of Tudela
Benjamin of Tudela was a medieval Jewish traveler who visited Europe, Asia, and Africa in the 12th century. His vivid descriptions of western Asia preceded those of Marco Polo by a hundred years...
, the 12th century Jewish traveller and chronicler, is said to have attributed the city's founding to Caiaphas
Caiaphas
Joseph, son of Caiaphas, Hebrew יוסף בַּר קַיָּפָא or Yosef Bar Kayafa, commonly known simply as Caiaphas in the New Testament, was the Roman-appointed Jewish high priest who is said to have organized the plot to kill Jesus...
, the Jewish high priest at the time of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
.
Other spellings in English have included Caipha, Kaipha, Caiffa, Kaiffa and Khaifa .
Haifa al-'Atiqa (Arabic: "Ancient Haifa") is another name used by locals to refer to Tell es-Samak, as it was the site of Haifa when it is was a hamlet of 250 residents, before it was moved in 1764-5 to a new fortified site founded by Daher el-Omar
Daher el-Omar
Daher el-Omar was the Arab-Bedouin ruler of the Galilee district of the southern Levant during the mid-18th century...
one and half miles to the east. The new village, the nucleus of modern Haifa, was originally named al-imara al-jadida (Arabic: "the new construction"), but locals called it Haifa al-Jadida (Arabic: "New Haifa") at first, and then simply Haifa. In the early 20th century, Haifa al 'Atiqa was repopulated as a predominantly Arab Christian neighborhood of Haifa as it expanded outward from its new location.
The ultimate origin of the name Haifa remains unclear. One theory holds it derives from the name of the high priest Caiaphas. Some Christians believe it was named for Saint Peter, whose Aramaic
Aramaic language
Aramaic is a group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic language phylum. The name of the language is based on the name of Aram, an ancient region in central Syria. Within this family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic family, and more specifically, is a part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily,...
name was Keiphah. Another theory holds it could be derived from the Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
verb root חפה (hafa), meaning to cover or shield, i.e. Mount Carmel covers Haifa; others point to a possible origin in the Hebrew word חוֹף (hof), meaning shore, or חוֹף יָפֶה (hof yafe), meaning beautiful shore.
Early history
A small port city known today as Tell Abu HawamTell Abu Hawam
Tell Abu Hawam was a small city established in the Late Bronze Age on the site of Modern-day Haifa, Israel. The sixth century BCE geographer Scylax described the city as being located "between the bay and the promontory of Zeus "...
was established Late Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
(14th century BCE). During the 6th century BCE, Greek geographer Scylax
Scylax of Caryanda
Scylax of Caryanda was a renowned Carian explorer and writer of the 6th and 5th centuries BCE.-Exploration and literary works:In about 515 BCE, Scylax was sent by King Darius I of Persia to follow the course of the Indus River and discover where it led. Scylax and his companions set out from city...
told of a city "between the bay and the Promontory of Zeus" (i.e., the Carmel) which may be a reference to Haifa during the Persian period. By Hellenistic
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
times, the city had moved to a new site south of what is now Bat Galim
Bat Galim
Bat Galim is a neighborhood of Haifa, Israel, located at the foot of Mt. Carmel on the Mediterranean coast. Bat Galim is known for its promenade and sandy beaches.-History:...
because the port's harbour had become blocked with sand. About the 3rd century CE, the city was first mentioned in Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
ic literature, as a Jewish fishing village and the home of Rabbi Avdimos and other Jewish scholars. A Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
-speaking population living along the coast at this time was engaged in commerce.
Haifa was located near the town of Shikmona
Shikmona
Tel Shikmona is an ancient tell situated near the sea coast on the southern entrance to the modern city of Haifa, Israel.Archaeological excavations that took place at this location in 1963, uncovered the remains of a city that existed there between the 11th - 14th BCE and was intermittently...
, a center for making the traditional Tekhelet dye used in the garments of the high priests in the Temple. The archaeological site
Archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record.Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...
of Shikmona is southwest of Bat Galim. Mount Carmel and the Kishon River
Kishon River
The Kishon River is a river in Israel that flows into the Mediterranean Sea at the city of Haifa.- Course :The Kishon River is a 70-km-long perennial stream in Israel...
are also mentioned in the Bible. A grotto on the top of Mount Carmel is known as the "Cave of Elijah", traditionally linked to the Prophet Elijah and his apprentice, Elisha. In Arabic, the highest peak of the Carmel range is called the Muhraka, or "place of burning," harking back to the burnt offerings and sacrifices there in Canaanite and early Israelite times
Early Haifa is believed to have occupied the area which extends from the present-day Rambam Hospital to the Jewish Cemetery on Yafo Street. The inhabitants engaged in fishing and agriculture.
Byzantine, Arab and Crusader rule
Under ByzantineByzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
rule, Haifa continued to grow but did not assume major importance. Following the Arab conquest of Palestine in the 630s-40s, Haifa was largely overlooked in favor of the port city of 'Akka
Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
. Under the Rashidun Caliphate
Rashidun Caliphate
The Rashidun Caliphate , comprising the first four caliphs in Islam's history, was founded after Muhammad's death in 632, Year 10 A.H.. At its height, the Caliphate extended from the Arabian Peninsula, to the Levant, Caucasus and North Africa in the west, to the Iranian highlands and Central Asia...
, Haifa began to develop. In the 9th century under the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates, Haifa established trading relations with Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian ports and the city featured several shipyards. The inhabitants, Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
s and Jews, engaged in trade and maritime commerce. Glass production and dye-making from marine snails were the city's most lucrative industries.
Prosperity ended in 1100, when Haifa was besieged and blockaded by the Crusaders
First Crusade
The First Crusade was a military expedition by Western Christianity to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem...
and then conquered after a fierce battle with its Jewish and Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
inhabitants. Under the Crusaders, Haifa was reduced to a small fishing and agricultural village. It was a part of the Principality of Galilee
Principality of Galilee
The Principality of Galilee was one of the four major seigneuries of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, according to 13th-century commentator John of Ibelin. The direct holdings of the principality were around Tiberias, in Galilee proper, but with all its vassals, the lordship covered all Galilee...
within the Kingdom of Jerusalem
Kingdom of Jerusalem
The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Catholic kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. The kingdom lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, was destroyed by the Mamluks, but its history is divided into two distinct periods....
. Following their victory at the Battle of Hattin
Battle of Hattin
The Battle of Hattin took place on Saturday, July 4, 1187, between the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and the forces of the Ayyubid dynasty....
, Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
's Ayyubid
Ayyubid dynasty
The Ayyubid dynasty was a Muslim dynasty of Kurdish origin, founded by Saladin and centered in Egypt. The dynasty ruled much of the Middle East during the 12th and 13th centuries CE. The Ayyubid family, under the brothers Ayyub and Shirkuh, originally served as soldiers for the Zengids until they...
army captured Haifa in mid-July 1187. The Crusaders
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
under Richard the Lionheart
Richard I of England
Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...
retook Haifa in 1191. The Carmelites
Carmelites
The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Catholic religious order perhaps founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, hence its name. However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain...
established a church on Mount Carmel in the 12th century. Under Muslim rule, the building was turned into a mosque, later becoming a hospital. In the 19th century, it was restored as a Carmelite monastery over a cave associated with Elijah, the prophet.
Mamluk, Ayyubid and Ottoman rule
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
. In 1265, the army of Baibars
Baibars
Baibars or Baybars , nicknamed Abu l-Futuh , was a Mamluk Sultan of Egypt. He was one of the commanders of the forces which inflicted a devastating defeat on the Seventh Crusade of King Louis IX of France and he led the vanguard of the Egyptian army at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, which marked...
the Mamluk
Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)
The Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt was the final independent Egyptian state prior to the establishment of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty in 1805. It lasted from the overthrow of the Ayyubid Dynasty until the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517. The sultanate's ruling caste was composed of Mamluks, Arabised...
captured Haifa, destroying its fortifications, which had been rebuilt by King Louis IX of France
Louis IX of France
Louis IX , commonly Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death. He was also styled Louis II, Count of Artois from 1226 to 1237. Born at Poissy, near Paris, he was an eighth-generation descendant of Hugh Capet, and thus a member of the House of Capet, and the son of Louis VIII and...
, as well as the majority of the city's homes to prevent the European Crusaders
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
from returning. For much of their rule, the city was desolate in the Mamluk period between the 13th and 16th centuries. Information from this period is scarce. During Mamluk rule in the 14th century, al-Idrisi
Muhammad al-Idrisi
Abu Abd Allah Muhammad al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi al-Hasani al-Sabti or simply Al Idrisi was a Moroccan Muslim geographer, cartographer, Egyptologist and traveller who lived in Sicily, at the court of King Roger II. Muhammed al-Idrisi was born in Ceuta then belonging to the Almoravid Empire and died in...
wrote that Haifa served as the port for Tiberias and featured a "fine harbor for the anchorage of galleys and other vessels.
In 1596, Haifa appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Sahil Atlit of the Liwa
Liwa (arabic)
Liwa or Liwa is an Arabic term meaning district, banner, or flag, a type of administrative division. It was interchangeable with the Turkish term "Sanjak" in the time of the Ottoman Empire. After the fall of the empire, the term was used in the Arab countries formerly under Ottoman rule...
of Lajjun. It had a population of 32 Muslim households and paid taxes on wheat, barley, summercrops, olives, and goats or beehives.
Haifa was a hamlet of 250 inhabitants in 1764-5 that was located at Tell el-Semak, the site of ancient Sycaminum. Daher el-Omar
Daher el-Omar
Daher el-Omar was the Arab-Bedouin ruler of the Galilee district of the southern Levant during the mid-18th century...
, the Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
ruler of Acre
Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
and Galilee
Galilee
Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...
, moved the population to a new fortified site one and half miles to the east and laid waste to the old site. This event is marked as the beginning of the town's life at its modern location. After al-Omar's death in 1775, the town remained under Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
rule until 1918, with the exception of two brief periods.
In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
conquered Haifa during his unsuccessful campaign to conquer Palestine and Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, but soon had to withdraw; in the campaign's final proclamation, Napoleon took credit for having razed the fortifications of "Kaïffa" (as the name was spelled at the time) along with those of Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
, Jaffa
Jaffa
Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...
and Acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
. Between 1831 and 1840, the Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian viceroy Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali of Egypt
Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha was a commander in the Ottoman army, who became Wāli, and self-declared Khedive of Egypt and Sudan...
governed Haifa, after his son Ibrahim Pasha
Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt
Ibrahim Pasha was the eldest son of Muhammad Ali, the Wāli and unrecognised Khedive of Egypt and Sudan. He served as a general in the Egyptian army that his father established during his reign, taking his first command of Egyptian forces was when he was merely a teenager...
had wrested its control from the Ottomans.
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
declined, the importance of Haifa rose. In 1854, the city had a population of 2,070 Arabs (1,200 Muslims, 870 Christians) and 32 Jews. The arrival of the German Templers
Templers (religious believers)
Templers are members of the Temple Society , a German Protestant sect with roots in the Pietist movement of the Lutheran Church. The Templers were expelled from the church in 1858 because of their millennial beliefs. Their aim was to realize the apocalyptic visions of the prophets of Israel in the...
in 1868, who settled in what is now known as the German Colony of Haifa
German Colony, Haifa
The German Colony was established in Haifa in 1868 by the German Templers. It was the first of several colonies established by the group in the Holy Land...
, was a turning point in Haifa's development. The Templers built and operated a steam-based power station
Power station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
, opened factories and inaugurated carriage service to Acre, Nazareth
Nazareth
Nazareth is the largest city in the North District of Israel. Known as "the Arab capital of Israel," the population is made up predominantly of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel...
and Tiberias, playing a key role in modernizing the city.
The first European Jews arrived at the end of the 19th century from Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. The Central Jewish Colonisation Society in Romania purchased over 1000 acres (4 km²) near Haifa. As the Jewish settlers had been city dwellers, they hired the former fellahin tenants to instruct them in agriculture. In 1909 Haifa became central to the Bahá'í Faith
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
, when the remains of their prophet, the Báb
Báb
Siyyid `Alí Muḥammad Shírází was the founder of Bábism, and one of three central figures of the Bahá'í Faith. He was a merchant from Shíráz, Persia, who at the age of twenty-four claimed to be the promised Qá'im . After his declaration he took the title of Báb meaning "Gate"...
, were moved to Acre
Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
and a shrine built on Mount Carmel by `Abdu'l-Bahá.
British Mandate
Nesher
Nesher is a city in the Haifa District of Israel. In 2011, Nesher had a population of 23,000. The mayor of Nesher is David Amar.-Etymology:...
). After the British regrouped, an elite unit of Indian horsemen were sent to attack the Turkish positions on the flanks and overrun their artillery guns on Mount Carmel.
Under the British Mandate, Haifa became an industrial port city. The Hejaz railway and the Technion were built at this time. Haifa District
Haifa District
Haifa District is an administrative district surrounding the city of Haifa, Israel. The district is one of six administrative districts of Israel, and its capital is Haifa...
was then home to approximately 20,000 inhabitants, 96 percent of them Arabs (82 percent Muslim and 14 percent Christian), and four percent Jews. Over the next few decades the number of Jews increased steadily, due to immigration
Aliyah
Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...
, especially from Europe. The Arab immigration on the other hand swelled by influx of Arabs, coming mainly from surrounding villages as well as Syrian Hauran. The Arab immigration mainly came as a result of prices and salary drop. The Arab population of Haifa almost doubled between 1922 and 1931, increasing from 18,404 to 34,560.
By 1945 the population had shifted to 53 percent Arab (33 percent Muslim, 20 percent Christian) and 47 percent Jewish. In 1947, about 70,910 Arabs (41,000 Muslims, 29,910 Christians) and 74,230 Jews were living there. The Christian community were mostly Greek-Melkite Catholics
Melkite Greek Catholic Church
The Melkite Greek Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See as part of the worldwide Catholic Church. The Melkites, Byzantine Rite Catholics of mixed Eastern Mediterranean and Greek origin, trace their history to the early Christians of Antioch, Syria, of...
.
The 1947 UN Partition Plan designated Haifa as part of the proposed Jewish state
Jewish state
A homeland for the Jewish people was an idea that rose to the fore in the 19th century in the wake of growing anti-Semitism and Jewish assimilation. Jewish emancipation in Europe paved the way for two ideological solutions to the Jewish Question: cultural assimilation, as envisaged by Moses...
. On 30 December 1947, members of the Irgun
Irgun
The Irgun , or Irgun Zevai Leumi to give it its full title , was a Zionist paramilitary group that operated in Mandate Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of the earlier and larger Jewish paramilitary organization haHaganah...
, a Jewish underground militia, threw bombs into a crowd of Arabs outside the gates of the Consolidated Refineries in Haifa, killing six and injuring 42. In response Arab employees of the company killed 39 Jewish employees in what became known as the Haifa Oil Refinery massacre
Haifa Oil Refinery massacre
The Haifa Oil Refinery massacre took place on 30 December 1947. After operatives of the Zionist paramilitary organisation, the Irgun, threw a number of grenades at a crowd of 100 Arab day-labourers who had gathered outside the main gate of the then British-owned Haifa Oil Refinery looking for work,...
. The Jewish Haganah
Haganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
militia retaliated with a raid on the Arab village of Balad al-Shaykh, where many of the Arab refinery workers lived, in what became known as the Balad al-Shaykh massacre
Balad al-Shaykh massacre
Balad al-Shaykh, was an Arab village, now part of the Israeli town of Nesher where a massacre was perpetrated on the night of December 31, 1947, to January 1, 1948...
. Control of Haifa was critical in the ensuing Arab-Israeli war, since it was the major industrial and oil refinery
Oil refinery
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas...
port in British Palestine.
British forces
British Armed Forces
The British Armed Forces are the armed forces of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.Also known as Her Majesty's Armed Forces and sometimes legally the Armed Forces of the Crown, the British Armed Forces encompasses three professional uniformed services, the Royal Navy, the...
in Haifa redeployed on 21 April 1948, withdrawing from most of the city while still maintaining control over the port facilities. Two days later the downtown, controlled by a combination of local and foreign (ALA) Arab irregulars was assaulted by Jewish
Yishuv
The Yishuv or Ha-Yishuv is the term referring to the body of Jewish residents in Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel...
forces in Operation Bi'ur Hametz, by the Carmeli Brigade
Barak Armored Brigade
The 188th "Barak" Armored Brigade is an Israeli armored brigade, subordinate to Israel's Northern Regional Command. The symbol of the Barak Armor Brigade is a shield with a red border bearing a sword against a blue and white background featuring the Haifa coastline background and a sword on it...
of the Haganah
Haganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
, commanded by Moshe Carmel
Moshe Carmel
Moshe Carmel was an Israeli soldier and politician who served as Minister of Transportation for eight years.-Background:Born in Mińsk Mazowiecki in the Russian Empire , Carmel emigrated to Mandate Palestine in 1924 when he was 13 years old. He was a founding member of kibbutz Na'an, and was...
. The operation led to a massive displacement
1948 Palestinian exodus
The 1948 Palestinian exodus , also known as the Nakba , occurred when approximately 711,000 to 725,000 Palestinian Arabs left, fled or were expelled from their homes, during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and the Civil War that preceded it. The exact number of refugees is a matter of dispute...
of Haifa's Arab population. According to The Economist at the time, only 5,000-6,000 of the city's 62,000 Arabs remained there by 2 October 1948.
Contemporaneous sources emphasized the Jewish leadership's attempt to stop the Arab exodus from the city and the Arab leadership as a motivating factor in the refugees' flight. According to the British district superintendent of police, "Every effort is being made by the Jews to persuade the Arab populace to stay and carry on with their normal lives, to get their shops and business open and to be assured that their lives and interests will be safe." Time Magazine
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
wrote on 3 May 1948:
- The mass evacuation, prompted partly by fear, partly by orders of Arab leaders, left the Arab quarter of Haifa a ghost city ... By withdrawing Arab workers their leaders hoped to paralyze Haifa.
Benny Morris
Benny Morris
Benny Morris is professor of History in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Be'er Sheva, Israel...
said Haifa's Arabs left due to of a combination of Zionist threats and encouragement to do so by Arab leaders. Ilan Pappé
Ilan Pappé
Ilan Pappé is a professor with the College of Social Sciences and International Studies at the University of Exeter in the UK, director of the university's European Centre for Palestine Studies, co-director of the Exeter Centre for Ethno-Political Studies, and political activist...
writes that the shelling culminated in an attack on a Palestinian crowd in the old marketplace using three-inch (76 mm) mortars on 22 April 1948. Shabtai Levy
Shabtai Levy
Shabtai Levy was the first Jewish mayor of Haifa. He held office from 1941 to 1951.Shabtai Levy was born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1876. Trained as a lawyer, he made Aliyah in 1894. He studied in the PJCA school in Petah Tikva. He was then employed as a clerk for the Baron Edmond James de Rothschild...
, the Mayor of the city, and some other Jewish leaders urged Arabs not to leave. According to Ilan Pappé, Jewish loudspeakers could be heard in the city ordering Arab residents to leave "before it's too late."
Morris quotes British sources as stating that during the battles between 22 and 23 April 100 Arabs were killed and 100 wounded, but he adds that the total may have been higher.
Within the State of Israel
After the state of Israel declared its independence on 14 May 1948, Haifa became the gateway for Jewish immigration into Israel. During the Israeli War of Independence, the neighborhoods of Haifa were sometimes contested. After the war, Jewish immigrants were resettled in vacated Arab houses. New neighborhoods, among them Kiryat Hayim, Ramot Remez, Ramat Shaul, Kiryat Sprinzak, and Kiryat EliezerKiryat Eliezer, Haifa
Kiryat Eliezer is a neighborhood in north-western Haifa, Israel. It is located south of Bat Galim and west of Kiryat Eliyahu. The neighborhood is notable for its stadium, home to both Maccabi Haifa F.C. and Hapoel Haifa F.C.....
, were built to accommodate them. Bnei Zion Hospital (formerly Rothschild
Rothschild family
The Rothschild family , known as The House of Rothschild, or more simply as the Rothschilds, is a Jewish-German family that established European banking and finance houses starting in the late 18th century...
Hospital) and the Central Synagogue in Hadar Hacarmel
Hadar HaCarmel
Hadar Hacarmel is a neighborhood of Haifa, Israel. Located on the northern slope of Mount Carmel between the upper and lower city, overlooking the Port of Haifa and Haifa Bay, it was once the commercial center of Haifa.-History:...
date from this period. In 1953, a master plan was created for transportation and the future architectural layout.
In 1959, a group of Mizrahi Jews
Mizrahi Jews
Mizrahi Jews or Mizrahiyim, , also referred to as Adot HaMizrach are Jews descended from the Jewish communities of the Middle East, North Africa and the Caucasus...
, mostly Moroccan Jews, rioted in Wadi Salib
Wadi Salib
Wadi Salib is a neighbourhood located in the heart of Downtown Haifa, Israel, on the lower northeastern slope of Mount Carmel, between the Hadar HaCarmel and the city's historic center and CBD.-History:...
, claiming the state was discriminating against them. Their demand for “bread and work” was directed at the state institutions and what they viewed as an Ashkenazi elite in the Labor Party and the Histadrut
Histadrut
HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael , known as the Histadrut, is Israel's organization of trade unions. Established in December 1920 during the British Mandate for Palestine, it became one of the most powerful institutions of the State of Israel.-History:The Histadrut was founded in...
.
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
gained in status, while Haifa suffered a decline in the role as regional capital. The opening of Ashdod as a port exacerbated this. Tourism shrank when the Israeli Ministry of Tourism placed emphasis on developing Tiberias as a tourist centre.
Nevertheless, Haifa's population had reached 200,000 by the early 1970s, and mass immigration from the former Soviet Union
Post-Soviet states
The post-Soviet states, also commonly known as the Former Soviet Union or former Soviet republics, are the 15 independent states that split off from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in its dissolution in December 1991...
boosted the population by a further 35,000.
Many of Wadi Salib's historic Ottoman buildings have now been demolished, and in the 1990s a major section of the Old City was razed to make way for the municipal center.
From 1999 to 2003, several suicide attacks took place in Haifa (Maxim
Maxim restaurant suicide bombing
The Maxim restaurant suicide bombing was a suicide bombing which occurred on October 4, 2003 in the beachfront "Maxim" restaurant in Haifa, Israel. 21 people were killed in the attack and 51 were injured...
and Matza restaurants, bus 37, etc.), resulting in 68 killings.
In 2006, Haifa was hit by 93 Hezbollah rockets during the conflict with Lebanon, killing eleven civilians and leading to half of the city's population fleeing at the end of the first week of the war. The oil refinery complex was also struck by a rocket.
Demographics
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
constitute 25% of Haifa's population. According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics
Israel Central Bureau of Statistics
The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , abbreviated CBS, is an Israeli government office established in 1949 to carry out research and publish statistical data on all aspects of Israeli life, including population, society, economy, industry, education and physical infrastructure.It is headed by a...
, Arab citizens of Israel
Arab citizens of Israel
Arab citizens of Israel refers to citizens of Israel who are not Jewish, and whose cultural and linguistic heritage or ethnic identity is Arab....
constitute 10% of Haifa's population, the majority living in Wadi Nisnas
Wadi Nisnas
Wadi Nisnas is an Arab neighborhood in the city of Haifa in northern Israel. Nisnas is the Arabic word for mongoose, an indigenous animal. The wadi has a population of about 8,000 inhabitants....
, Abbas and Halissa neighborhoods.
Haifa is commonly portrayed as a model of co-existence between Arabs and Jews in Israel
Religion in Israel
Religion in Israel is a central feature of the country and plays a major role in shaping Israeli culture and lifestyle, and religion has played a central role in Israel's history. Israel is also the only country in the world where a majority of citizens are Jewish...
, although tensions and hostility do still exist. Several Palestinian organizations
Ittijah
Ittijah or "Union of Arab Community-Based Associations" is a network for Palestinian non-governmental organizations founded in 1995 in Israel...
have been established to fight perceived discrimination in the allocation of resources, to protest the displacement of the Haifa Arabs whose homes were occupied by Jews, and to halt the destruction of Arab cultural property in the Haifa region.
| City of Haifa Population by year |
|
| 1800 | 1,000 |
| 1840 | 2,000 |
| 1880 | 6,000 |
| 1914 | 20,000 |
| 1922 | 24,600 |
| 1947 | 145,140 |
| 1961 | 183,021 |
| 1972 | 219,559 |
| 1983 | 225,775 |
| 1995 | 255,914 |
| 2005 | 267,800 |
| 2009 | 265,000 |
The city has an aging population
Population ageing
Population ageing or population aging occurs when the median age of a country or region rises. This happens because of rising life expectancy or declining birth rates. Excepting 18 countries termed 'demographic outliers' by the UN) this process is taking place in every country and region across...
compared to Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
and Jerusalem, as young people have moved to the center of the country for schooling and jobs, while young families have migrated to bedroom communities in the suburbs.
Religious and ethnic communities
The population of Haifa today is about 70% Jewish, 4% MuslimMuslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
, 6% Christian Arab
Arab Christians
Arab Christians are ethnic Arabs of Christian faith, sometimes also including those, who are identified with Arab panethnicity. They are the remnants of ancient Arab Christian clans or Arabized Christians. Many of the modern Arab Christians are descendants of pre-Islamic Christian Arabian tribes,...
and some 20% either Christian or unclassified Post-Soviet immigrants, many of whom from the Ukraine. Haifa also includes Druze and Bahai communities. As the young Jewish residents leave the city, the proportion of non-Jews is growing. In 2006, 27% of the Arab population was aged 14 and under, compared to 17% of the Jewish and other population groups. The trend continues in the age 15-29 group, in which 27% of the Arab population is found, and the age 30-44 group (23%). The population of Jews and others in these age groups are 22% and 18% respectively. Nineteen percent of the city's Jewish and other population is between 45 and 59, compared to 14% of the Arab population. This continues with 14% of Jews and others aged 60–74 and 10% over age 75, in comparison to 7% and just 2% respectively in the Arab population.
By national standards, Haifa's Jewish population is relatively secular. In 2006, 2.9% of the Jews in the city were Haredi
Haredi Judaism
Haredi or Charedi/Chareidi Judaism is the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, often referred to as ultra-Orthodox. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
, compared to 7.5% on a national scale. 66.6% were secular, compared to a national average of 43.7%. A significant portion of the immigrants from the former Soviet Union either lack official religious-ethnic classification or are Non-Jews as they are from mixed-marriage families of some Jewish origin.
Geography
Haifa is situated on the Israeli Mediterranean Coastal PlainIsraeli Coastal Plain
The Israeli coastal plain is the narrow coastal plain along Israel's Mediterranean Sea coast which houses 70% of the country's population. The plain extends north to south and is divided into a number of areas; the Plain of Zebulun , Hof HaCarmel , the Sharon plain , and the Plain of Judea The...
, the historic land bridge
Via Maris
Via Maris is the modern name for an ancient trade route, dating from the early Bronze Age, linking Egypt with the northern empires of Syria, Anatolia and Mesopotamia — modern day Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria....
between Europe, Africa, and Asia. Located on the northern slopes of Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel ; , Kármēlos; , Kurmul or جبل مار إلياس Jabal Mar Elyas 'Mount Saint Elias') is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. Archaeologists have discovered ancient wine and oil presses at various locations on Mt. Carmel...
and around Haifa Bay, the city is split over three tiers. The lowest is the center of commerce and industry including the Port of Haifa
Port of Haifa
The Port of Haifa is the largest of Israel's three major international seaports, which include the Port of Ashdod, and the Port of Eilat. It has a natural deep water harbor which operates all year long, and serves both passenger and merchant ships. It is one of the largest ports in the eastern...
. The middle level is on the slopes of Mount Carmel and consists of older residential neighborhoods, while the upper level consists of modern neighborhoods looking over the lower tiers. From here views can be had across the Western Galilee region of Israel towards Rosh HaNikra and the Lebanese border
Blue Line (Lebanon)
The Blue Line is a border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel published by the United Nations on 7 June 2000 for the purposes of determining whether Israel had fully withdrawn from Lebanon...
. Haifa is about 90 kilometres (55.9 mi) north of the city of Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, and has a large number of beaches on the Mediterranean
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
.
Flora and fauna
The Carmel Mountain has three main wadiWadi
Wadi is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some cases, it may refer to a dry riverbed that contains water only during times of heavy rain or simply an intermittent stream.-Variant names:...
s: Lotem, Amik and Si’ach. For the most part these valleys are undeveloped natural corridors that run up through the city from the coast to the top of the mountain. Marked hiking paths traverse these areas and they provide habitat for wildlife such as wild boar, golden jackal
Golden Jackal
The golden jackal , also known as the common jackal, Asiatic jackal, thos or gold-wolf is a Canid of the genus Canis indigenous to north and northeastern Africa, southeastern and central Europe , Asia Minor, the Middle East and southeast Asia...
s, Egyptian mongoose
Egyptian mongoose
The Egyptian Mongoose , also known as the Ichneumon, is a species of mongoose. It may be a reservoir host for Visceral leishmaniasis in Sudan.-Range and habitat:...
and chameleons.
Climate
Haifa has a mediterranean climateMediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
with hot, dry summers and cool, rainy winters (Köppen climate classification
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...
Csa). Spring arrives in March when temperatures begin to increase. By late May, the temperature has warmed up considerably to herald warm summer days. The average temperature in summer is 26 °C (79 °F) and in winter, 12 °C (54 °F). Snow is rare in Haifa, but temperatures around 3 °C (37 °F) can sometimes occur, usually in the early morning. Humidity tends to be high all year round, and rain usually occurs between September and May. Annual precipitation is approximately 629 millimetres (25 in).
Neighborhoods
Wadi Salib
Wadi Salib is a neighbourhood located in the heart of Downtown Haifa, Israel, on the lower northeastern slope of Mount Carmel, between the Hadar HaCarmel and the city's historic center and CBD.-History:...
, the Old City center near the port, which has been bisected by a major road and razed in part to make way for government buildings
Government Buildings
Government Buildings is a large Edwardian building enclosing a quadrangle on Merrion Street in Dublin, Ireland, in which several key offices of the government of Ireland are located...
. Wadi Salib stretches across to Wadi Nisnas
Wadi Nisnas
Wadi Nisnas is an Arab neighborhood in the city of Haifa in northern Israel. Nisnas is the Arabic word for mongoose, an indigenous animal. The wadi has a population of about 8,000 inhabitants....
, the center of Arab life in Haifa today. In the 19th century, under Ottoman rule, the German Colony
German Colony, Haifa
The German Colony was established in Haifa in 1868 by the German Templers. It was the first of several colonies established by the group in the Holy Land...
was built, providing the first model of urban planning
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
in Haifa. Some of the buildings have been restored and the colony has turned into a center of Haifa nightlife.
The first buildings in Hadar
Hadar HaCarmel
Hadar Hacarmel is a neighborhood of Haifa, Israel. Located on the northern slope of Mount Carmel between the upper and lower city, overlooking the Port of Haifa and Haifa Bay, it was once the commercial center of Haifa.-History:...
were constructed at the start of the 20th century. Hadar was Haifa's cultural center and marketplace throughout the 1920s and into the 1980s, nestled above and around the Haifa's Arab neighborhoods. Today Hadar stretches from the port area near the bay, approximately halfway up Mount Carmel, around the German Colony, Wadi Nisnas and Wadi Salib. Hadar houses two commercial centers (one in the port area, and one midway up the mountain) surrounded by some of the city's older neighborhoods.
Neve Sha'anan, a neighborhood located on the second tier of Mount Carmel, was founded in the 1920s. West of the port are the neighborhoods of Bat Galim
Bat Galim
Bat Galim is a neighborhood of Haifa, Israel, located at the foot of Mt. Carmel on the Mediterranean coast. Bat Galim is known for its promenade and sandy beaches.-History:...
, Shikmona Beach, and Kiryat Eliezer
Kiryat Eliezer, Haifa
Kiryat Eliezer is a neighborhood in north-western Haifa, Israel. It is located south of Bat Galim and west of Kiryat Eliyahu. The neighborhood is notable for its stadium, home to both Maccabi Haifa F.C. and Hapoel Haifa F.C.....
. To the west and east of Hadar are the Arab neighborhoods of Abbas and Khalisa, built in the 1960s and 70s. To the south of Mount Carmel's headland, along the road to Tel Aviv, are the neighborhoods of Ein HaYam, Shaar HaAliya, Kiryat Sprinzak and Neve David.
Above Hadar are affluent neighborhoods such as the Carmel Tzarfati
French Carmel
French Carmel is a neighbourhood of Haifa , located on the western slopes of Mount Carmel.The French Carmel is the home of Leo Beack High School, one of the leading high schools in Israel....
(French Carmel), Merkaz Ha'Carmel, Romema, Ahuzat Ha'Carmel (Ahuza), Carmeliya, Vardiya
Vardia
Vardia is a neighborhood in Haifa, Israel.Established in the 1980s, Vardia is located in the upper Carmel, between the Hadar Hacarmel and Romema. The pine forests ringing the neighborhood were once a popular site for family recreation and hiking. Several archeological sites and the ruins of stone...
, Ramat Golda
Ramat Golda
Ramat Golda is a neighbourhood in Haifa, Israel, situated on a west-facing slope of Mount Carmel, between Denia and Ramat Begin. It is named after Golda Meir....
, Ramat Alon and Denya. While there are general divisions between Arab and Jewish neighborhoods, there is an increasing trend for wealthy Arabs to move into affluent Jewish neighborhoods. Another of the Carmel neighborhoods is Kababir
Kababir
Kababir is a mixed neighbourhood of Jews and Ahmadi Muslim Arabs in Haifa.The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was founded in the 19th century, originating in India and settled in Kababir from Ni'lin near Jerusalem.- Mahmood mosque :...
, home to the National Headquarters of Israel's Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
; located near Merkaz HaCarmel and overlooking the coast.
Urban development
Recently, residential construction has been concentrated around Kiryat HaimKiryat Haim
Kiryat Haim is one of the five Krayot suburbs located north of Haifa, Israel. In 2003, Kiryat Haim had a population of 40,000. Kiryat Haim is within the municipal borders of the city of Haifa, and lies on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea.-History:...
and Kiryat Shmuel, with 75000 m² (89,699 sq yd) of new residential construction between 2002–2004, the Carmel, with 70000 m² (83,719 sq yd), and Ramot Neve Sha'anan with approximately 70000 m² (83,719 sq yd) Non-residential construction was highest in the Lower Town
Lower Town
Lowertown is a district in the central area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada to the east of downtown. It is bounded roughly by Rideau Street to the south, Sussex Drive and Ottawa River to the north, the Rideau Canal to the west, and the Rideau River to the east...
, (90,000 sq m), Haifa Bay (72,000 sq m) and Ramot Neve Sha'anan (54,000 sq m). In 2004, 80% of construction in the city was private.
The Palace of the Pasha, a Turkish bathhouse, and a Middle Eastern music
Middle Eastern music
The music of Western Asia and North Africa spans across a vast region, from Morocco to Afghanistan, and its influences can be felt even further afield. Middle Eastern music influenced the music of India, as well as Central Asia, Spain, Southern Italy, the Caucasus and the Balkans, as in chalga...
and dance club
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
in Wadi Salib have been converted into theaters, and offices. The Haifa Economic Corporation Ltd is developing two 1,000 square metre lots for office and commercial use.
Economy
The common Israeli saying, "Haifa works, Jerusalem prays, and Tel Aviv plays" attests to Haifa's reputation as a city of workers and industry. The industrial region of Haifa is in the eastern part of the city, around the Kishon RiverKishon River
The Kishon River is a river in Israel that flows into the Mediterranean Sea at the city of Haifa.- Course :The Kishon River is a 70-km-long perennial stream in Israel...
. It is home to the Haifa oil refinery
Oil Refineries Ltd
Oil Refineries Ltd. , located in Haifa Bay, is Israel's largest Oil refinery. Using its state-of-the-art industrial facilities, ORL is capable of refining approximately 9.8 million tons of crude oil per year providing a variety of products used in industrial operation, transportation, private...
, one of the two oil refineries
Oil refinery
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas...
in Israel (the other refinery
Ashdod Oil Refineries
Ashdod Oil Refinery is second largest Oil Refinery in Israel, after Haifa Oil Refineries Ltd, located in coastal city of Ashdod. It was once part of governmental company Oil Refineries Ltd. After privatization of the company and solution to break the monopoly in Oil Refinery field, Ashdod oil...
being located in Ashdod). The Haifa refinery processes 9 million tons (66 million barrels) of crude oil
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
a year. Its nowadays unused twin 80-meter high cooling tower
Cooling tower
Cooling towers are heat removal devices used to transfer process waste heat to the atmosphere. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb air temperature or in the case of closed circuit dry cooling towers rely...
s, built in the 1930s, were the tallest buildings built in the British Mandate period.
Matam
Matam, Haifa
Matam , located at the southern entrance to Haifa, is the largest and oldest dedicated hi-tech parks in Israel...
(short for Merkaz Ta'asiyot Mada - Scientific Industries Center), the largest and oldest business park
Business park
A business park or office park is an area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. All of the work that goes on is commercial, not industrial or residential....
in Israel, is at the southern entrance to the city, hosting manufacturing and R&D
Research and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
facilities for a large number of Israeli and international hi-tech
High tech
High tech is technology that is at the cutting edge: the most advanced technology currently available. It is often used in reference to micro-electronics, rather than other technologies. The adjective form is hyphenated: high-tech or high-technology...
companies, such as Intel
Intel Corporation
Intel Corporation is an American multinational semiconductor chip maker corporation headquartered in Santa Clara, California, United States and the world's largest semiconductor chip maker, based on revenue. It is the inventor of the x86 series of microprocessors, the processors found in most...
, IBM, Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
, Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
, Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
, Elbit, CSR
CSR plc
CSR , or Cambridge Silicon Radio, is a company based in Cambridge, England. CSR is a fabless semiconductor company whose main product lines include connectivity, audio and location chips. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index...
, Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
, and Amdocs
Amdocs
Amdocs Limited is a provider of software and services for billing, customer relationship management , operations support systems...
. The campus of the University of Haifa
University of Haifa
The University of Haifa is a university in Haifa, Israel.The University of Haifa was founded in 1963 by Haifa mayor Abba Hushi, to operate under the academic auspices of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem....
is also home to IBM Haifa Labs.
The Port of Haifa
Port of Haifa
The Port of Haifa is the largest of Israel's three major international seaports, which include the Port of Ashdod, and the Port of Eilat. It has a natural deep water harbor which operates all year long, and serves both passenger and merchant ships. It is one of the largest ports in the eastern...
is the leader in passenger traffic among Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i ports, and is also a major cargo harbor
Harbor
A harbor or harbour , or haven, is a place where ships, boats, and barges can seek shelter from stormy weather, or else are stored for future use. Harbors can be natural or artificial...
, although deregulation has seen its dominance challenged by the port of Ashdod
Port of Ashdod
The Port of Ashdod is one of Israel's two main cargo ports. The port is located in Ashdod, about 40 kilometers south of Tel Aviv, adjoining the mouth of the Lachish River. Its establishment doubled the country's port capacity. It is a major point of entry for both cargo and tourists in and out of...
.
Haifa malls and shopping centers
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
include Hutsot Hamifratz, Horev Center Mall, Panorama Center, Castra Center, Colony Center (Lev HaMoshava), Hanevi'im Tower Mall, Kanyon Haifa, Lev Hamifratz Mall
Lev Hamifratz Mall
Lev HaMifratz Mall is a shopping mall located in Haifa, Israel.Lev HaMifratz has 3 floors of stores, a food court, an underground parking garage, and an above ground parking garage. In the past, it included an amusement park, a miniature golf course and an ice skating rink.Lev HaMifratz is also a...
and Grand Kanyon.
Tourism
Bahá'í World Centre
The Bahá'í World Centre is the name given to the spiritual and administrative centre of the Bahá'í Faith. The World Centre consists of the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh near Acre, Israel, the Shrine of the Báb and its gardens on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel, and various other buildings in the area...
, with the golden-domed Shrine of the Báb
Shrine of the Báb
The Shrine of the Báb is a structure in Haifa, Israel where the remains of the Báb, founder of Bábism and forerunner of Bahá'u'lláh in the Bahá'í Faith, have been laid to rest; it is considered to be the second holiest place on Earth for Bahá'ís, after the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh in Acre...
and the surrounding gardens. Between 2005 and 2006, 86,037 visited the shrine. In 2008, the Bahai gardens were designated a UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
. The restored German Colony
German Colony, Haifa
The German Colony was established in Haifa in 1868 by the German Templers. It was the first of several colonies established by the group in the Holy Land...
, founded by the Templers
Templers (religious believers)
Templers are members of the Temple Society , a German Protestant sect with roots in the Pietist movement of the Lutheran Church. The Templers were expelled from the church in 1858 because of their millennial beliefs. Their aim was to realize the apocalyptic visions of the prophets of Israel in the...
, Stella Maris
Stella Maris Monastery
The Stella Maris Monastery or Monastery of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Haifa is a 19th-century Carmelite nunnery located on the slopes of Mount Carmel, Israel.- History :...
and Elijah's Cave also draw many tourists.
Located in the Haifa district are the Ein Hod
Ein Hod
Ein Hod is a communal settlement in northern Israel. Located south of Mount Carmel and southeast of Haifa in northern Israel, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof HaCarmel Regional Council. In 2008 it had a population of 559....
artists' colony, where over 90 artists and craftsmen have studios and exhibitions, and the Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel ; , Kármēlos; , Kurmul or جبل مار إلياس Jabal Mar Elyas 'Mount Saint Elias') is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. Archaeologists have discovered ancient wine and oil presses at various locations on Mt. Carmel...
national park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
, with caves where Neanderthal
Neanderthal
The Neanderthal is an extinct member of the Homo genus known from Pleistocene specimens found in Europe and parts of western and central Asia...
and early Homo Sapiens
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
remains were found.
A 2007 report commissioned by the Haifa Municipality calls for the construction of more hotels, a ferry line between Haifa, Acre
Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
and Caesarea, development of the western anchorage of the port as a recreation and entertainment area, and an expansion of the local airport and port to accommodate international travel and cruise ship
Cruise ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...
s.
Arts and culture
Despite its image as a port and industrial city, Haifa is the cultural hub of northern Israel. During the 1950s, mayor Abba HushiAbba Hushi
Abba Hushi was an Israeli politician who served as mayor of Haifa for eighteen years between 1951 to 1969. Hushi was one of the founders and activists of Hashomer Hatzair movement in Poland. In July 1920, he immigrated to Palestine with a group of 130 Jewish pioneers. In Palestine, he took the...
made a special effort to encourage authors and poets to move to the city, and founded the Haifa Theatre
Haifa Theatre
The Haifa Theatre is the municipal theater company of Haifa, Israel.Haifa Theater, Israel's first municipal theater, was established by Haifa mayor Abba Hushi.Founded in 1961, the Haifa Theater employs Jewish and Arab actors, and has an international reputation for performing provocative works...
, a repertory theater, the first municipal theater founded in the country. The principal Arabic theater servicing the northern Arab population is the al-Midan Theater. Other theaters in the city include the Krieger Centre for the Performing Arts
Performing arts
The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...
and the Rappaport Art and Culture Center. The Congress Center hosts exhibitions, concerts and special events.
The New Haifa Symphony Orchestra, established in 1950, has more than 5,000 subscribers. In 2004, 49,000 people attended its concerts. The Haifa Cinematheque, founded in 1975, hosts the annual Haifa International Film Festival
Haifa International Film Festival
The Haifa International Film Festival is an annual film festival that takes place every fall, during the week-long holiday of Sukkot, in Haifa, Israel. The festival was inaugurated in 1983, and was the first of its kind in Israel...
during the intermediate days of the Sukkot
Sukkot
Sukkot is a Biblical holiday celebrated on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei . It is one of the three biblically mandated festivals Shalosh regalim on which Hebrews were commanded to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem.The holiday lasts seven days...
holiday. Haifa has 29 movie theater
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
s. The city publishes a local newspaper, Yediot Haifa, and has its own radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
, Radio Haifa.
During the 90's, Haifa hosted the Haifa Rock & Blues Festival which featured many distinguished musicians such as Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Nick Cave
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...
, Blur
Blur (band)
Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...
and PJ Harvey
PJ Harvey
Polly Jean Harvey is an English musician, singer-songwriter, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments including piano, organ, bass, saxophone, and most recently, the autoharp.Harvey began her career in...
.
The last festival was held in 1995 with Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...
, Suede
Suede
Suede is a type of leather with a napped finish, commonly used for jackets, shoes, shirts, purses, furniture and other items. The term comes from the French "gants de Suède", which literally means "gloves of Sweden"....
and Faith No More
Faith No More
Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed originally as Faith No Man in 1981 by bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist Wade Worthington, vocalist Michael Morris and drummer Mike Bordin. A year later when Worthington was replaced by keyboardist Roddy Bottum, and Mike...
as headliners of the festival.
Museums
Israel National Museum of Science, Technology, and Space
The Israel National Museum of Science, Technology, and Space is a science and technology museum in the city of Haifa, Israel....
, which recorded almost 150,000 visitors in 2004. The museum is located in the historic Technion building in the Hadar neighborhood. The Haifa Museum of Art
Haifa Museum
The Haifa Museum of Art , established in 1951, is located in a historic building built in the 1930's in Wadi Nisnas, Downtown Haifa...
houses a collection of modern and classical art, as well as displays on the history of Haifa. The Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art
Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art
The Museum of Japanese Art on the crest of Mount Carmel is dedicated exclusively to the preservation and exhibition of Japanese art works, and is the only one of its kind in the Middle East. The Museum is a municipal foundation, set up in 1959, on the initiative of Felix Tikotin of The Netherlands,...
is the only museum in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
dedicated solely to Japanese art
Japanese art
Japanese art covers a wide range of art styles and media, including ancient pottery, sculpture in wood and bronze, ink painting on silk and paper and more recently manga, cartoon, along with a myriad of other types of works of art...
. Other museums in Haifa include the Museum of Prehistory, the National Maritime Museum and Haifa City Museum, the Hecht Museum, the Dagon Archeological Museum, the Railway Museum
Israel Railway Museum
Israel Railway Museum is the national railway museum of Israel, located in Haifa. The railway museum is owned by Israel Railways and is at the now closed Haifa East Railway Station.-Features:...
, the Clandestine Immigration and Navy Museum, the Israeli Oil Industry
Petroleum industry
The petroleum industry includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transporting , and marketing petroleum products. The largest volume products of the industry are fuel oil and gasoline...
Museum, and Chagall Artists' House. As part of his campaign to bring culture to Haifa, Mayor Abba Hushi provided the artist Mane-Katz
Mane-Katz
Emmanuel Mané-Katz, born Mane Leyzerovich Kats , was a Jewish painter born in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, best known for his depictions of the Jewish shtetl in Eastern Europe.- Biography :...
with a building on Mount Carmel to house his collection of Judaica
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, which is now a museum.
Government
As an industrial port city, Haifa has traditionally been a Labor party stronghold. The strong presence of dock workers and trade unionTrade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s earned it the nickname 'Red Haifa.' In addition, many prominent Arabs in the Israeli Communist Party
Communist Party of Israel
Maki |Maki]]. Maki, the original Israeli Communist Party, saw a split between a largely Jewish faction led by Moshe Sneh, which recognized Israel's right to exist and was critical of the Soviet Union's increasingly anti-Zionist stance, and a largely Arab faction, which was increasingly anti-Zionist...
, among them Tawfik Toubi
Tawfik Toubi
-Biography:Toubi was born in Haifa to an Arab Orthodox family in 1922, and was educated at the Mount Zion School in Jerusalem. He joined the Palestine Communist Party in 1941 and later was one of the founders of the League for National Liberation, which originally opposed partition of Palestine but...
, Emile Habibi
Emile Habibi
Imil Shukri Habibi was an Israeli-Palestinian writer of Arabic expression and a communist politician, son of a Christian family.In 2005, he was voted the 143rd-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest...
, Zahi Karkabi, Bulus Farah
Bulus Farah
Bulus Farah was a Palestinian trade unionist who founded the Federation of Arab Trade Unions and Labor Societies in 1942. Farah went to work in the Haifa workshops in 1925 as a fifteen-year-old apprentice and is also known as the author of a book on the railway workers of the post-World War I...
and Emile Toma
Emile Toma
Emile Toma , was a political historian and philosopher and thinker.Emile was born in Haifa to an Arab Orthodox family in 1919. He studied in the Orthodox School in Haifa then he went to Jerusalem to the Zion College to complete his high school studies.He joined the Cambridge University and left it...
, were from Haifa.
Kadima
Kadima is a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely to support the issue of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan, and was soon joined by like-minded Labor politicians...
party receiving about 28.9% of the votes in Haifa, and Labor lagging behind with 16.9%.
Before 1948, Haifa's Municipality was fairly unique as it developed cooperation between the mixed Arab and Jewish community in the city, with representatives of both groups involved in the city's management. Under mayor al-Haj, between 1920 and 1927, the city council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
had six Arab and two Jewish representatives, with the city run as a mixed municipality with overall Arab control. Greater cooperation was introduced under Hasan Bey Shukri, who adopted a positive and conciliatory attitude toward the city's Jews and gave them senior posts in the municipality. In 1940, the first Jewish mayor, Shabtai Levy
Shabtai Levy
Shabtai Levy was the first Jewish mayor of Haifa. He held office from 1941 to 1951.Shabtai Levy was born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1876. Trained as a lawyer, he made Aliyah in 1894. He studied in the PJCA school in Petah Tikva. He was then employed as a clerk for the Baron Edmond James de Rothschild...
, was elected. Levy's two deputies were Arab (one Muslim, the other Christian), with the remainder of the council made up of four Jews and six Arabs.
Today, Haifa is governed by its 12th city council, headed by the mayor Yona Yahav
Yona Yahav
Yona Yahav is an Israeli lawyer and politician. Formerly a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party, he is currently mayor of Haifa.-Biography:...
. The results of municipal elections decide on the makeup of the council, similarly to the Knesset
Knesset
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...
elections. The city council is the legislative council in the city, and has the authority to pass auxiliary laws. The 12th council, which was elected in 2003, has 31 members, with the liberal Shinui
Shinui
Shinui is a Zionist, secular and anti-clerical free market liberal party and political movement in Israel. The party twice became the third largest in the Knesset, but both occasions were followed by a split and collapse; in 1977 the party won 15 seats as part of the Democratic Movement for...
-Greens
The Greens (Israel)
The Greens is a minor political party in Israel currently headed by Pe'er Visner. Although the party is currently not represented in the Knesset, it does hold seats in 22 municipalities across Israel.-History:...
ticket holding the most seats (6), and Likud
Likud
Likud is the major center-right political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing and liberal parties. Likud's victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had...
coming second with 5. Many of the decisions passed by the city council are results of recommendation made by the various municipal committees, which are committees where non-municipal organs meet with representatives from the city council. Some committees are spontaneous, but some are mandatory, such as the security committee, tender committee and financial committee.
Mayors of Haifa
- Najib Effendi al-YasinNajib Effendi al-YasinNajib Effendi al-Yasin was the mayor of Haifa during the Ottoman Empire's era between 1873–1877. Najib Effendi was born to a noble Turkish family during the ruling age of the Ottoman Empire, at the beginning of his life as an adult he worked as a lawyer...
(1873–77) - Ahmad Effendi JalabiAhmad Effendi JalabiAhmad Effendi Jalabi was the mayor of Haifa between the years 1878–81 during the time of the Turkish Empire....
(1878–81) - Mustafa Bey al-Salih (1881–84)
- Mustafa Pasha al-Khalil (1885–1903)
- Jamil Sadiq (1904–10)
- Rif'at al-Salah (1910–11)
- Ibrahim al-Khalil (1911–13)
- Abd al-Rahman al-Haj (1920–27)
- Hasan Bey Shukri (1914–20, 1927–40)
- Shabtai LevyShabtai LevyShabtai Levy was the first Jewish mayor of Haifa. He held office from 1941 to 1951.Shabtai Levy was born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1876. Trained as a lawyer, he made Aliyah in 1894. He studied in the PJCA school in Petah Tikva. He was then employed as a clerk for the Baron Edmond James de Rothschild...
(1940–51) - Abba HushiAbba HushiAbba Hushi was an Israeli politician who served as mayor of Haifa for eighteen years between 1951 to 1969. Hushi was one of the founders and activists of Hashomer Hatzair movement in Poland. In July 1920, he immigrated to Palestine with a group of 130 Jewish pioneers. In Palestine, he took the...
(1951–1969) - Moshe FlimannMoshe FlimannMoshe Flimann served as the mayor of Haifa from 1969 to 1973.Flimann was born in 1905 in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine . He was a member of a Zionist youth movement, and joined the "Pioneer" movement...
(1969–1973) - Yosef AlmogiYosef AlmogiYosef Aharon Almogi was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset between 1955 and 1977, as well as holding several ministerial posts.-Biography:...
(1974–1975) - Yeruham ZeiselYeruham ZeiselYeruham Zeisel was the mayor of Haifa from 1975 to 1978.Yeruham Zeisel was born in 1909 in Brenov, Galicia, . Zeisel was raised in a Zionist home, and already in his youth was a member of Hashomer Hatzair and a counselor for a group of youths in the "Pioneer" movement. In 1932 he made Aliyah and...
(1975–1978) - Arie Gur'el (1978–1993)
- Amram MitznaAmram MitznaAmram Mitzna is an Israeli politician and former general. He is the acting mayor of Yeruham, the former mayor of Haifa and led the Labour Party from 2002 to 2003.-Youth, studies and military service:...
(1993–2003) - Giora Fisher (interim mayor, 2003)
- Yona YahavYona YahavYona Yahav is an Israeli lawyer and politician. Formerly a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party, he is currently mayor of Haifa.-Biography:...
(2003–present)
Medical facilities
Rambam Hospital
Rambam Health Care Campus , or Rambam Hospital, is a hospital in the Bat Galim neighborhood of Haifa, Israel. The largest medical center in northern Israel and fifth largest in Israel, it is named for the 12th century physician-philosopher Rabbi Moshe Ben-Maimon , known as the...
with 900 beds and 78,000 admissions in 2004. Bnai Zion Hospital and Carmel Hospital each have 400 beds. Other hospitals in the city include the Italian Hospital, Elisha Hospital (100 beds), Horev Medical Center (36 beds) and Ramat Marpe (18 beds). Haifa has 20 family health centers. In 2004, there were a total of 177,478 hospital admissions.
Rambam Medical Center was in the direct line of fire during the Second Lebanon War in 2006 and was forced to take special precautions to protect its patients. Whole wings of the hospital were moved to large underground shelters.
Education
Haifa is home to two internationally acclaimed universities and several colleges. The University of HaifaUniversity of Haifa
The University of Haifa is a university in Haifa, Israel.The University of Haifa was founded in 1963 by Haifa mayor Abba Hushi, to operate under the academic auspices of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem....
, founded in 1963, is at the top of Mt. Carmel. The campus was designed by the architect of Brasília
Brasília
Brasília is the capital city of Brazil. The name is commonly spelled Brasilia in English. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country, along a plateau known as Planalto Central. It has a population of about 2,557,000 as of the 2008 IBGE estimate, making it the...
and United Nations Headquarters
United Nations headquarters
The headquarters of the United Nations is a complex in New York City. The complex has served as the official headquarters of the United Nations since its completion in 1952. It is located in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Manhattan, on spacious grounds overlooking the East River...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Oscar Niemeyer
Oscar Niemeyer
Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho is a Brazilian architect specializing in international modern architecture...
. 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 on the campus of Haifa University.
The Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, described as Israel's MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
, was founded in 1924. It has 18 faculties and 42 research institute
Research institute
A research institute is an establishment endowed for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research...
s. The original building now houses Haifa's science museum
Science museum
A science museum or a science centre is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in museology have broadened the range of...
. The first technological high school in Israel, Basmat, was established in Haifa in 1933.
Other academic institutions in Haifa are the Gordon College of Education
Gordon College of Education
Gordon College of Education was established in Haifa in 1953 merging the Teacher’s Seminary of the Labor Movement with the Teacher’s Seminary of the well-known Hebrew Reali School of Haifa. From its foundation, it has focused on the development of teaching skills and furthered Zionist, Jewish and...
and Sha'anan Religious Teachers' College, the WIZO Haifa Academy of Design and Education
WIZO Haifa Academy of Design and Education
WIZO Haifa Academy of Design and Education is a school of art located in the German Colony in Haifa, Israel. It is the leading professional and academic institution for higher education in art in northern Israel.-History:...
, and Tiltan College of Design. The Michlala Leminhal College of Management and the Open University of Israel
Open University of Israel
The Open University of Israel is a distance-education university in Israel. , the Open University taught around 39,000 students.The Open University of Israel has more students than any other academic institution in Israel. The administration is based in the city of Ra'anana. Students from all over...
have branches in Haifa. The city also has a nursing college and the P.E.T Practical Engineering School.
As of 2006–07, Haifa had 70 elementary schools
Primary education
A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...
, 23 middle school
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
s, 28 academic high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
s and 8 vocational high schools. There were 5,133 pupils in municipal kindergartens, 20,081 in elementary schools, 7,911 in middle schools, 8,072 in academic high schools, 2,646 in vocational high schools, and 2,068 in comprehensive district high schools. 86% of the students attended Hebrew-speaking schools and 14% attended Arab schools. 5% were in special education
Special education
Special education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials,...
. In 2004, Haifa had 16 municipal libraries stocking 367,323 books.
Two prestigious Arab schools in Haifa are the Orthodox School, run by the Greek Orthodox church, and the Nazareth Nuns' School, a Catholic institution.
Transportation
Haifa is served by six railwayRail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
stations and the Carmelit
Carmelit
The Carmelit is an underground funicular railway in Haifa, Israel. Construction started in 1956 and ended in 1959. The Carmelit was closed in 1986 after showing signs of aging...
, currently Israel's only subway
Rapid transit
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
system (another is under construction in Tel Aviv). The Nahariya
Nahariya
Nahariya is the northernmost coastal city in Israel, with an estimated population of 51,200.-History:Nahariya was founded by German Jewish immigrants from the Fifth Aliyah in the 1930s...
–Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
Coastal Railway
Coastal railway line, Israel
The Coastal railway line is a mainline railway in Israel, which begins just south of the Lebanon-Israel border on the Mediterranean coast, near the town of Nahariya in Northern Israel and currently ends in Tel Aviv; by 2013 it will be linked to the existing Ashdod Railway Station south of Tel Aviv,...
main line of Israel Railways
Israel Railways
Israel Railways is the principal passenger railway operating company in Israel, and is responsible for all inter-city and suburban rail way passenger and freight traffic in the country. All its lines are standard gauge. The network is centered in Israel's densely populated coastal plain, from...
runs along the coast of the Gulf of Haifa and has six stations within the city. From south-west to north-east, these stations are: Haifa Hof HaCarmel, Haifa Bat Galim
Haifa Bat Galim Railway Station
Haifa Bat Galim Railway Station is an Israel Railways passenger station situated on the coastal railway line and serves the city of Haifa. The station takes its name from the neighborhood of Bat Galim, where it is located...
, Haifa Merkaz HaShmona, Lev HaMifratz
Lev HaMifratz Railway Station
Lev HaMifratz Railway Station is an Israel Railways passenger station in Haifa, Israel, serving Lev HaMifratz Mall , one of Haifa's largest malls, and the surrounding Haifa-Bay industrial zone just north of Haifa.-Location:...
, Hutzot HaMifratz
Hutzot HaMifratz Railway Station
Hutzot HaMifratz Railway Station is an Israel Railways passenger station serving Hutzot HaMifratz Mall , Israel's largest open-air mall, and the surrounding Haifa-Bay industrial zone just north of Haifa.-Location:...
and Kiryat Haim. Together with the Kiryat Motzkin Railway Station in the northern suburb Kiryat Motzkin, they form the Haifa - Krayot suburban line ("Parvarit"). There are direct trains from Haifa to Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, Ben Gurion International Airport
Ben Gurion International Airport
Ben Gurion International Airport , also referred to by its Hebrew acronym Natbag , is the largest and busiest international airport in Israel, handling 12,160,339 passengers in 2010...
, Nahariya
Nahariya
Nahariya is the northernmost coastal city in Israel, with an estimated population of 51,200.-History:Nahariya was founded by German Jewish immigrants from the Fifth Aliyah in the 1930s...
, Akko
Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
, Kiryat Motzkin, Binyamina, Lod
Lod
Lod is a city located on the Sharon Plain southeast of Tel Aviv in the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2010, it had a population of 70,000, roughly 75 percent Jewish and 25 percent Arab.The name is derived from the Biblical city of Lod...
, Kiryat Gat, Beer Sheva
Beersheba
Beersheba is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the seventh-largest city in Israel with a population of 194,300....
and other locations.
Haifa's intercity bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
connections are operated almost exclusively by the Egged bus company, which operates two terminals:
- HaMifratz Central Bus StationHaMifratz Central Bus StationHaifa Bay Central Bus Station is the main bus station of the Haifa Bay district. It opened in 2002....
, adjacent to the Lev HaMifratz Railway StationLev HaMifratz Railway StationLev HaMifratz Railway Station is an Israel Railways passenger station in Haifa, Israel, serving Lev HaMifratz Mall , one of Haifa's largest malls, and the surrounding Haifa-Bay industrial zone just north of Haifa.-Location:... - Haifa Hof HaCarmel Central Bus StationHaifa Hof HaCarmel Central Bus StationCarmel Beach Central Bus Station is the main bus station in Haifa, Israel, replacing the Haifa Bat Galim Central Bus Station. The former station is now only used to store Egged buses and for Egged office space and innercity buses now only stop there on the road rather than inside on the route...
, adjacent to the Hof HaCarmel Railway Station
Lines to the North of the country use HaMifratz Central Bus Station
HaMifratz Central Bus Station
Haifa Bay Central Bus Station is the main bus station of the Haifa Bay district. It opened in 2002....
and their coverage includes most towns in the North of Israel. Lines heading south use Haifa Hof HaCarmel Central Bus Station
Haifa Hof HaCarmel Central Bus Station
Carmel Beach Central Bus Station is the main bus station in Haifa, Israel, replacing the Haifa Bat Galim Central Bus Station. The former station is now only used to store Egged buses and for Egged office space and innercity buses now only stop there on the road rather than inside on the route...
.
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, Jerusalem, Eilat, Raanana
Ra'anana
Ra'anana is a city in the heart of the southern Sharon Plain of the Central District of Israel with a population of 68,300, . Ra'anana is bordered by Kfar Sava on the east and Herzliya on the southwest...
, Netanya
Netanya
Netanya is a city in the Northern Centre District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is located north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa between the 'Poleg' stream and Wingate Institute in the south and the 'Avichail' stream in the north.Its of beaches have made the...
, Hadera
Hadera
Hadera is a city located in the Haifa District of Israel approximately from the major cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. The city is located along of the Israeli Mediterranean Coastal Plain...
, Zikhron Ya'akov, Atlit, Tirat Carmel
Tirat Carmel
Tirat Carmel , or Tirat HaCarmel, is a city in the Haifa District in Israel. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , at the end of 2007 the city had a total population of 18,700....
, Ben Gurion International Airport
Ben Gurion International Airport
Ben Gurion International Airport , also referred to by its Hebrew acronym Natbag , is the largest and busiest international airport in Israel, handling 12,160,339 passengers in 2010...
and intermediate communities. There are also three Egged lines that have their terminus in the Ramat Vizhnitz neighborhood and run to Jerusalem, Bnei Brak and Ashdod. These are mehadrin lines.
All urban lines are run by Egged. There are also service taxis that run along some bus routes but do not have an official schedule. In 2006, Haifa implemented a trial network of neighborhood mini-buses – named "Shkhunatit" and run by Egged. In the future, Haifa and the Krayot suburbs will be linked by the Metronit
Metronit
The Metronit , will be a new bus rapid transit system in Haifa, Israel, using the Phileas concept. This bus line is unique to Israel in that it will use bi-articulated buses on specific routes...
, a Phileas concept
Phileas (public transport)
Phileas is high quality public transport, developed by Samenwerkingsverband Regio Eindhoven , Netherlands, along with some other companies for the Cooperation Foundation Eindhoven Region...
bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling...
system currently under construction. Meanwhile, some sections of the Metronit have already been opened and are served by regular Egged buses.
Haifa is one of the few cities in Israel where buses operate on Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
. Bus lines operate throughout the city on a reduced schedule from late Saturday morning onwards, and also connect Haifa with Nesher
Nesher
Nesher is a city in the Haifa District of Israel. In 2011, Nesher had a population of 23,000. The mayor of Nesher is David Amar.-Etymology:...
, Tirat Karmel
Tirat Carmel
Tirat Carmel , or Tirat HaCarmel, is a city in the Haifa District in Israel. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , at the end of 2007 the city had a total population of 18,700....
, Yokneam, Nazareth
Nazareth
Nazareth is the largest city in the North District of Israel. Known as "the Arab capital of Israel," the population is made up predominantly of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel...
, Nazareth Illit
Nazareth Illit
Nazareth Illit is a city in the North District of Israel. At the end of 2007 it had a population of 40,800.Nazareth Illit was founded in the 1950s. Foundations were laid in 1954 and first residents moved in two years later...
and intermediate communities. Since the summer of 2008, night buses are operated by Egged in Haifa (line 200) and the Krayot suburbs (line 210). During the summer of 2008 these lines operated 7 nights a week. During the winter their schedule is limited to Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, making them the only buses in Israel to operate on Friday night. Haifa is also the only city in Israel to operate a Saturday bus service to the beaches during summer time. Egged lines run during Saturday mornings from many neighborhoods to the Dado and Bat Galim
Bat Galim
Bat Galim is a neighborhood of Haifa, Israel, located at the foot of Mt. Carmel on the Mediterranean coast. Bat Galim is known for its promenade and sandy beaches.-History:...
beaches, and back in the afternoon.
The Haifa underground railway system is called Carmelit
Carmelit
The Carmelit is an underground funicular railway in Haifa, Israel. Construction started in 1956 and ended in 1959. The Carmelit was closed in 1986 after showing signs of aging...
. It is a subterranean funicular
Funicular
A funicular, also known as an inclined plane or cliff railway, is a cable railway in which a cable attached to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails moves them up and down a steep slope; the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalance each other.-Operation:The basic principle of funicular...
on rails, running from downtown Paris Square to Gan HaEm (Mother's Park) on Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel ; , Kármēlos; , Kurmul or جبل مار إلياس Jabal Mar Elyas 'Mount Saint Elias') is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. Archaeologists have discovered ancient wine and oil presses at various locations on Mt. Carmel...
. With a single track, six stations and two trains, it is listed in the Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
as the world's shortest metro line. Haifa also has a touristic cable car
Cable car
A cable car is any of a variety of transportation systems relying on cables to pull vehicles along or lower them at a steady rate, or a vehicle on these systems.-Aerial lift:Aerial lifts where the vehicle is suspended in the air from a cable:...
. The Stella Maris gondola lift
Gondola lift
A gondola lift is a type of aerial lift, normally called a cable car, which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel cable that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supporting towers. The cable is driven by a bullwheel in a terminal,...
cable car consists of six cabins and connects Bat Galim on the coast to the Stella Maris observation deck
Deck (building)
In architecture, a deck is a flat surface capable of supporting weight, similar to a floor, but typically constructed outdoors, often elevated from the ground, and usually connected to a building...
and monastery atop Mount Carmel; although mainly for tourism purposes.
The Haifa Cable Car
Cable cars in Haifa
Cable cars in Haifa refer to two cable car systems in Haifa, Israel: A cable car on Mount Carmel that runs down the mountain to the Bat Galim promenade in the western part of the city, mainly used by tourists, and a cable car public-transport system planned for the southeastern part.-Commuter...
serves mainly tourists, running from Bat Galim
Bat Galim
Bat Galim is a neighborhood of Haifa, Israel, located at the foot of Mt. Carmel on the Mediterranean coast. Bat Galim is known for its promenade and sandy beaches.-History:...
to the top of Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel ; , Kármēlos; , Kurmul or جبل مار إلياس Jabal Mar Elyas 'Mount Saint Elias') is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. Archaeologists have discovered ancient wine and oil presses at various locations on Mt. Carmel...
however there are currently plans to expand this, to become an integrated part of Haifa's public transport
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
system running from Check point junction at the foot of Mount Carmel to the Technion, and then onto the University of Haifa
University of Haifa
The University of Haifa is a university in Haifa, Israel.The University of Haifa was founded in 1963 by Haifa mayor Abba Hushi, to operate under the academic auspices of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem....
.
Air and sea transport
Haifa AirportHaifa Airport
Haifa International Airport is an Israeli airport located in Haifa. It is located to the east of the city, close to Kishon Port and Israel Shipyards and mainly serves civilian flights, with some military usage. Most passenger flights passing through the airport are domestic operations to Eilat...
serves domestic flights to Tel Aviv and Eilat as well as international charters to Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, and Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
. There are currently plans to expand services from Haifa. Cruise ships previously operated from Haifa port
Port of Haifa
The Port of Haifa is the largest of Israel's three major international seaports, which include the Port of Ashdod, and the Port of Eilat. It has a natural deep water harbor which operates all year long, and serves both passenger and merchant ships. It is one of the largest ports in the eastern...
to Greece and Cyprus.
Roads
Travel between Haifa and the center of the country is possible by road with Highway 2Highway 2 (Israel)
Highway 2 is an Israeli highway located on the coastal plain of the Mediterranean Sea. It stretches from Tel Aviv to Haifa. The highway is also called The Coastal Highway or The New Haifa - Tel Aviv Highway ....
, the main highway along the coastal plain, beginning at Tel Aviv and ending at Haifa. Furthermore, Highway 4
Highway 4 (Israel)
Highway 4 is an Israeli highway that runs along Israel's entire coastal plain of the Mediterranean Sea, its route in the north runs from the Rosh HaNikra border crossing with Lebanon until the Erez Border Crossing with the Gaza Strip...
runs along the coast to the north of Haifa, as well as south, inland from Highway 2. In the past, traffic travelling along Highway 2 to the north of Haifa would have to pass through the downtown area of the city, however, the Carmel Tunnels
Carmel Tunnels
The Carmel Tunnels are a set of road tunnels in and around Haifa, Israel. The tunnels' purpose is to reduce road congestion in the Haifa area and to provide an alternate route of reaching the eastern and central parts of the city, Haifa Bay and the Krayot area to and from Israel's central coastal...
, opened for traffic 1 December 2010, now re-route this traffic through tunnels under Mount Carmel, cutting down on congestion in the down-town area of the city.
Football
Maccabi Haifa F.C.
Maccabi Haifa Football Club is an Israeli football team from the city of Haifa, a section of Maccabi Haifa sports club. The club has won 12 championships, 5 State Cups and 4 Toto Cups...
and Hapoel Haifa who both currently play in the Israeli Premier League and share the Kiryat Eliezer Stadium
Kiryat Eliezer Stadium
The Haifa Municipal Stadium , more commonly known as Kiryat Eliezer , is a multi-use stadium in the Kiryat Eliezer neighborhood of Haifa, Israel. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel Haifa...
as their home pitch. Maccabi has won twelve Israeli titles, whilst Hapoel has won one.
The city has several clubs in the regional leagues, including Beitar Haifa
Beitar Haifa F.C.
Beitar Haifa F.C. is an Israeli football club based in Haifa. The club currently plays in the North A division of Liga Bet.-History:The club was promoted to Liga Artzit in 1983. In 1985-86 they finished bottom of the league, winning only two league matches all season, and were relegated back to...
and Hapoel Ahva Haifa in Liga Bet
Liga Bet
-History:League football started in Israel in 1949–50, a year after independence. However, the financial and security crises gripping the young nation caused the 1950–51 season to be abandoned before it had started. When football resumed in 1951–52, the new top division went by the name of Liga...
(the fourth tier) and Hapoel Spartak Haifa and Maccabi Neve Sha'anan Eldad in Liga Gimel
Liga Gimel
Liga Gimel is the fifth and bottom tier of Israeli football league system, a position it has held since 2009.-History:Between 1999 and 2009 it was the sixth tier after Liga Bet, Between 1974 and 1999 it was the fifth tier after the creation of Liga Artzit, and between 1949 and 1974 it was the...
(the fifth tier).
In 1996, the city hosted the World Windsurfing Championship
Windsurfing
Windsurfing or sailboarding is a surface water sport that combines elements of surfing and sailing. It consists of a board usually two to four metres long, powered by the orthogonal effect of the wind on a sail. The rig is connected to the board by a free-rotating universal joint and comprises a...
. The Haifa Tennis Club, near the southwest entrance to the city, is one of the largest in Israel.
Basketball
Haifa has a professional basketballBasketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
club, Maccabi Haifa
Maccabi Haifa B.C.
Maccabi Haifa Basketball Club is a professional Israeli basketball club that belongs to the Maccabi Haifa association. After a 10-year absence, the team returned to the top division in 2008–09.-History:...
. Maccabi Haifa was recently promoted to Israeli Basketball Super League, the top division. The team plays at Romema Basketball Arena, which seats 3,000.
The main stadiums in Haifa are the 14,000-seat Kiryat Eliezer Stadium and Thomas D'Alesandro Stadium
Thomas D'Alesandro Stadium
Thomas D'Alesandro Stadium, known as Kiryat Haim Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Kiryat Haim, Israel. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Hapoel Haifa's youth teams...
. Neve Sha'anan Athletic Stadium seats 1,000. A UEFA
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....
-approved stadium to seat 30,000 is planned for south-west Haifa, due to be completed in 2012.
Ice hockey
The Haifa HawksHaifa Hawks
The Haifa Hawks are an Israeli ice hockey team based out of the city of Haifa. They participate in the Israeli League, the top level of Israeli ice hockey.-History:...
are an ice hockey team based out of the city of Haifa. They participate in the Israeli League
Israeli League (ice hockey)
-Champions:* 2010: HC Ma'alot* 2009: HC Herzliya* 2008: Haifa Hawks* 2007: Haifa Hawks* 2006: Haifa Hawks* 2005: HC Maccabi Amos Lod* 2004: HC Maccabi Amos Lod* 2003: HC Ma'alot* 2002: HC Ma'alot* 2001: HC Maccabi Amos Lod* 2000: HC Ma'alot...
, the top level of Israeli ice hockey.
Twin towns - sister cities
Haifa is twinned with the following cities:| Marseille Marseille Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of... in France (since 1962) Portsmouth Portsmouth Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island... in United Kingdom (since 1962) Luton Luton Luton is a large town and unitary authority of Bedfordshire, England, 30 miles north of London. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 250,000.... in United Kingdom (since 1966) Hackney London Borough of Hackney The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council.... in United Kingdom (since 1968) Manila Manila Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,... in Philippines (since 1971) San Francisco in United States (since 1973) Aalborg Aalborg -Transport:On the north side of the Limfjord is Nørresundby, which is connected to Aalborg by a road bridge Limfjordsbroen, an iron railway bridge Jernbanebroen over Limfjorden, as well as a motorway tunnel running under the Limfjord Limfjordstunnelen.... in Denmark (since 1973) Cape Town Cape Town Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality... in South Africa (since 1975) Bremen Bremen The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is... in Germany (since 1978) Antwerp in Belgium (since 1986) Mainz Mainz Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire... in Germany (since 1987) Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea... in Russia (since 2008) Düsseldorf Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the... in Germany (since 1988) |
Rosario in Argentina (since 1988) Odessa Odessa Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,... in Ukraine (since 1992) Shanghai in China (since 1994) Kobe Kobe , pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka... in Japan (since 2004) Boston in United States (since 1999) Limassol Limassol Limassol is the second-largest city in Cyprus, with a population of 228,000 . It is the largest city in geographical size, and the biggest municipality on the island. The city is located on Akrotiri Bay, on the island's southern coast and it is the capital of Limassol District.Limassol is the... in Cyprus (since 2000) Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010... in United States (since 2002) Erfurt Erfurt Erfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nuremberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian... in Germany (since 2005) Mannheim Mannheim Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart.... in Germany (since 2005) Newcastle Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne... in United Kingdom West Hartford West Hartford, Connecticut West Hartford is a town located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The town was incorporated in 1854. Prior to that date, the town was a parish of Hartford.... in United States Santo Domingo Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River... in Dominican Republic Guayaquil Guayaquil Guayaquil , officially Santiago de Guayaquil , is the largest and the most populous city in Ecuador,with about 2.3 million inhabitants in the city and nearly 3.1 million in the metropolitan area, as well as that nation's main port... in Ecuador (since 2006) Lexington Lexington, Massachusetts Lexington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 31,399 at the 2010 census. This town is famous for being the site of the first shot of the American Revolution, in the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775.- History :... , Massachusetts in United States |
External links
City of Haifa Haifa Travel Guide- Bahá'í World Centre, Haifa Places To Visit in Haifa
- More photos of the Bahá'í Gardens
- Photos – The Baha'i Gardens in Haifa: the Shrine of the Bab Terraces & Gardens
- Our Lady of Mount Carmel Monastery, Haifa, Israel
- The Carmelit subway and map of Haifa
- Haifa city – the complete guide to haifa
- Low cost tourist accommodation in Haifa
