Deir Hanna
Encyclopedia
Deir Hanna is a local council
in the North District
of Israel
, located on the hills of the Lower Galilee, 23 kilometres (14.3 mi) southeast of Acre
. At the end of 2005, the town had a population of 8,500 approximately 80% of them being Muslim
s and the remaining 20% being Christian
.
According to one source, in the Crusader times Deir Hanna was a fief known as "Ber Henne", belonging to Phillipe le Rous. However, according to Petersen, there are no traces of Crusader occupation in the village.
Deir Hanna was a base for the az-Zaydānī -family, and as such increased greatly in importance with Dhaher al-Omar rise to power in the 18th century.
In the late 19th century, it was described as: "High walls all around the village, which is built of stone. The walls have round towers, and were built by Dhaher el Amrs son, Sad el Amr. It is situated on the top of a high ridge, and contains about 400 Christians. It is surrounded by olive-groves and arable land. Water is obtained from cistern
s and an old paved birkeh to the north of the village."
At the time of the 1931 census
, Deir Hanna had 117 occupied houses and a population of 427 Muslims and 136 Christians. In 1945, it had 750 Arab inhabitants, who owned a total of owned 15,350 dunam
s of land.
The town has been through a thorough modernization process in the last 10 years, and now has a full education system, health care facilities and sports playgrounds. Deir Hanna forms the Land Day
triangle with Sakhnin
and Arraba
.
, and it is considered a tourist attraction.
Local council (Israel)
Local councils are one of the three types of local government found in Israel, with the other two being cities and regional councils. As of 2003, there were 144 local councils in Israel, these being settlements which pass a minimum threshold enough to justify their operations as independent...
in the North District
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...
of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, located on the hills of the Lower Galilee, 23 kilometres (14.3 mi) southeast 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....
. At the end of 2005, the town had a population of 8,500 approximately 80% of them being 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...
s and the remaining 20% being Christian
Palestinian Christian
Palestinian Christians are Arabic-speaking Christians descended from the people of the geographical area of Palestine. Within Palestine, there are churches and believers from many Christian denominations, including Oriental Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholic , Protestant, and others...
.
History
In the 2nd to 4th centuries, the Jewish village of Kfar Yohanna (כפר יוחנה) was known in as the seat of the Cohens of Yakhin, the 21st of the 24 Priestly Courses or Priestly Watches (משמרות הכהונה).According to one source, in the Crusader times Deir Hanna was a fief known as "Ber Henne", belonging to Phillipe le Rous. However, according to Petersen, there are no traces of Crusader occupation in the village.
Deir Hanna was a base for the az-Zaydānī -family, and as such increased greatly in importance with Dhaher al-Omar rise to power in the 18th century.
In the late 19th century, it was described as: "High walls all around the village, which is built of stone. The walls have round towers, and were built by Dhaher el Amrs son, Sad el Amr. It is situated on the top of a high ridge, and contains about 400 Christians. It is surrounded by olive-groves and arable land. Water is obtained from cistern
Cistern
A cistern is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by their waterproof linings...
s and an old paved birkeh to the north of the village."
At the time of the 1931 census
1931 census of Palestine
The 1931 census of Palestine was the second census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine. It was carried out on 18 November 1931 under the direction of Major E. Mills. The first census had been conducted in 1922...
, Deir Hanna had 117 occupied houses and a population of 427 Muslims and 136 Christians. In 1945, it had 750 Arab inhabitants, who owned a total of owned 15,350 dunam
Dunam
A dunam or dönüm, dunum, donum, dynym, dulum was a non-SI unit of land area used in the Ottoman Empire and representing the amount of land that can be plowed in a day; its value varied from 900–2500 m²...
s of land.
The town has been through a thorough modernization process in the last 10 years, and now has a full education system, health care facilities and sports playgrounds. Deir Hanna forms the Land Day
Land Day
Land Day , March 30, is an annual day of commemoration for Palestinians of the events of that date in 1976. In response to the Israeli government's announcement of a plan to expropriate thousands of dunams of land for "security and settlement purposes", a general strike and marches were organized...
triangle with Sakhnin
Sakhnin
Sakhnin is a city in Israel's North District. It is located in the Lower Galilee, about east of Acre. Sakhnin was declared a city in 1995. Its population of 25,100 is Arab, mostly Muslim with a sizable Christian minority. It is located on the site of the ancient Jewish town Sikhnin, which...
and Arraba
Arraba
Arraba is Israel's fourth largest local council and largest Israeli Arab local council. It is located in the Lower Galilee in the North District, to the north of Nazareth and adjacent to Sakhnin and Deir Hanna...
.
Notable buildings
Deir Hanna has a castle from the Dhaher al-Omar era. Parts of the castle are still standing, as are the walls, the old village church and a mosqueMosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
, and it is considered a tourist attraction.