Romema is a neighborhood in the city of Haifa

Haifa

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...

, Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

. Romema (also known as "The Romemot" and Ramat Ben-Gurion) is located east of Ahuza, on the northern slope 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...

. Today the neighborhood has two sections - New Romema and Old Romema - with a joint population of 8,340.

Etymology

The name Romema (lit. "lifted high") is based on a verse from the Bible

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

, Psalms

Psalms

The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...

 118:16, "The Lord's right hand is lifted high."

Landmarks

Heichal HaSport

Romema Arena

The Romema Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Haifa, Israel. The arena is home to Maccabi Haifa basketball club, a member of the Maccabi Haifa sports club....

, the Haifa Municipal Sports Complex, is located in Romema.The arena holds some 3,400 spectators and is among the largest in Israel.

Arab-Israeli conflict

On March 31, 2002, an 18-year old Arab suicide bomber, Shadi Tobassi, from Jenin

Jenin

Jenin is the largest town in the Northern West Bank, and the third largest city overall. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate and is a major agricultural center for the surrounding towns. In 2007, the city had a population of 120,004 not including the adjacent refugee...

 blew himself up at the Matza restaurant located on the highway east of Romema, killing 14 people. Hamas

Hamas

Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...

 and Islamic Jihad

Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine

The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine known in the West as simply Palestinian Islamic Jihad , is a small Palestinian militant organization. The group has been labelled as a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia and Israel...

 took responsibility for the attack.

Archaeology

The remains of a fortress were excavated in Romema. Pottery finds indicate it was constructed at the end of the 2nd century BCE or the beginning of the 1st century BCE and may have been Hasmonean

Hasmonean

The Hasmonean dynasty , was the ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during classical antiquity. Between c. 140 and c. 116 BCE, the dynasty ruled semi-autonomously from the Seleucids in the region of Judea...

. The site was rebuilt in Roman and Byzantine times, and became the site of a Crusader

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...

fort.