Shagor
Encyclopedia
- ash-Shaghur is also a town in the BalqaBalqaBalqa is one of the governorates of Jordan. It is located northwest of Amman, Jordan's capital.The governorate has the fourth largest population of the 12 governorates of Jordan, and is ranked 10th by Area...
governorate of JordanJordanJordan , 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...
.
Shaghur or Shagor is an Israeli-Arab
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....
city
City council (Israel)
A City council is the official designation of a city within Israel's system of local government.City council status may be granted by the Interior Minister to a municipality, usually a local council, whose population surpasses 20,000 and whose character is urban, defined as having areas zoned for...
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 east of the coastal city 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....
(Akka). It was formed in 2003 with the merger of three 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...
local council
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...
s – Majd al-Krum, Deir al-Asad and Bi'ina. It was declared a city in 2005. It is the third largest Arab locality in the North District after 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 Shefa-'Amr
Shefa-'Amr
Shefa-'Amr, also Shfar'am is a predominantly Arab city in the North District of Israel. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , at the end of 2009 the city had a population of 35,300.-Etymology:...
. The name Shaghur comes from the name of the nearby valley which borders the al-Araas mountain in which the city is built upon. The city had a population of 29,900 at the end of 2007.
History
Shaghur's components, Majd al-Kurum, Deir al-Asad and Bi'ina – like most Arab villages in the GalileeGalilee
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...
– were largely agricultural. The main crops were olives, figs
FIGS
FIGS is an acronym for French, Italian, German, Spanish. These are usually the first four languages chosen to localize products into when a company enters the European market....
, citrus and pomegranates. The three villages were captured by Israeli
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 :...
forces on October 30, 1948 in Operation Dekel
Operation Dekel
Operation Dekel , was the largest offensive in the north of Israel after the first truce of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It was carried out by the 7th Armoured Brigade, a battalion from the Carmeli Brigade along with some elements from the Golani Brigade between 8–18 July. Its objective was to...
during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
. In 1956 about 1275 acres (5.2 km²) of land from the villages that make up Shaghur were labeled "closed areas" by the Israeli government. In 1961 the restricted area was used to form the nearby city of Karmiel
Karmiel
Karmiel is a city in northern Israel. Established in 1964 as a development town, Karmiel is located in the Beit HaKerem Valley which divides upper and lower Galilee. The city is located south of the Acre-Safed road, from Safed and from Acre...
. During the 2006 Lebanon War between Israel and Hezbollah, as many as 43 of the latter's Katyusha rockets landed in or near Shaghur's neighborhoods, killing four civilians. The Jewish city of Karmiel – which is adjacent to Shaghur – and an alleged artillery installment on a nearby hill were Hezbollah's apparent target. The killed were Muhammad Subhi Mana, Baha Karim, Miriam Assadi and Fathi Assadi.
Majd al-Kurum
Majd al-Kurum covers the entire western portion of Shaghur. Its name probably come from the "watch-house of the vineyard" in 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...
. Majd al-Kurum receives it name for its history of growing grapes. Ancient ruins (located on the outskirts of the town), consisting of pits built into the rocks where the residents used their feet to press their grape crop to make wine. In 2003, Majd al-Kurum had a population of 13,800.
In 1596, Majdal Kurum appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Akka 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 Safad. It had a population of 90 Muslim households including 5 bachelors and paid taxes on wheat, barley, olives or fruit trees, cotton, and goats or beehives. In the late 19th century, it was described as a village of 6–800 Muslims, built of stone. It was surrounded by olive
Olive
The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
trees and arable land.
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...
, Majd al-Kurum had 226 occupied houses and a population of 1006 Muslims. By 1945, Majd al-Kurum had 1,400 inhabitants, all classified as Arabs. They owned a total of 17,828 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, while 2214 dunams were public.
According to an eyewitness, Israeli forces picked 12 men at random, blindfolded them and had them shot during the capture of Majd al-Kurum in the 1948 War.
Deir al-Asad
Deir al-Asad makes up the majority of eastern Shaghur. Its name literally means "the lion's monastery" in Arabic.In the late 19th century, it was described as a village of 600 Muslims, and a few ruins. It was surrounded by olive-trees and arable land, with a spring nearby.
The town is mostly populated by the Asadi and Dabbah families. According to the 1931 British census, Deir al-Asad had 858 Muslim residents living in 179 houses. By 1945, Deir el Asad had 1,100 inhabitants, all classified as Arabs. They owned a total of 8,366 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, while 7 dunams were public. In 1970 population was 2,920, while in 2003, it was 8,400.
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....
or 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...
. After the confiscation of village lands, only 10% of the labor force is able to work on the land and over 80% have to commute daily to businesses in Haifa or work as laborers on Jewish-owned farms.
Bi'ina
Bi'ina forms the remainder of the eastern Shaghur. The village was established in the Crusader period, and continued to be inhabited after the MamlukMamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
s had conquered Palestine. Al-Qalqasandi
Ahmad al-Qalqashandi
Shihab al-Din abu 'l-Abbas Ahmad ben Ali ben Ahmad Abd Allah al-Qalqashandi was a medieval Egyptian writer and mathematician born in a village in the Nile Delta. He is the author of Subh al-a 'sha, a fourteen volume encyclopedia in Arabic, which included a section on cryptology...
(d .1418) mentioned the place as "a village in the district of al-Sajur with a monastery". The monastery was also mentioned later. In 1596, al Bi'na appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Akka 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 Safad. It had a population of 16 Muslim households and 15 Christian households and paid taxes on wheat, barley, olives, cotton, goats or beehives and a press for grapes or olives.
French scholar Victor Guérin
Victor Guérin
Victor Guérin was a French intellectual, explorer and amateur archaeologist. He published books describing the geography, archeology and history of the areas he explored, which included Greece, Asia Minor, North Africa, Syria and Palestine.-Biography:From 1840, Guerin was a professor of rhetoric...
visited in the 1870s, and wrote that population was divided between Druze
Druze
The Druze are an esoteric, monotheistic religious community, found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, which emerged during the 11th century from Ismailism. The Druze have an eclectic set of beliefs that incorporate several elements from Abrahamic religions, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism...
and "Schismatic Greek". He saw a mosque and a Greek Church, both were according to Guérin build on the site of old churches. In the late 19th century, it was described as a village of 300 Muslims and 100 Christians, surrounded by olives and arable land. Water was supplied by a spring. At the time of the 1931 census, Bi'ina had 133 occupied houses and a population of 441 Muslims and 270 Christians. By 1945, Bi'ina had 830 inhabitants, all classified as Arabs. They owned a total of 14,839 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, while 57 dunams were public.
The town's population in 2003 was 5,600. In 1981, Bedouins from the Sawaed tribe based in Rame settled in the town and formed a new neighborhood.
Demographics
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...
population of 29,200, with a minority of 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...
residents in the central eastern part of the city. In 1948, the majority of the villages' residents remained in the area and received several refugees
Internally displaced Palestinians
A present absentee is a Palestinian who fled or was expelled from his home in Palestine by Jewish or Israeli forces, before and during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, but who remained within the area that became the state of Israel. Present absentees are also referred to as internally displaced...
from nearby al-Birwa
Al-Birwa
Al-Birwa was a Palestinian Arab village, located east of Acre . Mentioned by Arab geographers in the 11th century, it was known to the Crusaders as Broet. Al-Birwa was captured from the Mamluks by the Ottomans in the 16th century. In the 19th century, it had a mosque, a church, and an elementary...
. However, a number of Arabs did flee from Majd al-Krum and settled in the Shatila refugee camp in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
. According to Abu Nisa, a refugee from Majd al-Krum, some of these refugees return to visit their home towns as well as Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic holy places, such as the al-Aqsa Mosque
Al-Aqsa Mosque
Al-Aqsa Mosque also known as al-Aqsa, is the third holiest site in Sunni Islam and is located in the Old City of Jerusalem...
and the Cave of the Patriarchs
Cave of the Patriarchs
The Cave of the Patriarchs or the Cave of Machpelah , is known by Muslims as the Sanctuary of Abraham or Ibrahimi Mosque ....
after obtaining European citizenships.
The gender makeup in 2005 was 14,600 males and 13,900 females. The age distribution was 49.4% 19 years of age or younger, 17% between the ages of 20–29, 19.8% between the ages of 30–44, 10.6% between the ages of 45–64 and 3.2% 65 and older. The percentage of families with four or more children was 34.01% in 2003. The city's population increased by 7% in 2005 and in total, approximately by 2,500 persons. Its current population is 28,500 and was expected to increase to 29,200 in 2006.
Economy
The city has rapidly drifted from a mostly agricultural-based economy into a commercialCommerce
While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
center and midway between the Galilee's coastal cities and 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 for surrounding villages and local councils. It remains in friendly and cooperative communication
Communication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
with the neighboring city of Karmiel and the nearby Arab local councils of Nahf
Nahf
Nahf is an Arab town in the North District Israel. It is located in the between the Lower and Upper Galilee, about east of Acre. In 2011, the population was 7,800.-History:...
and Rame. The city is filled with restaurants, various shops and stores and three gas stations as well as a weekly souk
Souk
A souq is a commercial quarter in an Arab, Berber, and increasingly European city. The term is often used to designate the market in any Arabized or Muslim city, but in modern times it appears in Western cities too...
or open-air market.
Despite the merger of the three old municipalities, Shaghur's economy is not improving as expected and the city still remains quite poor and unmanaged due to political boycotts. According to the CBS, in 2004, there were 6,674 salaried workers. The mean monthly salary was 3,663 NIS The city's average income per capita decreased by −1.04 NIS to 1,093 NIS ranking it Israel's 19th poorest municipality. The amount of employed persons in the city that received above twice the average wage was 1.45% in 2003. Its population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
is also increasing because of the city's inability to expand residentially and commercially beyond its jurisdiction.
Education
According to the CBS, Shaghur has eighteen schools (nine elementary, three middle and six secondary). In total, there are 7,473 students; 4,276 in elementary, 1,822 in middle and 1,375 in middle school. In 2005, 43.5% of 12th grade students received matriculationMatriculation
Matriculation, in the broadest sense, means to be registered or added to a list, from the Latin matricula – little list. In Scottish heraldry, for instance, a matriculation is a registration of armorial bearings...
certificates – an increase of 11.45% in 2003. The percentage of students aged 20–25 was 5.64% in 2003.
Politics
The recently formed city has experienced a lack of cooperation between its two major components, Majd al-Krum and Deir al-Asad, in the wake of recent elections for city mayor won by a candidate from Deir al-Asad, Ahmed Saleh Dabbah. The residents of Majd al-Krum refusing to abide by the leadership of a Deir al-Asad man boycotted the new local government, and this particular area consequently is at an economic and social disadvantage relative to the other neighborhoods that make up Shaghur.Sports
Shaghur does not have any official sports teams to represent the city, however, two of its components maintain footballFootball (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
teams. In 2005–2006, Maccabi Bi'ina, Beitar Bi'ina, Deir al-Asad participated in the Northern Divisions of 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...
.
Notable people associated with Shaghur
- Mohammad BakriMohammad BakriMohammad Bakri is an Israeli Arab actor and director, known throughout Israel and the Arab world.-Early life:...
– actor and film-maker; former resident of Bi'ina - Mahmoud DarwishMahmoud DarwishMahmoud Darwish was a Palestinian poet and author who won numerous awards for his literary output and was regarded as the Palestinian national poet...
– Palestinian poet; partly educated in Deir al-Asad - Uri DavisUri DavisUriel "Uri" Davis is an academic and activist who works on civil rights in Israel, Palestinian National Authority and the Middle East. Davis has served as Vice-Chairman of the Israeli League for Human and Civil Rights and as lecturer in Peace Studies at the University of Bradford...
– academic and activist; took sanctuary in Deir al-Asad while evading IDFIsrael Defense ForcesThe Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
service - Jihad Dabbah (Abu Lehye) – Arabian intellectual who is best known for his provocative writings against the political figures in Israel, born and still lives in Deir al-Asad
See also
- List of Arab localities in Israel
- List of cities in Israel
- Upper GalileeUpper GalileeThe Upper Galilee is a geographical-political term in use since the end of the Second Temple period, originally referring to a mountainous area overlapping the present northern Israel and southern Lebanon, its borders being the Litani river in the north, the Mediterranean Sea in the west, the Beit...