Haifa
Haifa (
Hebrew חֵיפָ" Ḥefa;
Arabic حَي'فَا ) is the main city of northern
Israel and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of about 267,800 (as of May 2006). It and areas and towns around it are deemed to be in the
Haifa District. It is a
seaport, located below and on
Mount Carmel, and lies on the
Mediterranean coast.
The city's sole official
romanization Haifa and the common
English pronunciation are based on the Arabic name
Ḥayfā, whilst the unused Standard Hebrew name is
Ḥefa, and the local Hebrew pronunciation is typically .
The origin of the name Haifa is not clear. Some tie it to the Hebrew word חוף (
hof, meaning "beach"), or חוף יפ" (
hof yafe, meaning "Beautiful beach"), or maybe the Hebrew verb root חפ" (
hafo, meaning "to cover or hide").
Christian pilgrims of the Middle Ages (and later the
Crusaders) called the town
Caiphas or
Caifa. The Christians believe the name derives from
Caiaphas, the High Priest of
Jerusalem during the time of
Jesus, or from the
Aramaic name of
Saint Peter,
Kepah (כפא). Additionally, the name
Sycaminon or
Sykaminos, meaning "wild strawberry", is also used.
Haifa is first mentioned in
Talmudic literature around the
3rd century CE, as a small town near
Shikmona, the main Jewish town in the area at that time. The
Byzantine ruled there until the
7th century, when the city was conquered — first by the
Persians, then by the
Arabs. In
1100, it was conquered again by the
crusaders, after a fierce battle with its Jewish inhabitants.
Under crusader rule, the city was a part of the
Principality of Galilee until the Muslim
Mameluks attacked in
1265, leaving the city ruined and mostly abandoned until the
17th century.
In
1761 Daher El-Omar,
Bedouin ruler of
Acre and
Galilee, destroyed and rebuilt the town in a new location, surrounding it with a thin wall. This event is marked as the beginning of the town's modern era. After El-Omar's death in
1775, the town remained under
Ottoman rule until
1918, except for two brief periods: in
1799,
Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Haifa as part of his brief and failed campaign to conquer
Palestine and
Syria, but withdrew the same year ; and between
1831 and
1840, the
Egyptian viceroy
Mehemet Ali governed, after his son
Ibrahim Pasha wrested control from the Ottomans.
Haifa was a primary initial target of Hezbollah rockets fired from Lebanon during the
2006 Israel-Lebanon crisis. On
July 13,
2006 IDF sources reported that two rockets were fired.
One shock injury has been reported. Three days later, on
July 16,
2006, Hezbollah militants hit the city with several barrages of
Katyusha rockets that killed eight Israelis in a train depot.
July 17 saw further attacks upon Haifa as it withstood another withering assault from rockets. Rockets continue to hit the city , killing many, and causing millions worth of damage.
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The main attraction of the terraced gardens at the Bahá'í World Centre is the Shrine of the Bab. |
It is noted by Jews for the Cave of
Elijah and the historic Jewish town of
Shikmona at the foot of Mount Carmel. On the top of the mountain is the
Muchraka, the place where
Elijah burned the emissaries of
Baal. There is a
Carmelite monastery there.
Haifa is also cherished by the Christian, Muslim, and Bahá'í faith. The
Bahá'í World Centre (comprising the
Shrine of the Báb,
terraced gardens and
administrative buildings on the Carmel's northern slope;
see photo) is an important site of worship and administration for the members of the Bahá'í Faith, as well as providing the city with the most visited tourist attraction. Haifa was also a favourite monastic spot for the Carmelites in the 12th century; a 19th century monastery,
Stella Maris, was rebuilt at Carmel's head. It is now a popular tourist and
pilgrim's attraction.
Haifa is the site of two universities, the
University of Haifa and the
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology.
In the past, Haifa's
docks and industrial areas have made the city a consistent stronghold for the
Israeli Labor party; these
Socialist tendencies led to the nickname 'Red Haifa'. One ramification of this history is that Haifa is the only major city in Israel in which public transport operates on
Shabbat.
Since then, Haifa's Labor-leanings have tipped in favor of centrist ideologies. In
the 2006 legislative elections, the
Kadima party received about 28.9% of the votes in Haifa, while Labor lagged behind with 16.9%.
Mayors of Haifa
*
Najib Effendi al-Yasin (
1873-
1877)
*
Akhmad Effendi Jalabi (
1878-
1881)
*
Mustafa Bey al-Salih (
1881-
1884)
*
Mustafa Pasha al-Khalil (
1885-
1903)
*
Jamil Sadiq (
1904-
1910)
*
Rif'at al-Salah (
1910-
1911)
*
Ibrahim al-Khalil (
1911-
1913)
*
Abd al-Rahman al-Haj (
1920-
1927)
*
Hasan Shukri (
1914-
1920,
1927-
1940) - The last Muslim mayor
*
Shabtai Levy (
1940-
1951) - The first Jewish mayor
*
Abba Hushi (
1951"
1969)
*
Moshe Flimann (
1969"
1973)
*
Yosef Almogi (
1974"
1975)
*
Yeruham Zeisel (
1975"
1978)
*
Arie Gur'el (
1978"
1993)
*
Amram Mitzna (
1993"
2003)
*
Giora Fisher (
2003)
*
Yona Yahav (
2003")
The industrial region of Haifa is north of the city, near the
Wadi Kishon. Haifa is home to one of the two
oil refineries in Israel (the other located in
Ashdod). The refinery in Haifa is capable of processing about 9 million tons (66 million barrels) of
crude oil a year and is the center of a wide array of
petrochemical industries located in and around Haifa. Its twin 76-meter cooling towers, built in the
1930s, have long symbolized the city of Haifa.
Matam (Mirkaz Ta'asiya v'Meida/Scientific Industries Center), the largest and oldest business park in Israel, is located at the southern entrance to the city, hosting manufacturing and
R&D facilities for a large number of Israeli and international hi-tech companies, such as
Intel,
Elbit,
Zoran,
Microsoft,
Philips and
Amdocs.
IBM has an office on top of Carmel at
Haifa University.
The
Port of Haifa has the most passenger traffic of
Israeli ports. It is also a major cargo
harbor.
For international travel,
Haifa Airport, located on the
Gulf of Haifa, serves flights to
Eilat and
Cyprus.
Port of Haifa, which is Israel's main international passengers seaport, is located in the city as well.
For intercity transport, there are six
Israel Railways railroad stations and three "central"
bus stations. The
Nahariya-
Tel Aviv main line railway runs along the
Gulf of Haifa; stations within the municipal boundaries of Haifa, from the direction Tel Aviv, are:
*
Hof HaCarmel Railway Station near
Haifa Hof HaCarmel Central Bus Station*
Haifa Bat-Galim Railway Station near
Haifa Bat Galim Central Bus Station*
Haifa Merkaz (Central) near
Haifa Seaport*
Lev HaMifratz Railway Station near
Lev Hamifratz Mall and
Mifratz Central Bus Station*
Hutzot HaMifratz Railway Station in the
Hutzot HaMifratz Shopping Center*
Qiryat Chaim Railway StationA seventh stop is in nearby
Qiryat Motzkin (
Qiryat Motzkin Railway Station, a Northern suburb. Haifa Mizrach (Haifa East), now out of passenger use, houses the Railway Museum.
The bus stations, again from Tel Aviv northwards, are:
Hof HaCarmel,
Bat Galim, and
Mifratz. All of these stations are served by
Egged city, suburban, and intercity buses.
Other intracity transport options include a
funicular subway and a
cablecar. The
Carmelit subway runs from Kikar Paris downtown to Gan HaEm (Mother's Park) at the top of
Mount Carmel. With a single track, six stations and two trains, it is among the smallest subway systems in the world. The
cablecar connects Bat Galim on the coast to the Stella Maris monastery atop Carmel; it is chiefly a
tourist attraction.
The city has eight
football (soccer) clubs, the two first are in the major leagues in Israel:
*
Maccabi Haifa*
Hapoel Haifa FC*
Beitar Haifa*
Akhva Haifa*
Spartak Haifa*
Neve Yosef*
Bnei Kababir* [Neve Shaanan|Neve Sha'anan]]
Maccabi Haifa is one of the most successful football clubs today in Israel, with 9 championships, 5 cups and 2 league-cups (
as of 2005). Both Hapoel and Maccabi have football schools in Haifa suburbs and other villages (including Arab and Druze villages) in the northern part of Israel.Haifa also has
basketball,
volleyball,
tennis, and
handball clubs.
The city boasts some of the best
surfing beaches in the country near Bat Galim, with
kite surfing and
sailing clubs. The tennis club located nearby the south-west entrance is one of the largest in Israel.
The main stadiums are Kiryat Eliezer, seating 14,000, and Kiryat Haim Stadium. The main basketball arena is Romema Sports Arena, seating 2,000; Neve Sha'anan Athletic seats 1,000. A
UEFA-approved stadium is planned for south-west Haifa. It will seat 30,000 people.
Haifa has
Sister Cities all over the world:
* Portsmouth, United Kingdom
* Hackney, London, United Kingdom
* Newcastle, United Kingdom
* Marseille, France
* Antwerp, Belgium
* Bremen, Germany
* Erfurt, Germany
* Düsseldorf, Germany
* Mainz, Germany |
* Limassol, Cyprus
* Odessa, Ukraine
* Shanghai, China
* Boston, Massachusetts, United States
* Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States
* San Francisco, California, United States
* Manila, Philippines
* Cape Town, South Africa
* Rosario, Argentina
* Aalborg, Denmark |
* Ha-Ir - "The City", Downtown, or Lower City.
*
Bat Galim ("The daughter of the waves")
* Qiryat Eliezer
* Hadar
* Hadar Ha-Carmel
* Ahuza
* Merkaz Ha-Carmel ("Carmel Center")
* Shprintzak
* En Ha-Yam ("The eye of the sea")
* Carmel Ma'aravi (Western Carmel)
* Hof Ha-Carmel (Carmel Beach)
* Carmeliya
*
Carmel Tzarfati (French Carmel)*
Ramat Ha-Tishbi*
Stella Maris *
Neve Sha'anan*
Vardiya* Deniya (Hod Ha-Carmel)
* Ramot Sapir
* Ramat Hen
* Ramat Almogi
* Ramat Golda
* Ramat Remez
*
Ramat Begin* Ramat Eshqol
* Halisa
* Wadi Nisnas
*
Wadi Salib* Moshava Germanit (German colony)
* Ha-Mifratz ("The [Haifa] Bay",
Gulf of Haifa)
*
Qiryat Chaim*
Kababir*
Capture of Haifa in 1948*
Municipality of Haifa*
University of Haifa*
Haifa Law Faculty Blog*
Technion's home page*
Bahá'í World Centre, Haifa*
Map of Haifa*
Wikitravel: Haifa* (in Hebrew)
* (in Hebrew)
