Jisr az-Zarqa
| Jisr az-Zarqa | |
|---|---|
| Hebrew transcription(s) | |
| • Hebrew | גִ'סְּר א-זַּרְקָא |
| • ISO 259 | Ǧissr ˀa-Zárqaˀ |
| Arabic transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | جـِسـْر الزرقاء |
 |
|
 Jisr az-Zarqa
|
|
| Coordinates: 32°32′16.51″N 34°54′44.02″E / 32.5379194°N 34.9122278°ECoordinates: 32°32′16.51″N 34°54′44.02″E / 32.5379194°N 34.9122278°E | |
| District | Haifa |
| Founded | 1963 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Local council |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1,520 dunams (1.52 km2 or 380 acres) |
| Population (2005) | |
| • Total | 11,100 |
| Name meaning | Bridge over the Blue |
Jisr az-Zarqa (Arabic: جِسْر الزَّرْقَاء, Hebrew: גִ'סְּר א-זַּרְקָא lit. bridge over the blue) is an Israeli Arab town on Israel's northern Mediterranean coastal plain. Located just north of Caesarea within the Haifa District, it achieved local council status in 1963. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) the town had a population of 11,100 residents at the end of 2005. the name Jisr az-Zarqa is a reference to Taninim Stream, which is known in Arabic as the "Blue Stream." The mayor is Az-Adin Amash.
Contents |
History [edit]
Jisr az-Zarqa is the only Arab town in Israel located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea (though coastal towns such as Acre, Haifa, and Jaffa have significant Arab populations). Other Arab towns along the coast were depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War in Israeli military offensives. However, the intervention of Jews from the neighboring towns of Zikhron Ya'akov and Binyamina, who relied on the population of Jisr az-Zarqa and nearby Fureidis for agricultural labor, prevented the Israeli authorities from dispersing the Arab population of the two towns.[1]
In November 2002, the Caesarea Development Corporation constructed a large earthen embankment running the length of the 160 meter-wide corridor between the village and neighboring Caesarea. The embankment was built to block out noise from the muezzin and celebratory gunfire, [2] and crack down on frequent property thefts.[3] Residents of Jisr az-Zarqa claim that the national park in the north, the embankment to the south, the highway to the east and the sea to the west, are keeping the town from expanding.[3]
The municipality of Jisr al Zarka is seeking to promote environmental tourism to the town and its beachfront.[4]
Demographics [edit]
The inhabitants of Jisr az-Zarqa are primarily Muslim. There have also been unverified reports of the existence of a small community of idol worshipers or polytheists, who are the descendants of the ancient Canaanite and Philistine nations.[5] The town has the lowest average monthly wage of any locality in Israel at 3,800 New Israeli Sheqel (NIS), or a little over 1,100 USD.[6] According the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, Jisr az-Zarqa also has the highest high school drop out rates in the country at 12%.[7][8]
A woman from the town, Mariam Amash, applied for a new identity card in Hadera in February 2008, using a birth document issued by the Ottoman Empire that said she was born in 1888. If verified by the Guinness Book of World Records, this would have made her the oldest living person in the world at 120.[9][10] Mariam passed away on December 22, 2012 at the age of 124.[11]
In 1998, the first multiple kidney transplant in Israel took place between a couple from the village and a Jewish couple from Jerusalem.[12]
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ Sacred Landscape: CHAPTER FIVE
- ^ Caesarea
- ^ a b Long
- ^ Forgotten Arab Israeli Town Gets Chance to Change Eco-Image
- ^ The lost Palestinian Jews- August 20, 2009
- ^ "Settlers earn double the minimum wage and more than the average wage". translated by AAD from <http://www.hagada.org.il/hagada/html/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3819>. 2006 24 August.
- ^ "Jisr al-Zarqa, J'lem, Eilat have highest high school dropout rates". Haaretz. 2006 8 September.
- ^ "Equal opportunity? Not in our school". Haaretz. 2006 27 September.
- ^ Patience, Martin (2008-02-15). "World's 'oldest' person in Israel". BBC News (BBC MMVII). Retrieved 2008-02-12.
- ^ "120 year-old woman files for identity card". Ynetnews.com. 2008-02-12. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
- ^ "Mariam Amash, possibly world's oldest person, dies age 124 (with video)". Ynetnews.com. 2012-12-23. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
- ^ "An Israeli and an Arab showing the way". ArabicNews.com. 1998 13 May.
Further reading [edit]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jisr az-Zarqa |
- Benny Morris (1994): "1948 and after; Israel and the Palestinians" ISBN 0-19-827929-9. (Chapter 8, p. 257-289: The Case of Abu Ghosh and Beit Naqquba, Al Fureidis and Jisr Zarka in 1948 -or Why Four Villages Remained.)
- Kareem Sa‘id (2009): Jisr ez-Zarqa Final Report Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel, No. 121
|
||||||||||||||||||||
