Nablus: Difference between revisions
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===Religious Roots=== |
===Religious Roots=== |
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[[Image:Shechem Baal Berith temple from south tb n011300 wr.jpg|thumb|left|175px| Ancient Shechem]][[Image:Nabluschurch.jpg|center|225px|right|thumb|Church in Nablus]] |
[[Image:Shechem Baal Berith temple from south tb n011300 wr.jpg|thumb|left|175px| Ancient Shechem]][[Image:Nabluschurch.jpg|center|225px|right|thumb|Christian Church in Nablus]] |
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[[Image:Shechem Middle Bronze wall.wr.jpg|thumb|right|175px| Bronze Wall]] |
[[Image:Shechem Middle Bronze wall.wr.jpg|thumb|right|175px| Bronze Wall]] |
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The city has a long biblical history, and has major significance in [[Judaism]], and is important to [[Christianity]] and [[Islam]]. Along Abraham's ties to the area, the city contains religious sites such as [[Joseph's Tomb]], Jacob's Well, the site of [[Dinah]]'s rape, location of the Middle Bronze Gate, where the Israelites reject [[Rehoboam]] and also the location of the destroyed Samaritan temple. During the [[Al Aqsa Intifada|2nd Intifada]], the [[Tomb of Joseph]] was destroyed by Palestinian rioters. They have since stated plans to rebuild the site, although it is not clear if the replacement structure is an actual [[mosque]]. This action has embittered many adherents of the Jews, for which the city holds great historical and religious significance. |
The city has a long biblical history, and has major significance in [[Judaism]], and is important to [[Christianity]] and [[Islam]]. Along Abraham's ties to the area, the city contains religious sites such as [[Joseph's Tomb]], Jacob's Well, the site of [[Dinah]]'s rape, location of the Middle Bronze Gate, where the Israelites reject [[Rehoboam]] and also the location of the destroyed Samaritan temple. During the [[Al Aqsa Intifada|2nd Intifada]], the [[Tomb of Joseph]] was destroyed by Palestinian rioters. They have since stated plans to rebuild the site, although it is not clear if the replacement structure is an actual [[mosque]]. This action has embittered many adherents of the Jews, for which the city holds great historical and religious significance. |
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Revision as of 16:28, 5 August 2005
Nablus (Arabic: نابلس;) or Shechem (Hebrew שכם) is the fourth largest city in the West Bank, 55 km. north of Jerusalem. It lies between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. Biblical Shechem can be found on a site known as Tell Balatah, in the eastern section of the city. An ancient city with a rich history, Nablus is a site of religious significance to the three major monotheistic faiths, and is home to political instability related to recurring violence associated with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the wider Arab-Israeli conflict.
Nablus is an agricultural and commercial trade center dealing in traditional industries such as furniture production, tile production, stone quarrying, textile manufacturing and leather tanning.
Geography and climate
Nablus is situated in a strategic position at a junction between two ancient commercial roads; one linking Israel to the Jordan valley, the other linking Nablus to the Galilee in the north, and the Negev to the south through the mountains. The entire Nablus district is 605 square kilometers, while Nablus city is 28.5 square kilometers. Nablus is sorrounded by mountains on all sides. The length of the mountains is estimated to be 65 km from north to south. Its width is estimated to be 55 km from west to east. Ebal, the northern mountain (940 m) represents the highest peak in this chain and is comparable to Jarzeem, the southern mountain (881 m). The city of Nablus is erected on these two mountains, and its buildings cover a fertile valley between the two.
Demographics
The Nablus district (as of 2005) has 205,392 inhabitants, including refugee camps and surrounding villages. The estimated population of Nablus city is 104,596, which is populated mostly by Muslim Palestinian Arabs, with Samaritan and Christian minorities. The population of Nablus city comprises 34% of the district. The entire Nablus district contains 14 Israeli settlements, with a total population of 12,000 and two of the largest refugee camps in the West Bank, Askar and Balata which compromise about 8% of the total district population.
History
The old city of Shechem dates back an estimated four thousand years. At Shechem, Abram "built an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him . . . and had given that land to his descendants" (Gen 12:6-7). This was the first recorded place where Abram stopped when he and Sarah and Lot and their entourage entered the land. On this occasion, God confirmed to Abram the promise He had first made to him in Ur of the Chaldees, that He would give him this land. It is possible that Abram climbed nearby Mount Ebal to view his inheritance, much of which could be seen from that peak. The Bible states that Abraham traveled through Shechem on his way to Canaan and offered his first sacrifice to God. After the conquest of Canaan, Joshua assembled the Israelites here and encouraged them to follow the Mosaic Laws. During the period of the Judges, Abimelech was crowned king. An influential commercial center, the city prospered from trade in locally produced grapes, olives, wheat, and livestock from the Middle Bronze Age into the Late Hellenic Period (ca. 1900–100 B.C.E.). Archaeological excavations have revealed that the city was destroyed and rebuilt 22 times, until its final destruction in the second century B.C.E. Among the city’s visible remains are a series of defensive walls and gates, a palace or governor’s house, a residential quarter, and a portion of a temple to Zeus commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the second century B.C.E.
Nablus was built in the year 72 by the emperor Titus as a Roman city named Flavia Neapolis ("New city of the imperator Flavius") west of the site of the Biblical city of Shechem. After the Arab conquest in 636, the city was renamed Nablus. Crusaders later renamed the site Naples. (The name of the Italian city Naples also derives from "Neapolis".) With its fortified citadel, the city was a major center of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, until the older city of Nablus was obliterated in 1202 and rebuilt once again as an Arab] city upon its ruins.
An earthquake in 1927 damaged many of the city's buildings, which were rebuilt but lost their previous picturesque character. The city has modern electrical grid and water systems, and most of its narrow public lanes are paved. Many of the former traditional houses are now used as warehouses, as people have moved to housing with modern amenities on the outskirts.
Religious Roots
The city has a long biblical history, and has major significance in Judaism, and is important to Christianity and Islam. Along Abraham's ties to the area, the city contains religious sites such as Joseph's Tomb, Jacob's Well, the site of Dinah's rape, location of the Middle Bronze Gate, where the Israelites reject Rehoboam and also the location of the destroyed Samaritan temple. During the 2nd Intifada, the Tomb of Joseph was destroyed by Palestinian rioters. They have since stated plans to rebuild the site, although it is not clear if the replacement structure is an actual mosque. This action has embittered many adherents of the Jews, for which the city holds great historical and religious significance.
Nablus in the conflict
 | The neutrality of this section is disputed. |
The city's unemployment rates have increased dramatically in recent years, rising from 14.2% in 1997 to an estimate of 60% in 2004. It is estimated that the unemployment in the old city and in the refugee camps is as high as 80%. Due to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the city was closed off by the IDF. Encircling the city with a ring of checkpoints is cited by the United Nations as a reason for high unemployment and a "devastated" economy [1].
In March 2002 IDF troops took control of the city, clamping a month-long curfew, and capturing many suspected militants and supporters. [2].
Inner city conflict
Since late July 2003, Nablus has also been torn apart by armed gang war, waged by Palestinian militias; local bandits; and al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a paramilitary organization linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah which carries out suicide bombings. Arafat appointed a mayor, Ghassan Shakaa, and a governor, Mahmoud Aloul. Following the assassination of his brother by al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigades, Nablus' mayor, Ghassan Shakaa, published an open letter via the press - in which he calls for the Palestinian Authority to restore order in the torn city. Taysir Naserallah, a leading representative of Fatah in Nablus, said that the repeated Israeli military presence in the city, compounded by months of curfews and economic collapse, had brought about the chaos.
In February 2004 Shakaa filed his resignation from office, after the Palestinian Authority (PA) did nothing to stop the armed militias of al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades from rampaging the city and attacking its residents. Shakaa avoided directly blaming Arafat, but hinted that the PA was the one to blame for the chaos and anarchy ravaging the city of Nablus.
In his resignation letter he wrote:
- "I see my city collapsing and I don't want to stand idly by and watch this collapse... My resignation is a warning bell to the Palestinian Authority and the residents of Nablus, because both of them are doing nothing for this city." [3].
As of April 1, 2004 Dr. Hussein Al-Araj became Acting Mayor. Municipal elections in Nablus and elsewhere occured in May 2005.
Recently, Nablus gained attention when teenagers Hussam Abdo and Abdullah Quran were caught at the IDF's Hawara checkpoint outside the city in possession of suicide belts. In disputed accounts, Israel claimed that they were sent by a cell of Tanzim activists (which allegedly included teenagers); the suspects were later arrested by the IDF.
On June 25 the IDF extra-judicially killed three alleged top terrorists in Nablus, including the heads of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Thousands participated in their funerals. [4]
Features
Nablus is famous for the architecture of its market, the Kasbah, and also for the culinary specialty of knafeh, a pastry dessert drenched in syrup and served in square-cut slices fresh from the oven.