Tira, Israel: Difference between revisions
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Tira's most famous son, [[Sayed Kashua]], recalls that when he was a child in the village, Tira was a quiet town, with a notable numbers of communists, very unlike the overcrowded, crime-ridden ghetto it later became.<ref name="Kashua" /><ref>Ruth Margalit, [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/09/07/an-exile-in-the-corn-belt 'An Exile in the Corn Belt,'] [[The New Yorker]]21 August 2015: 'Today, Tira is an overcrowded city, rife with corruption and gang violence. But when Kashua was growing up the streets were quiet and nameless. On airless summer nights, neighbors slept on their rooftops . .Like other people in the village, his father was active in the Communist Party; children grew up singing Red Army songs. Tira may be the only place on earth where you can meet a man named Abu Castro.'</ref> |
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[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/19/peaceful-coexistence-israel-myth-palestinian-denied-rights 'Benjamin Netanyahu publicly assured the police not to worry about investigations and commissions of inquiry.'] [[The Guardian]] 18 May 2021:'Tira used to be an agricultural town. Decades of confiscation, home demolitions, incarceration, and discrimination in education, employment and welfare made my town, like virtually every Palestinian town in Israel, a ghetto with substandard schools and high rates of poverty and crime.'</ref> Tira lacked a police station from the 1970s until 2013, after citizens protest, one was eventually established in May 2013, with a [[mezuzah]] affixed to the door.<ref name="Jpost" /> |
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| ⚫ | Tira has been plagued by violent crime.<ref>[https://www.timesofisrael.com/two-arab-men-killed-in-separate-violent-incidents-on-first-day-of-new-year/ 'Two Arab men killed in separate violent incidents on first day of new year,'] [[Times of Israel]] 1 January 2021.</ref> Organized crime, running [[protection racket]]s, [[loan shark]] businesses and blackmail operations, and which experts say has increasingly relocated into Arab areas after police cracked down on big Jewish Israeli mobsters over the last decade,<ref name="BBC" /> is seen as the main driver of the crime wave.<ref>[https://www.timesofisrael.com/woman-38-shot-dead-in-her-beauty-parlor-in-central-city-of-tira/ 'Woman, 38, shot dead in her beauty parlor in central city of Tira,'] [[The Times of Israel]] 12 April 2021</ref> Family feuds are also a factor.<ref name=BBC>Yolande Knell, [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-58183954 'The murderous crime wave sweeping Israel's Arabs,'][[BBC News]] 13 August 2021</ref> |
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Arab victims families and |
Arab victims families and officials claim that "police inaction is one of the main reasons for the endemic violence plaguing their neighbourhoods."<ref name=BBC/> Tira's leaders charge that police treat Arabs as second class citizens and don't properly investigate crime,<ref name="Sanders" >Edmund Sanders, [https://www.latimes.com/world/la-xpm-2012-oct-29-la-fg-israel-police-arabs-20121024-story.html 'Arab citizens in Israel bemoan lack of policing,'] [[Los Angeles Times]] 29 October 2012. </ref> pointing to the fact that only 1 of 8 murders in Tira since 2020 has been solved, versus 71% percent of murders in Jewish communities.<ref name="Breiner" >Josh Breiner, [https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israel-police-solved-71-of-murders-in-jewish-community-but-only-23-for-arabs-1.10097156 'Israel Police Solved 71 Percent of Murders in Jewish Community, but Only 23 Percent for Arabs,'] [[Haaretz]] 8 August 2021.</ref> |
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According to the Israeli police, a contributor to problems policing towns such as Tira is inadequate co-operation from local population, who are reluctant to report crimes to the them.<ref name=Jpost>Ben Hartman, [https://www.jpost.com/national-news/cautious-optimism-for-new-police-station-in-tira-311659 'Cautious optimism for new police station in Tira,'] [[Jerusalem Post]] 1 May 2013.</ref> Fear of being murdered if one provides evidence of testimony to police is, according to Tira's mayor, one reason for this reluctance, added that a [[witness protection program]] which Arab communities lacked, was required to address the issue.<ref name="Breiner" /> |
According to the Israeli police, a contributor to problems policing towns such as Tira is inadequate co-operation from local population, who are reluctant to report crimes to the them.<ref name=Jpost>Ben Hartman, [https://www.jpost.com/national-news/cautious-optimism-for-new-police-station-in-tira-311659 'Cautious optimism for new police station in Tira,'] [[Jerusalem Post]] 1 May 2013.</ref> Fear of being murdered if one provides evidence of testimony to police is, according to Tira's mayor, one reason for this reluctance, added that a [[witness protection program]] which Arab communities lacked, was required to address the issue.<ref name="Breiner" /> |
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Revision as of 21:24, 1 September 2021
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Tira
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|---|---|
| Hebrew transcription(s) | |
| • ISO 259 | Ṭira |
| • Also spelled | Tire (official) |
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.svg) | |
  Tira | |
| Coordinates: 32°13′56″N 34°56′54″E / 32.23222°N 34.94833°E | |
| Grid position | 145/182 PAL |
| District | Central |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Mamoun Abd al-Hay |
| Area | |
| • Total | 11,894 dunams (11.894 km2 or 4.592 sq mi) |
| Population (2022)[1] | |
| • Total | 27,802 |
| • Density | 2,300/km2 (6,100/sq mi) |
| Name meaning | The High Land |
Tira (Arabic: الطـّيرة al-Tira, Hebrew: טִירָה), lit. "The Fort")[2] is a city in the Central District of Israel. Part of The Triangle, a concentration of Arab towns and villages adjacent to the Green Line, Tira is close to Kfar Saba, and is well known by its neighbors for its weekly outdoor market, as well as for its Arab cuisine. In 2022 it had a population of 27,802.[1]
History
In the 12th century, during the Crusader period, the village was owned by the Order of St. John. It was lease to Robert of Sinjil and his heirs. In the 14th and 15th century, Tira was a stop on the road between Gaza and Damascus,[3] and a khan was constructed.[4]
Ottoman era
Pierre Jacotin called the village Ertahah on his map from 1799.[5]
In 1870, Victor Guérin found it to be a “village of seven hundred inhabitants, with gardens planted with fig trees and pomegranates, separated from each other by hedges of cactus.”[6]
In 1882, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described Tira as: "A conspicuous village on a knoll in the plain, surrounded by olives, with a well on the west side."[7]
British Mandate era
In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Tireh had a population of 1,588 inhabitants; 1,582 Muslims[8] and 6 Orthodox Christians,[9] increasing in the 1931 census to 2,192; 2,190 Muslims and 2 Christians, in a total of 380 houses.[10]
In the 1945 statistics, Tira had 3,180 Muslim inhabitants,[11] who owned a total of 26,803 dunams of land.[12]
State of Israel
During the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, the Israeli Alexandroni Brigade was ordered to "capture and destroy" Tira.[13] However, the village was held by Iraqi troops and not captured. In May 1949, the village was transferred to Israeli sovereignty as part of the Jordan-Israeli Armistice Agreement and the villagers were not expelled.[13]
In 1945, Tira's village lands extended over 26,803 dunams. Over the years 1953-1954, Israel expropriated a block of 5,232 dunams and, by 1962, of the original total, 8,599 dunams remained for village use.[14] The family-clan structure of its residents has not changed since then.[15]
Tira was defined as part of The Triangle and placed under a military governor. In the township, municipal elections are regarded as far more important than national elections, since the allocation of municipal jobs, the winners' spoils, depends on who wins control of the council.[15] According to Sabri Jiryis, in 1956 the then governor had two members of the Tira local council banished in order to stop them from voting in the elections for a new chairman. He favoured the candidate proposed by General Zionists, the party the governor belonged to, and, once the 2 Arabs were banished, the governor's candidate managed to secure a majority.[16]
In the 1965 Knesset elections Moshe Dayan addressed 3,000 people in the village and stated that the official Israeli policy regarding the integration of its Arab citizens was going too far: integration was 'unnecessary' and would not take place.[17] In 1958 the Al-Ard movement was established by Israeli Arabs to press for equality between Israeli Arabs and Jews. The movement was banned in a decision by the Israeli Supreme Court, with judge Moshe Landau declaring that it posed a threat to Israeli security. After its dissolution, Israel cracked down on Arab sports clubs, on the supposition that such associations were supported by al Ard, closing one in Taibeh. The Tira sports club resisted pressure by government officials to close down its own club's activities until late 1968, when the authorities ordered its closure when the Ministry of Defence declared it illegal on the grounds that one of the members was associated with Fatah.[18]
Demographics
According to CBS, in 2004 the ethnic makeup of the city was 99.9% Sunni Muslim Arab citizens of Israel (see also: Population groups in Israel).
A small number of Jews also live in Tira, mainly due to the cheaper housing costs offered by Tira than in many Jewish localities, such as nearby Kfar Saba.[19]
According to CBS, in 2001 there were 9,600 males and 9,300 females. The population of the city was spread out, with 47.4% 19 years of age or younger, 16.2% between 20 and 29, 19.9% between 30 and 44, 10.8% from 45 to 59, 1.8% from 60 to 64, and 3.8% 65 years of age or older. The population growth rate in 2001 was 2.8%. In 2004, 41.3% of the population was 17 years or younger, 54.5% were between 18 and 64 years of age, and 4.2% were aged 65 and above.
Income
Tira is described as a prosperous Arab community.[20] According to CBS, as of 2000, in the city there were 3,654 salaried workers and 953 are self-employed. The mean monthly wage in 2000 for a salaried worker in the city is ILS 3,767, a real change of 2.4% over the course of 2000. Salaried males have a mean monthly wage of ILS 4,494 (a real change of 6.1%) versus ILS 2,319 for females (a real change of −13.0%). The mean income for the self-employed is 4,289. There are 69 people who receive unemployment benefits and 1,183 people who receive an income guarantee. In 2004, 41.9% of the population was part of the workforce.
Education
According to CBS, there are 10 schools and 4,735 students in the city. There are seven elementary schools with 2,896 students, and three high schools with 1,839 students. Of 12th grade students, 64.8% were entitled to a matriculation certificate in 2001.
In 2004, 6.5% of the population had 0 years of education, 17.1% had up to 8 years, 55% had 9 to 12 years, 11.8% had 13–15 years, and 9.7% had 16 or more years of education. Ten percent had an academic degree.
The city's schools include:
- Al-Zahraa
- Al-Najah
- Al-G'azali
- Al-Majd
- Al-Aomareya
- Junior High A
- Junior High B
- Junior High c(g)
- Amal 1- Ibrahim Qsaem High School
- Technological High School
- Tira's Science High School
- Q School, focused on English language education[21]
High school students from Tira have received scholarships from Israeli universities and participate in exchange programs such as Y.E.S (Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs), Seeds of Peace, and CISV.
Crime
According to a native Arab Israeli resident of Tira, Nimer Sultany, now reader in law at SOAS, Tira has a high crime and poverty rate, problems with education, employment, elements which the author attributes to the effects of decades of land confiscation.[22] Tira lacked a police station from the 1970s until 2013, after citizens protest, one was eventually established in May 2013, with a mezuzah affixed to the door.[23]
Tira has been plagued by violent crime.[24] Organized crime, running protection rackets, loan shark businesses and blackmail operations, and which experts say has increasingly relocated into Arab areas after police cracked down on big Jewish Israeli mobsters over the last decade,[25] is seen as the main driver of the crime wave.[26] Family feuds are also a factor.[25]
Arab victims families and officials claim that "police inaction is one of the main reasons for the endemic violence plaguing their neighbourhoods."[25] Tira's leaders charge that police treat Arabs as second class citizens and don't properly investigate crime,[27] pointing to the fact that only 1 of 8 murders in Tira since 2020 has been solved, versus 71% percent of murders in Jewish communities.[28]
According to the Israeli police, a contributor to problems policing towns such as Tira is inadequate co-operation from local population, who are reluctant to report crimes to the them.[23] Fear of being murdered if one provides evidence of testimony to police is, according to Tira's mayor, one reason for this reluctance, added that a witness protection program which Arab communities lacked, was required to address the issue.[28]
Between 2011 and 2019, Tira was the site of 31 homicides.[29] In response, a new police station was opened in Tira in 2013.[23] In 2021, a police spokesman correlated the rise in crime to lack of employment prospects for Israeli Arab youth.[28]
Sister cities
Tira is twinned with:
Notable residents
- Sayed Kashua, author and journalist[30]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Regional Statistics". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
- ^ Palmer, 1881, p.194
- ^ Petersen, 2001, p. 307, citing al-Zahri ed. Ravaisse, 199, Hartmann 1910, 689
- ^ Petersen, 2001, p. 307, citing al-Umari ed. Shams al-Din
- ^ Karmon, 1960, p. 170
- ^ Guérin, 1875, p. 355
- ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 166
- ^ Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Tulkarem, p. 28
- ^ Barron, 1923, table XV, p. 48
- ^ Mills, 1932, p. 58
- ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 22
- ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970 p.77
- ^ a b Benny Morris (2004). The birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press. pp. 246, 302, 531.
- ^ Jiryis,The Arabs in Israel, 1976 p.292.
- ^ a b Sayed Kashua, 'Forgive Me, People of Tira, for What I Am About to Write,' Haaretz 10 October 2013 .
- ^ Sabri Jiryis The Arabs in Israel, 1976 p.248, n.9.
- ^ Sabri Jiryis, The Arabs in Israel, 1976 p.179
- ^ Jiryis,The Arabs in Israel, 1976 p.195.
- ^ [1], Ynet
- ^ Israeli Arab porn sparks outrage
- ^ Maverick educator seeks to change Israeli Arab world from within
- ^ Nimer Sultany, 'Benjamin Netanyahu publicly assured the police not to worry about investigations and commissions of inquiry.' The Guardian 18 May 2021:'Tira used to be an agricultural town. Decades of confiscation, home demolitions, incarceration, and discrimination in education, employment and welfare made my town, like virtually every Palestinian town in Israel, a ghetto with substandard schools and high rates of poverty and crime.'
- ^ a b c Ben Hartman, 'Cautious optimism for new police station in Tira,' Jerusalem Post 1 May 2013.
- ^ 'Two Arab men killed in separate violent incidents on first day of new year,' Times of Israel 1 January 2021.
- ^ a b c Yolande Knell, 'The murderous crime wave sweeping Israel's Arabs,'BBC News 13 August 2021
- ^ 'Woman, 38, shot dead in her beauty parlor in central city of Tira,' The Times of Israel 12 April 2021
- ^ Edmund Sanders, 'Arab citizens in Israel bemoan lack of policing,' Los Angeles Times 29 October 2012.
- ^ a b c Josh Breiner, 'Israel Police Solved 71 Percent of Murders in Jewish Community, but Only 23 Percent for Arabs,' Haaretz 8 August 2021.
- ^ "Nine Years of Bloodshed" (PDF). www.momken.org.
- ^ Sayed Kashua, 'Sayed Kashua: why I have to leave Israel ,', 20 July 2014. The Guardian.
Bibliography
- Barron, J.B., ed. (1923). Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922. Government of Palestine.
- Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1882). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. Vol. 2. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
- Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945.
- Guérin, V. (1875). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine (in French). Vol. 2: Samarie, pt. 2. Paris: L'Imprimerie Nationale.
- Hadawi, S. (1970). Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine. Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center.
- Hartmann, Richard (1910): Die Straße von Damaskus nach Kairo Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, Bd. 64 (Cited in Petersen, 2001)
- Karmon, Y. (1960). "An Analysis of Jacotin's Map of Palestine" (PDF). Israel Exploration Journal. 10 (3, 4): 155–173, 244–253.
- Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
- Palmer, E.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
- Petersen, Andrew (2001). A Gazetteer of Buildings in Muslim Palestine: (British Academy Monographs in Archaeology). Vol. I. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-727011-0.
External links
- Official website (in Arabic)
- Welcome To Tira
- Survey of Western Palestine, Map 11: IAA, Wikimedia commons
- "2004 CBS Tira statistical survey" (PDF). (164 KiB) (in Hebrew)
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