Al-Rafid ( ar, الرفيد) is a village in the
Rashaya District
Rashaya District ( ar, قضاء راشيا) is an administrative district in the Beqaa Governorate of the Republic of Lebanon.
Most of Rachaya's population are Druze with a Sunni and Shia and Christian
Christians () are people who follow ...
, in the southeastern area of the
Beqaa Governorate
Beqaa ( ') is a governorate in Lebanon.
Districts
Since 2014, Beqaa Governorate contains three districts:
* West Beqaa
* Rashaya
* Zahle
A law was passed in 2003 to separate Baalbek District and Hermel District from Beqaa Governorate to form a ...
in
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
. Its population is estimated to be 3,000. Its inhabitants are predominantly
Sunni Muslims. The village has two
mosques, two schools, two pharmacies, and a telecommunications facility.
Geography
The oldest part of the village lies halfway up Mount Baaloul (Jabal Baaloul) on the eastern slope. It is widely accepted by the inhabitants of the town that the town was originally located on the top of the mountain but was re-located after a civil strife had subsided over 400 years ago. Neighboring localities include
Bire,
Mhaydseh
Mhaydseh, (محيدثة) Bekaa Valley, Lebanon (sometimes pronounced plainly as "Al Mhaydseh","Muhaydhi") () is a town in the south-eastern portion of the Bekaa, a governorate of the Republic of Lebanon. Mhaydseh is part of the Rashaya District. ...
,
Kherbet Rouha, and
Mdoukha. The town is located about from
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
and from
Damascus,
Syria. From Al-Rafid, Jabal Al-Sheikh (
Mount Hermon
Mount Hermon ( ar, جبل الشيخ or جبل حرمون / ALA-LC: ''Jabal al-Shaykh'' ("Mountain of the Sheikh") or ''Jabal Haramun''; he, הַר חֶרְמוֹן, ''Har Hermon'') is a mountain cluster constituting the southern end of th ...
) can be seen with its majestic snow-capped peak.
History
In 1838,
Eli Smith noted Al-Rafid,'s population as being predominantly
Sunni Muslim.
[Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p]
141
/ref>
The village was occupied first by PLO forces in the late 1970s, then by Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i forces in the early 1980s. Before Israel's invasion, the town suffered from Israeli warplane attacks. In one incident, the school was bombed, killing a mother and her four children. Israel said that the school was being used as a base for PLO forces.
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Rafid
Localiban
Rafid
Sunni Muslim communities in Lebanon
{{Lebanon-geo-stub