Ein as-Sahla ( ar, عين السهلة, he, עין א-סהלה) is an

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

village in

Haifa District Haifa District ( he, מחוז חיפה, ''Mehoz Ḥeifa''; ar, منطقة حيفا) is an administrative district surrounding the city of Haifa, Israel. The district is one of the Districts of Israel, seven administrative districts of Israel, a ...

, Israel. The village is located in the

Wadi Ara Wadi Ara ( ar, وادي عارة, he, ואדי עארה) or Nahal 'Iron ( he, נחל עירון), is a valley and its surrounding area in Israel populated mainly by Arab Israelis. The area is also known as the "Northern Triangle". Wadi Ara is ...

area of the

northern Triangle The Northern Triangle of Central America (NTCA) is a term used in the United States to refer collectively to the three Central American countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. The term is used with respect to the countries' economic ...

. The village has about 2,000 residents. Since 1996, it has been under the jurisdiction of the

Basma Basma ( ar, بسمة, he, בסמ"ה) is an Israeli Arab local council in the Wadi Ara area of Haifa District. The local council was formed in 1995 through the consolidation of the villages of Barta'a West, Ein as-Sahala, and Muawiya; Basma is ...

local council. The vast majority of the residents in Ein as-Sahla adhere to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

History

Flint tools from the

Epipalaeolithic In archaeology, the Epipalaeolithic or Epipaleolithic (sometimes Epi-paleolithic etc.) is a period occurring between the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic during the Stone Age. Mesolithic also falls between these two periods, and the two are someti ...

(possibly Kebarrian) and

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

eras have been found here, as has pottery

sherd In archaeology, a sherd, or more precisely, potsherd, is commonly a historic or prehistoric fragment of pottery, although the term is occasionally used to refer to fragments of stone and glass vessels, as well. Occasionally, a piece of broken p ...

s from the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

eras.

Ottoman

According to oral tradition of the residents, the founder of the Kabha clan moved from

Bayt Jibrin Bayt Jibrin or Beit Jibrin ( ar, بيت جبرين; he, בית גוברין, translit=Beit Gubrin) was a Palestinians, Palestinian village located northwest of the city of Hebron. The village had a total land area of 56,185 dunams or , ...

Ya'bad Ya'bad ( ar, يعبد) is a Palestinian town in the northern West Bank, 20 kilometers west of Jenin in the Jenin Governorate. It is a major agricultural town with most of its land covered with olive groves and grain fields. According to the Pales ...

in the 18th century. Some of the clan members left Ya'bad in the mid-19th century searching for sources of living, and they found a spring with pastures for their cattle and bought the lands around it and established

Barta'a Barta'a ( ar, برطعة, he, בַּרְטַּעָה) is a town in Israel and the Palestinian territories that straddles both sides of the Green Line in the Wadi Ara (or Nahal 'Iron) region. Western Barta'a is in the Haifa District of Israel, a ...

. Ein as-Sahla was established as a daughter village of Barta'a in the 19th century.

British Mandate era

During the British Mandate rule, the village was within the boundaries of

Ar'ara Ar'ara ( ar, عرعرة, he, עַרְעָרָה; lit. "Juniper tree")Palmer, 1881p.144/ref> is an Israeli Arab or Palestinian town in the Wadi Ara region in northern Israel. It is located southwest of Umm al-Fahm just northwest of the Green Li ...

1948 and after

During the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...

the village and the surrounding area came under

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

i control.The Politics of Partition; King Abdullah, The Zionists, and Palestine 1921–1951 Avi Shlaim Oxford University Press Revised Edition 2004 pp. 299, 312 In March 1949

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

ian forces replaced the Iraqi forces in Wadi Ara. On 3 April 1949 Israel and Jordan signed an armistice agreement, in which Israel would receive the Wadi Ara area. After Israeli independence, the population of the village increased and

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

was implemented, which led to the settlement becoming a separate village in 1963. In 1973 the first mosque, named Abu Bakr Al-sidik, was built and in 1989 the second one, named Al-Huda Mosuqe, was built. Ein as-Sahla lacked municipal status after the establishment of Israel and was under the administration of ''

mukhtar A mukhtar ( ar, مختار, mukhtār, chosen one; el, μουχτάρης) is a village chief in the Levant: "an old institution that goes back to the time of the Ottoman rule". According to Amir S. Cheshin, Bill Hutman and Avi Melamed, the muk ...

s'' (village headmen) appointed by the Interior Ministry. In 1992, the Interior Ministry established the Nahal Iron regional council, which included Ein as-Sahla and seven other villages. The locals objected to this administrative arrangement, and sought independent municipal status for each village. To allay local concerns, the Interior Ministry established an investigative committee to examine other options, and in 1996, decided to split the regional council into two local councils,

Ma'ale Iron Ma'ale Iron ( he, מעלה עירון, ''lit.'' Iron Heights; ar, طلعة عارة) is an Arab local council in Israel's Haifa District and is a part of the Wadi Ara region in the Triangle. The town consists of the five villages of Bayada, Mush ...

and Basma, which includes Ein as-Sahala.

Education

Ein as-Sahla has five

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

s and an

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

with 19 classes.

Geography

Ein as-Sahla occupies Mount Al-Khataf, which overlooks

. In the middle of the village there is a spring which gives it its name "Spring of the Plain". The village has a neighbourhood on the foot of the hill which has 350 residents. The village is surrounded by nature, which attracts tourists. The only established entrance to the village is through

Sports

Ein as-Sahla has a local football club called "Hapoel Ein Sahla", participating in

Liga Bet Liga Bet ( he, ליגה ב', lit. ''League B'') is the fourth tier of the Israeli football league system. It is divided into four regional divisions. History League football started in Israel in 1949–50, a year after the Israeli Declaration of ...

. The club has an adult and a youth team and they host matches in a soccer fields located in

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Welcome To Khirbat 'Ayn al-Sahla
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 8
IAAWikimedia commons
{{Haifa District Arab localities in Israel Triangle (Israel) Wadi Ara