Ein Qiniyye or 'Ayn Qunya ( ar, عين قنية; he, עֵין קֻנִיֶּה) is a
Druze village in the
Israeli-occupied southern foothills of
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 ...
, 750 meters above sea level. It was granted
local council status in 1982. Its inhabitants are mostly
Syrian citizens with
permanent residency
Permanent residency is a person's legal resident status in a country or territory of which such person is not a citizen but where they have the right to reside on a permanent basis. This is usually for a permanent period; a person with suc ...
status in Israel (for more about the status and position of the Golan Heights Druze community see
here). In it had a population of .
History
Ein Qiniyye is one of the four remaining
Druze-Syrian communities on the Israeli-occupied side of Mount Hermon and the
Golan Heights
The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...
, together with
Majdal Shams,
Mas'ade and
Buq'ata. Geographically a distinction is made between the Golan Heights and Mount Hermon, the boundary being marked by the Sa'ar Stream; however, administratively usually they are lumped together. Ein Qiniyye and Majdal Shams are on the Hermon side of the boundary, thus sitting on limestone, while Buq'ata and Mas'ade are on the Golan side, characterised by black volcanic rock (basalt).
Since the adoption of the 1981
Golan Heights Law
The Golan Heights Law () is the Israeli law which applies Israel's government and laws to the Golan Heights. It was ratified by the Knesset by a vote of 63―21, on December 14, 1981.Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Golan Heights Law Althoug ...
, Ein Qiniyye is under
Israeli civil law, and incorporated into the Israeli system of local councils. Some of the young people of the village used to study at Syrian universities, but at the end of 2012 a Druze cleric advised them against applying until the
Syrian Civil War was over. Most of the town's residents are
Druze, but a few
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...
remain of a much larger community that left the town in the 1940s and 1950s.
Sister City
*
Great Neck
Great Neck is a region on Long Island, New York, that covers a peninsula on the North Shore and includes nine villages, among them Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, Great Neck Plaza, Kings Point, and Russell Gardens, and a number of unincor ...
, New York, USA (2022)
[Hasten, Josh "Great Neck, NY, signs ‘sister pact’ with Israeli towns" JNS.org Dec. 7, 2022 https://www.jns.org/great-neck-ny-signs-sister-pact-with-israeli-towns/]
References
External links
*
{{Northern District (Israel)
Populated places in Quneitra Governorate
Populated places in the Golan Heights
Local councils in Northern District (Israel)
Druze communities in Syria
Christian communities in Syria
Villages in Syria
14th-century establishments in the Mamluk Sultanate