Arraba (; ), also known as 'Arrabat al-Battuf, is an
Arab
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
city in
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
. It is located in the
Lower Galilee in the
Northern District, within Sakhnin valley, adjacent to
Sakhnin and
Deir Hanna, and climbing a bit on Yodfat range to its south, while also owning some lands south of that in the
Beit Netofa Valley (Sahl al-Battuf) to the north of
Nazareth
Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...
area. Arraba attained local council status in 1965, and city status in 2016. In , its population was .
During the
Roman period
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
, Arraba was a
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
settlement known as ''Arab'' or ''Gabara,'' and was home to the
priestly family of Petahiah. In the fifth or sixth century CE, it was inhabited by
Christians
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...
, as evidenced by the discovery of a church. The
Arab
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
tribe of
Zayadina arrived in Arraba in the middle of the 17th century and later gained control of the town. In the 18th century,
, an autonomous ruler of
Galilee
Galilee (; ; ; ) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon consisting of two parts: the Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and the Lower Galilee (, ; , ).
''Galilee'' encompasses the area north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and ...
, lived in Arraba. In the late
Ottoman period, the town had a sizable Christian minority, but since then, many have emigrated to
Haifa
Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...
, leaving only a small number of Christian households in the predominantly Muslim city.
History
Antiquity
Arraba is
identified with the ancient
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
village called ''Arab'', mentioned in
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...
' writings by its pronunciation in the Greek, ''Gabara'',
but in the
Mishnah
The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...
and the
Jerusalem Talmud
The Jerusalem Talmud (, often for short) or Palestinian Talmud, also known as the Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century Jewish oral tradition known as the Mishnah. Naming this version of the Talm ...
as ''Arab''.
[HaReuveni (1999), p. 779][Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p]
206
/ref> The first-century Jewish rabbi and leader Yohanan ben Zakkai is said to have lived there eighteen years. During the First Jewish-Roman War, Vespasian
Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...
sacked the city, killing those of its Jewish citizens who had not already fled. The place is presumed to have been resettled by Jews in the third-fourth centuries, since the town is mentioned as being the place of residence of one of the priestly courses known as Pethahiah, as inscribed in the ''Caesarea Inscription''.
Arabba is home to the grave of Hanina ben Dosa, a Jewish scholar who lived in the village during the first and second generations after the destruction of the Second Temple.
In the 5th or 6th century CE, there were Christians living here, as witnessed by a church whose mosaic floor and inscription have been unearthed. The church was destroyed either at the end of the 6th century or the beginning of the 7th century.
The oldest settled section of Arraba lies at the village's south-east side, near the Christian church. Archaeological artefacts have been discovered there dating back to the Roman and Byzantine periods.
Middle Ages
In the Crusader era, it was known as ''Arabiam''. In 1174, it was one of the casalia (villages) given to ''Phillipe le Rous''. In 1236, descendants of ''Phillipe le Rous'' confirmed the sale of the fief
A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...
of Arraba. In 1250, it was one of the casalia belonging to the Teutonic knights
The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to t ...
, a Crusader order.[
In the 13th century, Arrabah is mentioned by ]Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
n geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi
Yāqūt Shihāb al-Dīn ibn-ʿAbdullāh al-Rūmī al-Ḥamawī (1179–1229) () was a Muslim scholar of Byzantine ancestry active during the late Abbasid period (12th–13th centuries). He is known for his , an influential work on geography con ...
in his famous work '' Mu'jam al-Buldān'' (1224–1228), as a "place in the province of Acca".
Ottoman Empire
The village was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
in 1517 with all of Palestine
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
, and in 1596 Arraba appeared in the tax registers as being in the ''Nahiya
A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level divisi ...
'' ("Subdistrict") of Tabariyya, part of Sanjak Safad. It had an all Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
population of 125 households and 2 bachelors. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 20% on wheat, barley, summer crops or fruit trees, cotton, and goats or beehives; a total of 11,720 akçe. 1/4 of the revenue went to a waqf
A (; , plural ), also called a (, plural or ), or ''mortmain'' property, is an Alienation (property law), inalienable charitable financial endowment, endowment under Sharia, Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot ...
.
At some point in the mid-17th century the Zayadina, an Arab Muslim tribe, immigrated to Arraba. Its sheikh
Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...
("chief") later acquired control of the town and its district after wresting control of the area from the Druze
The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...
sheikh of Sallama. Sallama and other Druze villages in the vicinity were subsequently destroyed, Druze suzerainty over the Shaghur district came to an end and the Zayadina consequently gained significant influence in the area, including the role of tax collector of Shaghur on behalf of the Ottoman wali
The term ''wali'' is most commonly used by Muslims to refer to a saint, or literally a "friend of God".John Renard, ''Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008); John ...
("governor") of Sidon Province. Arraba became home to , a later sheikh of the Zayadina tribe. According to local legend, he sought refuge there after killing a Turkish soldier. He won the support of the local sheikh, Muhammad Nasser, by helping him settle a score with a neighboring village, which set off a series of campaigns that led to the conquest of the entire Galilee
Galilee (; ; ; ) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon consisting of two parts: the Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and the Lower Galilee (, ; , ).
''Galilee'' encompasses the area north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and ...
. A building said to be the home of Zahir is still standing.[
In 1838, ''Arabeh'' was noted as a Muslim and Christian village in the ''Esh-Shagur'' district, located between ]Safad
Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel.
Safed has been identified with (), a fortified town in the Upper Gal ...
, Acca and Tiberias
Tiberias ( ; , ; ) is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Heb ...
.
In 1875 Victor Guérin
Victor Guérin (; 15 September 1821 – 21 September 1890) was a French people, French intellectual, explorer and amateur archaeologist. He published books describing the geography, archeology and history of the areas he explored, which included ...
found Arrabah to have 900 Muslim inhabitants and 100 Greek-Orthodox Christians.[Guérin, 1880, pp]
466
468 In 1881, the PEF's ''Survey of Western Palestine'' (SWP) described Arrabet al Buttauf as "A large stone-built village, containing about 1,000 Moslems and Christians, and surrounded by groves of olives and arable land. Water is obtained from a large birkeh and cistern
A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster.
Cisterns are disti ...
s. This was the place where Dhaher el Amr´s family was founded, and was long occupied by them."
A population list from about 1887 showed that ''Arrabet'' had 970 inhabitants; about 80% Muslim and 20% Catholic Christians.
British Mandate
In the 1922 census of Palestine
The 1922 census of Palestine was the first census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine, on 23 October 1922.
The reported population was 757,182, including the military and persons of foreign nationality. The divis ...
, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Arrabeh had a population of 984 people, of which 937 were Muslim and 47 were Christian.[Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Acre, p]
37
/ref> Among the Christians, 42 were Melkite, 4 Orthodox and one was Anglican. At the time of the 1931 census, Arraba had 253 occupied houses and a population of 1187 Muslims and 37 Christians.[Mills, 1932, p]
99
/ref>
In the 1945 statistics the population was 1,800; 1,740 Muslims and 60 Christians,[Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p]
4
/ref> with 30,852 dunam
A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; ; ; ), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area analogous in role (but not equal) to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amo ...
s (a dunam is a unit of area equivalent to 1000 square metres or one-tenth of a hectare
The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...
) of land, according to an official land and population survey. 3,290 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land, 14,736 dunams for cereals, while 140 dunams were built-up (urban) land.
Israel in the 20th century
In 1948, during Operation Hiram (October 29–31), the town surrendered to the advancing Israeli army. Many of the inhabitants fled but some remained. Arraba became a local council in 1965. The village remained under Martial Law
Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...
until 1966.
Arraba was home to the first Land Day demonstrations in 1976 demanding the state of Israel to stop the expropriation of Palestinian Arab lands. Together with Sakhnin and Deir Hanna, it formed what is called the triangle of Land Day. Israel's reaction to control the protest was forceful and six people were killed by Israeli police. The reason for the Land Day follows:
On March 11, 1976, the Israeli government published an expropriation plan including lands in the Galilee
Galilee (; ; ; ) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon consisting of two parts: the Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and the Lower Galilee (, ; , ).
''Galilee'' encompasses the area north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and ...
. It affected some 20,000 dunam
A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; ; ; ), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area analogous in role (but not equal) to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amo ...
s of land between the Arab villages of Sakhnin and Arraba. The land was said to be used for security purposes but was also used to build new Jewish settlements. David McDowall identifies the resumption of land seizures in the Galilee and the acceleration of land expropriations in the West Bank
The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
in the mid-1970s as the immediate catalyst for both the Land Day demonstration and similar demonstrations that were taking place contemporaneously in the West Bank. He writes: ''"Nothing served to bring the two Palestinian communities together politically more than the question of land."''
Israel in the 21st century
Arraba became a city in 2016. In the late 2010s, Arraba native and Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
graduate, Nuseir Yassin
Nuseir Yassin (; ; born ) is an Israeli-Palestinian -Kittian vlogger, known as Nas Daily, from the name used on his YouTube, Facebook, TikTok and Instagram pages for his over 1,000 daily, one-minute-long videos.
Early life and education
Yas ...
, gained international acclaim with his Nas Daily videos. In one of the chapters he invites the entire State of Israel to visit his parental home in Arraba.
Economy
The symbol of the local council is an onion, a watermelon
The watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Cucurbitaceae, that has a large, edible fruit. It is a Glossary of botanical terms#scandent, scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, and is plant breeding ...
and a cantaloupe
The cantaloupe ( ) is a type of true melon (''Cucumis melo'') with sweet, aromatic, and usually orange flesh. Originally, ''cantaloupe'' refers to the true cantaloupe or European cantaloupe with non- to slightly netted and often ribbed rind. ...
which symbolize the crops for which Arraba is famous.
Throughout history Arraba was mostly an agricultural
Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...
village depending mainly on the al-Batuf
Al-Batuf Regional Council (, , ''Mo'atza Azorit al-Batuf'') is a Regional council (Israel), regional council located on the southern fringe of the Beit Netofa Valley North of Nazareth within the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of I ...
Plain (Hebrew name: Beit Netofa Valley) to grow crops. However, currently the dependence on agriculture is declining rapidly due to the rise in population, urbanization and a subsequently more modern lifestyle.
Holy Sites
Arraba houses the tomb of Hanina Ben Dosa, a Jewish scholar and miracle worker who lived in the first century CE. It is known to locals as " maqam as- Siddiq".
Arraba is also home to the shrine of ''ash-Sheikh Dabus'', attributed to a Sufi
Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism.
Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
sheikh from the 17th century by local tradition. Alternative traditions suggest the shrine is associated with the family of , or a commander from Saladin
Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...
's army. The ''ash-Sheikh Dabus'' shrine is located 50 meters away from Hanina Ben Dosa's tomb, within the cemetery belonging to the Na'amneh and Hatib families.
Architecture
In the 1870s, Guerin saw the mosque which he thought had probably once been a church on the basis of its east–west orientation. Inside there were two monolithic columns which he took as further proof of its antiquity.[
Andrew Petersen, an archaeologist specializing in ]Islamic architecture
Islamic architecture comprises the architectural styles of buildings associated with Islam. It encompasses both Secularity, secular and religious styles from the early history of Islam to the present day. The Muslim world, Islamic world encompasse ...
, surveyed the place in 1994, and found several interesting buildings.[Petersen, 2001, p]
95
/ref>
The modern-day mosque was built in 1953 on the site of an older building.[ Opposite the mosque is a palatial house with an ablaq entrance made of black and white masonry. This is the house associated with the family of Zahir al-'Umar/Dhaher el-Omar.][
]
Sports
The town's football club Ahva Arraba dissolved in 2019 due to debts. It was replaced by a new club, Hapoel Arraba.
Notable people
* Asel Asleh, young peace activist killed during the Second Intifada
The Second Intifada (; ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada, was a major uprising by Palestinians against Israel and its Israeli-occupied territories, occupation from 2000. Starting as a civilian uprising in Jerusalem and October 2000 prot ...
* Ali Nassar (born 1954), film director
*Nuseir Yassin
Nuseir Yassin (; ; born ) is an Israeli-Palestinian -Kittian vlogger, known as Nas Daily, from the name used on his YouTube, Facebook, TikTok and Instagram pages for his over 1,000 daily, one-minute-long videos.
Early life and education
Yas ...
, travel video blogger with over 20 million Facebook followers
See also
* Arab localities in Israel
* F.C. Bnei Arraba
* Land Day
* House demolition in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
References
Bibliography
*
*
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*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* Klein, S. (1909), ''Galiläa - Beiträge zur Geschichte und Geographie Galiläas'' (Contributions to the History and Geography of Galilee), Leipzig (in German)
* Klein, S. (1915), "Hebräische Ortsnamen bei Josephus" (Hebrew place names in Josephus), in: '' MGWJ'' (Monthly Journal for the History and Science of Judaism), vol. 59, Breslau (in German)
*
* Meyers, E.M. (1976), "Galilean Regionalism as a Factor in Historical Reconstruction," in: ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
The ''Bulletin of the American Society of Overseas Research (BASOR)'', formerly the ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', is one of three academic journals published by the American Society of Overseas Research. It began as t ...
'' (No. 221)
*
*
*
*
* (first printed in 2006)
*
*
*
*
*
* Safrai, Z. (1985), ''The Galilee in the time of the Mishna and Talmud'', 2nd edition, Jerusalem (in Hebrew) ()
*
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*
*
External links
Official website
Statistical profile
at the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics
The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (, ''HaLishka HaMerkazit LiStatistika''; ), abbreviated CBS, is an Israeli government office established in 1949 to carry out research and publish statistical data on all aspects of Israeli life, including ...
(2016)
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 6
IAA
Wikimedia commons
{{Authority control
Arab localities in Israel
Local councils in Northern District (Israel)
Arab Christian communities in Israel
First Jewish–Roman War
Ancient Jewish settlements of Galilee