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Ma'alot-Tarshiha (; ) is a city in the North District 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 ...
, about east of
Nahariya Nahariya () is the northernmost coastal city in Israel. As of , the city had a population of . The city was founded in 1935 by Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany. Etymology Nahariya takes its name from the stream of Ga'aton River, Ga'aton (riv ...
, and about
above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...
. The city was established in 1963 through a municipal merger of 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 ...
town of Tarshiha and the Jewish town of Ma'alot, creating a unique type of
mixed city In Israel, the mixed cities (, ) or mixed towns are the eight cities with a significant number of both Israeli Jews and Arab citizens of Israel, Israeli Arabs. The eight mixed Jewish-Arab cities, defined by the Israel Central Bureau of Statisti ...
. In , it had a population of .


History


Tarshiha

Excavations of a 4th-century burial cave in the village, unearthed a
cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...
and a piece of glass engraved with a menorah. Crusader sources from the 12th and 13th century refer to Tarshiha as ''Terschia,'' ''Torsia'', and ''Tersigha.''Petersen, 2001, p
293
/ref> The King had initiated the settlement of Crusader (''Latin'', ''Frankish'') people in nearby
Mi'ilya Mi'ilya (, ), also called Mi'elya, is an Arab local council in the western Galilee in the Northern District of Israel. Its name during the Kingdom of Jerusalem era in Galilee was Castellum Regis. In it had a population of , all of whom are M ...
("Castellum Regis"), and from there settlement spread out to Tarshiha. In 1160, ''Torsia'' and several surrounding villages were transferred to a Crusader named ''Iohanni de Caypha'' (Johannes of Haifa). By 1217, the village was probably inhabited by Crusader ("Frankish") people. In 1220 Joscelin III´s daughter Beatrix de Courtenay and her husband Otto von Botenlauben, Count of Henneberg, sold their land, including ''Tersyha'', 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 ...
. In 1266, Tarshiha was raided by Crusader troops. According to popular Arabic etymology, the name may have meant "Artemisia Mountain" in the
Canaanite language The Canaanite languages, sometimes referred to as Canaanite dialects, are one of four subgroups of the Northwest Semitic languages. The others are Aramaic and the now-extinct Ugaritic and Amorite language. These closely related languages origi ...
, where Arabic ''ṭūr'' for "mountain" and ''shīḥ'' for ''
Artemisia vulgaris ''Artemisia vulgaris'', commonly known as mugwort, common mugwort, or wormwood, is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae. It is one of several species in the genus '' Artemisia'' commonly known as mugwort, although ''Art ...
'' (
mugwort Mugwort is a common name for several species of aromatic flowering plants in the genus '' Artemisia.'' In Europe, mugwort most often refers to the species '' Artemisia vulgaris'', or common mugwort. In East Asia the species '' Artemisia argyi'' ...
, or common wormwood) could be identified. E. H. Palmer (1881) explains the name as ''Teir'' meaning "a fortress", and ''Shīḥ'', "a fragrant herb".


Ottoman era

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 the rest of Palestine, the village of Tarshiha was raided by the Lebanese feudal chief,
Mansur ibn Furaykh Mansur Bey ibn Furaykh (died 7 December 1593) was Emir of the Biqa'a, Safad and Ajlun districts in the late 16th century during Ottoman rule.Sluglett and Weber, p. 333. The Ottomans granted Mansur this large power base to enable him to check the ...
in 1573. The
daftar A ''defter'' was a type of tax register and land cadastre in the Ottoman Empire. Etymology The term is derived from Greek , literally 'processed animal skin, leather, fur', meaning a book, having pages of goat parchment used along with papyrus ...
of 1596 show the village to be under the administration of 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 ...
'' of
Akka Akka or AKKA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Akka (film), ''Akka'' (film), a 1976 Indian Tamil film * Akka (TV series), ''Akka'' (TV series), a 2014–2015 Indian Tamil soap opera * Akka, a character in the children's novel ''The Wonderful ...
, with a population of 107 households ("khana") and 3 bachelors, all Muslim. The inhabitants paid taxes on "occasional revenues", bees and goats. The village was also taxed for a press, used either of olives or for grapes. Total revenue was 17,660
akçe The ''akçe'' or ''akça'' (anglicized as ''akche'', ''akcheh'' or ''aqcha''; ; , , in Europe known as '' asper'') was a silver coin mainly known for being the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire. It was also used in other states includi ...
. In the early eighteenth century, the village was under control of Shaikh Husayn, while later in the Ottoman period it became one of the major cotton-producing villages of Galilee, and the administrative center of 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 ...
''. Mariti visited the village (which he called ''Terschia'') in 1761, and wrote that it "abounds with water; which adds greatly to the fertility of its cotton plants, its fruit-trees, and above all its tobacco".
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 ...
, who visited in 1875, found that Tarshiha "consists of four quarters, under the jurisdiction of as many different sheikhs. There are 2,000 Moslems, who have their mosques. The Christians occupy their own quarters: with the exception of a few families they are all Uniate
Melkite The term Melkite (), also written Melchite, refers to various Eastern Christian churches of the Byzantine Rite and their members originating in West Asia. The term comes from the common Central Semitic root ''m-l-k'', meaning "royal", referrin ...
Greeks, and number about 500." In 1881 the
Palestine Exploration Fund The Palestine Exploration Fund is a British society based in London. It was founded in 1865, shortly after the completion of the Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem by Royal Engineers of the War Department. The Fund is the oldest known organization i ...
's ''Survey of Western Palestine'' described Tarshiha as: "a very large village, containing about 1,500 Moslems and 300 Christians; there is a fine mosque with
minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...
s newly built, also an old one; the houses are well-built; a new and handsome church has been built in the Christian quarter". In 1883, Laurence Oliphant visited and wrote that ''Tershicha'' was home to around 2,000 people, most of whom were followers of Ali Al-Mughrabi, an Islamic sheikh and reformer who immigrated from
North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...
. A population list from about 1887 showed ''Tarshiha'' to have about 4,855 inhabitants; 4,000 Muslims and 855 Christian.


British Mandate era

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, ''Tarsheha'' had a population of 1,880 residents; 1,521
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 ...
s, 358 Christians and 1 Druze,Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Acre, p
36
/ref> where the Christians were 298
Melkite The term Melkite (), also written Melchite, refers to various Eastern Christian churches of the Byzantine Rite and their members originating in West Asia. The term comes from the common Central Semitic root ''m-l-k'', meaning "royal", referrin ...
, 53 Orthodox and 7 Church of England.Barron, 1923, Table XVI, p
49
/ref> The population had increased in the 1931 census to a total of 2522; 2047 Muslims and 475 Christians, in a total of 584 houses.Mills, 1932, p
103
/ref> In the 1945 statistics the population of Tarshiha was 3,840; 3140 Muslims and 690 Christians.Department of Statistics, 1945, p
5
/ref> The total population of Tarshiha combined with Al-Kabri was 5,360 Arabs, with 47,428 dunams of land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p
41
/ref> Of this, a total of 743 dunums of land in the two places was used for citrus and bananas, 5,301 were plantation and irrigable land, 14,123 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p
81
/ref> while 252 dunams were built-up (urban) land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p
131
/ref> Residents of Ma'alot-Tarshiha interviewed in early 1980s recalled Tarshiha as being the leading village in the area with a population of 3,000 including 700 Christians. The Christians had established a successful handcrafts industry. The villages main crop was tobacco. There was a tobacco growers union which ran a trucking cooperative. In the mid-1930s it was learnt that the Sursock family were going to sell land in the Jaqtoun valley. A delegation from the village travelled to Beirut and was able to buy the land. After clearing and draining it was divided into plots which were distributed by lottery to the participating families. Tarshiha was the first Palestinian village to establish a development fund by collecting £1 a year from each adult male resident. Tarshiha played a role in the Syrian campaign or operation ''
Exporter An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...
'' during World War II, which was the invasion of the
Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...
of the Grand Syria (currently Syria and Lebanon), at the time controlled by the Vichy government, between June and July 1941 when the region of Grand Syria served as a base for supporting the Nazis during the
Anglo-Iraqi War The Anglo-Iraqi War was a British-led Allies of World War II, Allied military campaign during the Second World War against the Kingdom of Iraq, then ruled by Rashid Ali al-Gaylani who had seized power in the 1941 Iraqi coup d'état with assista ...
. On the day of the liberation of Tyre, 8 June 1941, the advance of the Australians "took place from the ground early in the morning on Sunday. The main push was in the direction of Tarshiha from the north. It started at 6 in the morning and Tyre was occupied at 16.30


1948 Palestine war

Tarshiha was in the territory allotted to the Palestinians under the
1947 UN Partition Plan The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was a proposal by the United Nations to partition Mandatory Palestine at the end of the British Mandate. Drafted by the U.N. Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) on 3 September 1947, the Pl ...
. Following the establishment of the state of Israel Tarshiha was surrounded on three sides by the
Israeli army The Israeli Ground Forces () are the Army, ground forces of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The commander is the GOC Army Headquarters, General Officer Commanding with the rank of major general, the ''Mazi'', subordinate to the Chief of the Gen ...
and the border with Lebanon to the North. Tarshiha and sixteen smaller villages established a regional committee which organised the reopening of schools, regulated imports from Lebanon as well as attending to security and defence.
Middle East International ''Middle East International'' was a bimonthly magazine published in London from 1971 until 2005, reaching a total of 761 issues. It was established by Christopher Mayhew and a group of senior British politicians and diplomats. The original publish ...
No 151
In the
1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...
, Tarshiha was attacked by the newly formed
Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...
(IDF) during
Operation Hiram Operation Hiram was a military operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. It was led by General Moshe Carmel, and aimed at capturing the Upper Galilee region from the Arab Liberation Army (ALA) ...
. It was bombed by three Israeli planes on the evening of 29 October, killing at least 24. This was followed by a prolonged artillery barrage and a further air raid the following morning. The village defenders and most of the inhabitants retreated north into
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
. By the end of the day the IDF had captured the town. A UN observer reported that on 1 November 1948 the Arab villages around Tarshiha were deserted and extensively looted by Israeli forces. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' added that the looting appeared systematic, as Israeli army trucks were used carrying off the looted goods. By December 1948 around 700 villagers, mostly Christians, had returned to the village. Families from Tarshiha began arriving in Beirut shortly after the conquest of the village and lived in rented rooms around Bourj el Barajneh which at that time was a suburb on the fringe of the city. About half of the 3,000 villagers arriving in Lebanon settled there in what became Bourj al Barajneh refugee camp. They took on most of the leadership roles and remained the majority population for many years. In 1981 it was estimated 4–5,000 Tarshihans were living in the camp. Those villagers who were unable to reach Beirut in 1948 were rounded up and sent by train to
Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...
were they became the largest group in al-Neirab Camp. Any Arab who had not registered, as of November 1948, was regarded as illegal and if caught deported. An American Quaker relief worker with the
American Friends Service Committee The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Religious Society of Friends ('' Quaker)-founded'' organization working for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world. AFSC was founded in 1917 as a combined effort by ...
described a raid on Tarshiha on 15 January 1949. All males over sixteen were questioned by a panel of eight Israelis. 33 heads of families and 101 family members, aged 1 year to 79 years, were selected for deportation. They were robbed and expelled via
'Ara Ara (; ) is a village in the Haifa District in northern Israel, located in the Wadi Ara valley. Since 1985, 'Ara has been part of the Ar'ara local council. It is located north of highway 65, between Ar'ara and Kfar Qara. Its population of 4,6 ...
to
Jenin Jenin ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and is the capital of the Jenin Governorate. It is a hub for the surrounding towns. Jenin came under Israeli occupied territories, Israeli occupation in 1967, and was put under the administra ...
. A UN observer in Jenin reported that their homes were being re-populated by large numbers of Jewish refugees from
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
.


Israel

The abandoned houses in Tarshiha were initially taken over by Jews from Romania. When they were moved on to new settlements the houses were demolished. Around 600 villagers remained after 1948. They were joined by others expelled from nine other local villages. In December 1949 the Israeli Foreign Ministry blocked an IDF plan to clear Tarshiha and five other villages along the Lebanon border of their remaining Arab populations to create an Arab-free zone. Arabs in the Galilee 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.


Ma'alot-Tarshiha merger

In 1963, Tarshiha was merged with Ma'alot, a
development town Development towns (, ''Ayarat Pitu'ah'') were new settlements built in Israel during the 1950s in order to provide permanent housing for a large influx of Jewish immigrants from Arab countries, Holocaust survivors from Europe and other new immig ...
for Jewish immigrants from
Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
,
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
and
Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
, established in 1957. On 15 May 1974, an elementary school in Ma'alot was attacked by terrorists of the
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP; ) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist and Maoist organization. It is also frequently referred to as the Democratic Front, or al-Jabha al-Dīmūqrāṭiyya (). It is a member ...
in what became known as the
Ma'alot massacre The Ma'alot massacreSources describing the event as a "massacre": * * * * * * * was a Palestinian Terrorism, Palestinian terrorist attack that occurred on 14–15 May 1974 and involved the hostage-taking of 115 Israelis, chiefly school ...
. Twenty-two teenagers and three teachers from
Safed Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), 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 fortif ...
on a class trip were murdered in the attack. They had been sleeping on the floor inside the building. In addition, three Israeli women, one of them seven months pregnant, one four-year-old child, and two men were killed by the same terrorists in the events before the murder of the school children."Bullets, Bombs and a Sign of Hope"
''
TIME Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'', 27 May 1974.
A visitor in 1980 estimated that half of the 2,400 Arabs living in the town originated from Tarshiha. 70% of those with jobs worked in the building trade, none of them were farmers. The 3,500 Jewish residents were mostly Moroccan. Few of whom stayed for long periods. During the 1990s post-Soviet aliyah in the 1990s, many immigrants settled in the city. Ma'alot-Tarshiha was officially recognized as a city in 1996. Nearly 700
Katyusha Katyusha () is a diminutive of the Russian name Ekaterina or Yekaterina, the Russian form of Katherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in c ...
rockets landed in the vicinity of Ma'alot-Tarshiha during the Second Lebanon War. Three Arab residents of the city were killed in a rocket attack.


Demographics

In 2016, ethnic and religious makeup of the city was 79.2% Jewish and other non-Arabs, and 20.8%
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 ...
(10%
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 ...
, 9.9%
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
, and 0.3%
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 ...
). In 2016, there were 10,600 males and 10,500 females. The population of the city was diverse in age with 30.8% 19 years of age or younger, 14.2% between 20 and 29, 18.1% between 30 and 44, 18.2% from 45 to 59, 5.5% from 60 to 64, and 13.1% 65 years of age or older. The population growth rate in 2016 was −0.4%. As of 2016, there were 10,503 salaried workers and 564 self-employed persons in the city. The mean monthly wage in 2016 for a salaried worker was NIS 7,745 (USD ). Salaried men had a mean monthly wage of NIS 9,360 versus NIS 6,005 for women. The average income for the self-employed was NIS 8,929. Some 37% of the working population worked for minimum wage, 269 people received unemployment benefits, and 940 people who received an income guarantee. Following Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000 some ex
South Lebanon Army The South Lebanon Army or South Lebanese Army (SLA; , ), also known as the Lahad Army () or as the De Facto Forces (DFF), was a Christianity in Lebanon, Christian-dominated militia in Lebanon. It was founded by Lebanese military officer Saad H ...
soldiers and officers who fled from Lebanon settled in Ma'alot with their families.


Economy

The Tefen Industrial Zone, which includes famous companies such as the Iscar plant was built in the vicinity of Ma'alot-Tarshiha by
Stef Wertheimer Stef Wertheimer (; 16 July 1926 – 26 March 2025) was an Israeli billionaire industrialist, investor, philanthropist and politician. He was a member of the Knesset, and was known for founding industrial parks in Israel and neighboring countries ...
and is major source of employment for the city's residents. In 2007, the jobless rate in Ma’alot-Tarshiha was 5.5 percent, compared to 7.9 percent nationally.


Education

In 2001, there were 11 schools and 4,272 students in the city, including 7 elementary schools with an enrollment of 2,000, and 7 high schools with 2,272 students. 58.5% of the city's 12th graders earned a matriculation certificate in 2001. In August 1975, Yeshivat Ma'alot, a
Hesder Hesder ( "arrangement"; also Yeshivat Hesder ) is an Israeli yeshiva program which combines advanced Talmudic studies with military service in the Israel Defense Forces, usually within a Religious Zionist framework. The program allows Orthodox J ...
yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...
, was established, attracting students from all over the world. In recent years the Yeshiva has estimated 300 students per year. There is nine schools in Maalot Tarshiha. Three elementary schools, two datish schools, two Talmud Torah schools, one middle school, and one high school. The middle school and the high school are jointed.


Landmarks and culture

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 ...
, after his 1875 visit, wrote that the principal mosque in Tarshiha had been built by Abdullah Pasha, (the Governor of
Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...
at the time.) He further noted that it was "preceded by a court, then by a porch; surmounted by a cupola, above which springs an elegant
minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...
." Andrew Petersen, who inspected the mosque in 1993, noted that it was built in "classical Ottoman style with four main elements: a
courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary a ...
, an
arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...
, a
dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
d prayer hall, and a minaret." Lake Monfort, an artificial lake to the east of Ma'alot-Tarshiha, has become a local tourist attraction. It was previously known as the Hosen Reservoir. The lake is featured in the city's emblem. In January 2008, Ma'alot-Tarshiha hosted the Israel International Chess Championship. The tournament, held at the community center, carried a prize of $20,000. The city has also hosted other international events, among them an international fencing tournament. The "Stone in the Galilee" International Sculpture Symposium has been held annually in Ma'alot-Tarshiha since 1991. In this 10-day springtime event, sculptors from Israel and around the world convene at Montfort Lake to create stone sculptures from huge blocks of stone. In 2009, the non-profit Docaviv established an annual documentary film festival in the city in an effort to bring "high quality cultural activity to the Israeli periphery."


Notable people

* Ashraf Barhom (born 1979), actor * Amal Bishara, doctor, and the director of Bone Marrow Registry Outreach in
Hadassah Medical Center Hadassah Medical Center () is an Israeli medical organization established in 1934 that operates two university hospitals in Jerusalem (one in Ein Karem and one in Mount Scopus) as well as schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, and pharmacology ...
* Nisreen Faour (born 1972), actress * Mahmoud Hawari (born 1953), archaeologist and academic * Simon Shaheen (born 1955), musician and composer


Twin towns – sister cities

Ma'alot-Tarshiha is twinned with: *
Birobidzhan Birobidzhan ( rus, Биробиджан, p=bʲɪrəbʲɪˈdʐan; , ), also spelt Birobijan ( ), is a town and the administrative centre of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Russia, located on the Trans-Siberian Railway, near the China–Russia bord ...
, Russia *
Harrisburg Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat, seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50, ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
, United States *
Asti Asti ( , ; ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) of 74,348 inhabitants (1–1–2021) located in the Italy, Italian region of Piedmont, about east of Turin, in the plain of the Tanaro, Tanaro River. It is the capital of the province of Asti and ...
, Italy *
Reichenbach im Vogtland Reichenbach im Vogtland is a town in the Vogtlandkreis district of Saxony in eastern Germany. With a population of 20,108, it is the second-largest town in the Vogtlandkreis after Plauen. It is located close to the A72 between Plauen (at c. 18&n ...
, Germany *
Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ; ) is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales departments of France, department in Southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Me ...
, France *
Quba Quba () is a city and the administrative centre of the Quba District (Azerbaijan), Quba District of Azerbaijan. The city lies on the north-eastern slopes of Mount Shahdagh, Shahdag mountain, at an altitude of 600 metres above sea level, on the ...
, Azerbaijan *
Český Krumlov Český Krumlov (; , ''Böhmisch Krumau'') is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 13,000 inhabitants. It is known as a tourist centre, which is among the most visited places in the country. The historic centre ...
, Czech Republic


References


Bibliography

* *Cohen, A. (1973), ''Palestine in the Eighteenth Century: Patterns of Government and Administration,'' Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Cited in Petersen, (2001) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * (Tarshiha:293-296) * * (p
376
* * Shammas, A. (1988), ''The Retreat from Galilee'', Granta 23, Spring 1988. * *


External links


Official website
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 3
IAAWikimedia commons
{{Authority control Mixed Israeli communities Cities in Northern District (Israel) Arab Christian communities in Israel