Maghar, Israel Explained

Maghar
Settlement Type:City council (from 2021)
Translit Lang1:Hebrew
Translit Lang1 Type3:Also spelled
Image Blank Emblem:Maghar-coat of arms.png
Pushpin Map:Israel northeast#Israel
Pushpin Mapsize:250
Coordinates:32.89°N 35.4083°W
Grid Name:Grid position
Grid Position:188/255 PAL
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: Israel
Subdivision Type2:District
Subdivision Name2:Northern
Unit Pref:dunam
Population Density Km2:auto
Blank Name Sec1:Name meaning
Blank Info Sec1:The Caves[1]

Maghar (Arabic: المغار, Hebrew: מַעָ'אר, also al-Maghar or Mghar; lit. the caves) is a city of mixed population of Muslims, Christians, and Druze in Israel's Northern District with an area of 19,810 dunams. Maghar was given the status of a local council in 1956, and of a city in 2021.[2] In it had a population of . Its population consists of 57% Druze, 23% Christians, and 20% Muslims.[3]

History

Antiquity

Maghar is identified with Mearaia (Hebrew: מעריה|link=no), a place mentioned in Jewish sources as the seat of the Bilgah priestly family following the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE.[4]

Pottery remains from the early Roman period have been found here, together with architectural remains and pottery fragments from the Late Roman period.[5] A quarry has also been excavated.[6]

The city's name comes from the Arabic word for "the caves".[1]

Ottoman Empire

The village was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 with all of Palestine, and in 1555 a tax was paid on silk spinning.[7] In 1596 the village appeared in the tax registers as Magar Hazur, located in the nahiya of Tabariyya, part of Sanjak Safad with an entirely Muslim population consisting of 169 households and 17 bachelors. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on various agricultural products, including wheat, barley, olive trees, goats and/or beehives, in addition on a press for olives or grapes, a total of 14,136 akçe.[8] [9]

In 1838, el Mughar was noted as a Christian and Druze village in the Esh-Shagur district, located between Safad, Acca and Tiberias.[10] [11]

In 1875 Victor Guérin found the village, which he called el-Mehar, to be a large one with 1200 inhabitants. It was divided into three quarters, with Muslim, Christian and Druse inhabitants.[12] In 1881, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described El Mughar as a "large stone-built village, containing about 1,100 Moslems, Druses, and Christians, situated on the slope of the hill, with extensive olive-groves to the south and west; a large spring and birkehgives a good supply of water."[13]

A population list from about 1887 showed El Mughar el Hazzur to have about 1,360 inhabitants; 180 Muslims, 625 Druze and 420 Catholic Christians.[14]

British Mandate

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Mughar wa Mansura had a total population of 1377. Of these, 265 were Muslim, 676 Druze and 436 Christians.[15] All the Christians were Roman Catholic.[16] In the 1931 census the population of Maghar, together with Al-Mansura, was a total of 1733, in 373 inhabited houses. Of these, 307 were Muslim, 549 Christians, and 877 Druze.[17]

In the 1945 statistics the population of Maghar, together with Al-Mansura, was 2,140;[18] 90 Muslims, 800 Christians and 1,250 others.[19] who owned 55,583 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey.[18] 7,864 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 18,352 for cereals,[20] while 55 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[21]

Israel

During Operation Hiram, 29–31 October 1948, the town surrendered to the advancing Israeli army. Many of the inhabitants fled north but some stayed and were not expelled by the Israeli soldiers.[22] The town remained under Martial Law until 1966.

In 2005, Druze attacked Christians after rumors spread that some Christian youths created photo images of Druze girls as nude models and posted them on the internet.[23] [24] Christian shops, vehicle, house and the church were vandalized.[23] The clashes forced around 2,000 of the Christians to flee their homes.[25] According to Jack Khoury this clash may be a result of animosity between the wealthier Christian population and the poorer Druze.[23] According to the police investigation, it turns out that a Druze youth had spread lie to his friends about the pictures.[26] [27] Dan Ronen the commander of Northern District commander called the violence "a pogrom".[26] [24]

During the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, two residents of Maghar were killed and several wounded in Hezbollah rocket and cluster bomb attacks.[28] [29] On July 25, Doua Abbas, 15, was killed by a rocket that hit her house. On August 4, Manal Azzam, a 27-year-old mother of two, was killed, and two other residents were seriously wounded when a rocket hit their apartment building.[30] [31]

Following a Facebook post supporting the 2017 Temple Mount shooting by a Muslim resident of Maghar, the hometown of one of the Druze victims, two mosques in the village were attacked in two separate incidents on the nights of 14 and 16 July with stun grenades and gunfire resulting in minor property damage.[32] [33] [34] Israeli Police were on the scene of the attacks within minutes, where they gathered evidence and opened an investigation.[35]

Demographics

The majority of residents are Druze (57.9%), with Arab Christians (21%) and Muslim (21.1%) minorities.[36] [37] Many of the Druze residents serve in the IDF and Israel Police.[38] The Christian population is mostly Melkite Catholic.

Education and culture

In August 2003, the Israel Circus School established a joint Jewish-Arab "Children’s Circus" together with its partner, Circus Maghar. A group of 20 Jewish and Arab children trained for the circus. In addition to local performances, the circus school toured Cyprus, giving workshops and performances for Christian and Muslim schools and community centers.[39]

Notable people

See also

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Palmer, 1881, p. 131
  2. Web site: Maghar becomes Israel's first Druze city The Times of Israel. .
  3. Gutterman, Dov. Mughar (Israel) CRW Flags.
  4. Avi-Yonah . Michael . 1976 . Gazetteer of Roman Palestine . Qedem . 5 . 79 . 0333-5844.
  5. Jaffe, 2010, Maghar
  6. Jaffe, 2011, Maghar
  7. Rhode, 1979, p. 145
  8. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 187.
  9. Note that Rhode, 1979, p. 6 writes that the Safad register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9
  10. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 3, 2nd appendix, p. 133
  11. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 3, p. 239
  12. Guérin, 1880, pp. 457-458
  13. Conder and Kitchener, 1881, p. 364
  14. Schumacher, 1888, p. 174
  15. Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Tiberias, p. 39
  16. Barron, 1923, Table XVI, p. 51
  17. Mills, 1932, p. 83
  18. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 72
  19. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 12
  20. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 122
  21. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 172
  22. Morris, 1987, p. 226
  23. Web site: Jack. Khoury. Druze-Christian Clashes Cool Off in Maghar. 11 February 2005 . Haaretz.
  24. Web site: Clashes over 'naked women'. 12 February 2005 . News24.
  25. Web site: Patriarch and Nuncio to visit village where Druze attacked Christians. 2 August 2005 . Asianews.
  26. Web site: Druze teen admits spreading rumor that sparked Maghar riots. 14 February 2005 . Comeandsee.
  27. Web site: Christians flee homes after Druze youths riot. 14 March 2005 . The Guardian.
  28. News: In Israel: Arabs are among the dead and wounded in Hezbollah rocket attacks. Casualties of War: Families. 2006-08-05. Kalman, Matthew. San Francisco Chronicle. 2008-05-16.
  29. Web site: Lebanon/Israel: Hezbollah Hit Israel with Cluster Munitions During Conflict. Human Rights Watch. 2008-05-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20081008011528/http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/10/18/lebano14412_txt.htm. 2008-10-08. dead.
  30. http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/CASUALTIES-OF-WAR-FAMILIES-IN-ISRAEL-Arabs-2514814.php Arabs are among the dead and wounded in Hezbollah rocket attacks
  31. News: 3 killed in rocket attacks on north. Einav, Hagai. 2006-08-04. 2008-05-16. Ynetnews.
  32. https://news.walla.co.il/item/3081346 Again: Stun grenade and gunfire at mosques in the village of the policeman killed in terror attack
  33. http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4990242,00.html "Incitement between Druze and Muslims": Grenades and gunfire in village where murdered policeman lived
  34. https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4989382,00.html In response to a Facebook status endorsing the terrorist attack: Stun grenade thrown at Mosque in Maghar
  35. News: Mosques in slain policeman's village targeted again . Winer . Stuart . July 17, 2017 . . July 21, 2017.
  36. Web site: Municipal Profiles – Maghar. Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. 2016. January 8, 2019.
  37. Gutterman, Dov. Mughar (Israel) CRW Flags.
  38. http://www.haaretz.com/news/druze-christian-clashes-cool-off-in-maghar-1.150057 Druze Christian Clashes Cool off in Maghar
  39. http://israelcircusschool.com/?page_id=2 Israel Circus School and Circus Maghar
  40. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4238948,00.html Integration at Israel's embassy in Norway
  41. News: Mualem. Mazal. Druze Knesset member slams Arab leaders as 'weak'. 28 July 2017. Al-Monitor. 1 July 2014.
  42. Hannan Hever, "Not my Mother Tongue"
  43. The diaries of Abraham the Bolshevik http://www.aljabha.org/q/barhom-albolshofi.pdf

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