Wadi Nisnas (Arabic : وادي النسناس; Hebrew : ואדי ניסנאס) is a predominantly Arab neighborhood in the city of Haifa, Israel, with a population of about 8,000 inhabitants. [1] [2]
Wadi Nisnas (Arabic : وادي النسناس; Hebrew : ואדי ניסנאס) is a predominantly Arab neighborhood in the city of Haifa, Israel, with a population of about 8,000 inhabitants. [1] [2]
'Wadi' is the Arabic word for valley, and 'nisnas' means mongoose, with the Egyptian mongoose being indigenous to the region.[ citation needed ]
Wadi Nisnas was developed at the end of the nineteenth century as a Christian-Arab neighborhood outside the walls of Haifa. [3] [4]
During the 1948 Palestine war, as part of the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight, the vast majority of Haifa's Arab population fled or were expelled from the city, many during the battle of Haifa. The remaining Arab population was relocated to Wadi Nisnas in a process that has been described as "ghettoization". [5] [6] [7] [8]
The current Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics census estimates that 66% of the Wadi Nisnas population are Christians, 31.5% are Muslims, and the rest are Jews. [9]
Wadi Nisnas is the setting for the 1987 novel, Hatsotsrah ba-Vadi (Hebrew: "Trumpet in the Wadi") by Sami Michael. It centers on the love story between a young Israeli Arab woman and a new Jewish immigrant from Russia. [10]
Haifa is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of 290,306 in 2022. The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area in Israel. It is home to the Baháʼí Faith's Baháʼí World Centre, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a destination for Baháʼí pilgrimage.
The Battle of Haifa, called by the Jewish forces Operation Bi'ur Hametz, was a Haganah operation carried out on 21–22 April 1948 and a major event in the final stages of the civil war in Palestine, leading up to the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The objective of the operation was the capture of the Arab neighborhoods of Haifa. The operation formed part of the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight, with approximately 15,000 Arab residents being displaced between April 21–22, and with only 4,000 remaining in the city by mid-May from a pre-conflict population of approximately 65,000.
The Arab citizens of Israel are the country's largest ethnic minority. They are formerly, or are descended from, the Arab citizens of British Mandatory Palestine. In Arabic, they are colloquially referred to as either 48-Arabs or 48-Palestinians, denoting the fact that they have remained in Israeli territory since the Green Line was agreed upon between Israel and the Arab countries as part of the 1949 Armistice Agreements. Most prefer to be identified as Palestinian citizens of Israel. International media outlets often use the term "Arab-Israeli" or "Israeli-Arab" to distinguish Israel's Arab citizens from the Palestinian Arabs residing in the Israeli-occupied territories.
Wadi Salib is a primarily Palestinian neighbourhood located in downtown Haifa, Israel, on the lower northeastern slope of Mount Carmel, between the Hadar HaCarmel and the city's historic center and CBD.
Hadar HaCarmel is a district of Haifa, Israel. Located on the northern slope of Mount Carmel between the upper and lower city overlooking the Port of Haifa and Haifa Bay, it was once the commercial center of Haifa.
The Triangle, formerly referred to as the Little Triangle, is a concentration of Israeli Arab towns and villages adjacent to the Green Line, located in the eastern Sharon plain among the Samarian foothills; this area is located within the easternmost boundaries of both the Central District and Haifa District. The eleven towns are home to approximately 250,000 Arab citizens of Israel, representing between 10-15% of Israel's Palestinian Arab population.
Wadi Ara was a Palestinian village located 38.5 km south of the city of Haifa. It is named after the nearby stream that is known in Arabic as Wadi 'Ara. The village was particularly small with a population of 230 and a land area of approximately 9,800 dunums.
Arab localities in Israel include all population centers with a 50% or higher Arab population in Israel. East Jerusalem and Golan Heights are not internationally recognized parts of Israel proper but have been included in this list.
Emile Touma, was a Palestinian and Israeli Arab political historian, journalist and theorist.
Tantura was a Palestinian Arab fishing village located 8 kilometers (5 mi) northwest of Zikhron Ya'akov on the Mediterranean coast of Israel. Near the village lie the ruins of the ancient Phoenician city of Dor.
Khirbat al-Sarkas was a village in Palestine, located 42 kilometres south of Haifa. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.
Sami Hadawi was a Palestinian scholar and author. He is known for documenting the effects of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War on the Arab population in Palestine and publishing statistics for individual villages prior to Israel's establishment. Hadawi worked as a land specialist until he was exiled from Jerusalem after a fierce battle in his neighborhood between Israeli and Jordanian forces. He continued to specialize in documenting Palestine's lands and published several books about the 1948 Palestine war and the Palestinian refugees.
Khirbat Qumbaza was a Palestinian Arab village in the Haifa Subdistrict, located 21.5 km south of Haifa, 3 km away from Wadi al-Milh. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War in May 1948.
Al-Rihaniyya was a Palestinian Arab village in the Haifa Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on 30 April 1948 as part of the battle of Mishmar HaEmek. It was located 25 km southeast of Haifa and 3 km northwest of Wadi al-Mileh.
In the 1948 Palestine war, more than 700,000 Palestinian Arabs – about half of Mandatory Palestine's predominantly Arab population – were expelled or fled from their homes, at first by Zionist paramilitaries, and after the establishment of Israel, by its military. The expulsion and flight was a central component of the fracturing, dispossession, and displacement of Palestinian society, known as the Nakba. Dozens of massacres targeting Arabs were conducted by Israeli military forces and between 400 and 600 Palestinian villages were destroyed. Village wells were poisoned in a biological warfare programme codenamed Operation Cast Thy Bread and properties were looted to prevent Palestinian refugees from returning. Other sites were subject to Hebraization of Palestinian place names.
A Trumpet in the Wadi is a 1987 novel by Sami Michael. It details a love story between a Russian Jewish immigrant and an Arab Christian woman in the Wadi Nisnas of Haifa. The novel has been adapted for the stage five times in Israel, as well as for a film in 2001. The film version of the book won many prizes–First Prize at Haifa International Film Festival, the Haifa Culture Foundation prize, the Israeli Academy prize for Best Drama, First Prize in the Film Festival for Love Stories in Russia, and Best Actor at the Geneva Festival.
Mu'awiya is an Arab village in Israel's Haifa District. The village is in the Wadi Ara area of the northern Triangle and lies between Kfar Kara and Umm el-Fahm. The village has around 3,100 residents. Since 1996, it has been under the jurisdiction of the Basma local council. The village is divided into two neighborhoods: eastern and western. The residents of the village belong to two clans: Ighbarieh and Mahmid.
Abbas is a neighborhood in the city of Haifa in northern Israel. It is located in the administrative region of Hadar, on the edge of the Mount Carmel. neighborhoods such as German Colony, Wadi Nisnas and Abbas, are largely Arab Christian.
Halisa is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of Haifa in northern Israel. It is located in the administrative region of Nave Sha'anan-Izraeliya, on the edge of the Mount Carmel.
Habib Qahwaji (1932–2023) was a Palestinian teacher, writer and political activist. He is known for being one of the founders of the Al Ard movement based in Israel. He was a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1977 to 1981. He was one of the Palestinian activists who presented new ways of thinking about the Palestine cause.
There are two main Arab neighborhoods in Haifa—Wadi Nisnas, which is largely Christian, and Halisa, which is largely Muslim.
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