Haifa, Haifa

Over the centuries, the city has changed hands: It has been conquered and ruled by the Byzantine, Arabs, Crusaders, Ottoman, Egyptians, and the British. Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the city has been governed by the Haifa Municipality.

It is located about north of Tel Aviv and is the major regional center of northern Israel. Two respected academic institutions, the University of Haifa and the Technion, are located in Haifa, and the city plays an important role in Israel's economy. It has several high-tech parks, among them the oldest and largest in the country, an industrial port, and a petroleum refinery. Haifa was formerly the western terminus of an oil pipeline from Iraq via Jordan.

According to historian Alex Carmel, it may come from the Hebrew verb root ( hafa ), meaning to cover or shield, i.e. Mount Carmel covers Haifa.

Later the Rashidun Caliphate was established over the Middle East. This brought about developments in the city; in the 9th century under the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates, Haifa established trading relations with Egyptian ports and the city featured several shipyards. With the Caliphate in control of government and civil administration, Arabs and Jews engaged in trade and maritime commerce, and Haifa again prospered by the 11th century. Glass production and dye-making from marine snails were the city's most lucrative industries.

Following their victory at the Battle of Hattin, Saladin's Ayyubid army captured Haifa in mid-July 1187. Lane-Poole, 1906, p.219.

Haifa is thus an important site of worship, pilgrimage and administration for members of the faith. The Bah' World Centre (comprising the Shrine of the Bb, terraced gardens and administrative buildings) are all on Mount Carmel's northern slope. Haifa is also important to the Bah's because the founder of the religion, Bah'u'llh, had been imprisoned there by the Ottoman.

Immigrants from the former Soviet Union constitute 25% of Haifa's population.

Faier, Elizabeth (2005) Organizations, Gender, and the Culture of Palestinian Activism in Haifa, Israel: fieldwork and Palestinians in Israel New venues : nongovernmental organizations and social change Activism : support, conflict, and ideas Two tales of a city : history, space, and identity Honor, land, and protest ..

Ittijah network listing of NGOs , many of them Haifa-based (in Arabic) Haifa is Israel's third-largest city, consisting of 103,000 households.

Snow is rare in Haifa, but temperatures around can sometimes occur, usually in the early morning. Humidity tends to be high all year round, and rain usually occurs between October and April. Annual precipitation is approximately.

Wadi Salib stretches across to Wadi Nisnas, the center of Arab life in Haifa today. In the 19th century, under Ottoman rule, the German Colony was built, providing the first model of urban planning in Haifa. Some of the buildings have been restored and the colony has turned into a center of Haifa nightlife.

Hadar was Haifa's cultural center and marketplace throughout the 1920s and into the 1980s, nestled above and around the Haifa's Arab neighborhoods. Today Hadar stretches from the port area near the bay, approximately halfway up Mount Carmel, around the German Colony, Wadi Nisnas and Wadi Salib.

Haifa is home to one of the two oil refineries in Israel (the other located in Ashdod). The Haifa refinery processes 9 million tons (66 million barrels) of crude oil a year.

During the 1950s, mayor Abba Hushi made a special effort to encourage authors and poets to move to the city, and founded the Haifa Theatre, a repertory theater, the first municipal theater founded in the country.

The University of Haifa, founded in 1963, is at the top of Mt. Carmel. The campus was designed by the architect of Brasilia and United Nations Headquarters in New York, Oscar Niemeyer. The top floor of the 30-story Eshkol Tower provides a panoramic view of northern Israel. The Hecht Museum, with important archeology and art collections, is on the campus of Haifa University. The Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, described as Israel's MIT, was founded in 1924. It has 18 faculties and 42 research institutes. The original building now houses Haifa's science museum. The first technological high school in Israel, Basmat, was established in Haifa in 1933.

The Michlala Leminhal College of Management and the Open University of Israel have branches in Haifa. The city also has a nursing college and the P.E.T Practical Engineering School.

There are also service taxis that run along some bus routes but do not have an official schedule. In 2006, Haifa implemented a trial network of neighborhood mini-buses named "Shkhunatit" and run by Egged.

Haifa is also the only city in Israel to operate a Saturday bus service to the beaches during summer time. Egged lines run during Saturday mornings from many neighborhoods to the Dado and Bat Galim beaches, and back in the afternoon.

Haifa also has a touristic cable car. The Stella Maris gondola lift cable car consists of six cabins and connects Bat Galim on the coast to the Stella Maris observation deck and monastery atop Mount Carmel; although mainly for tourism purposes.

Neve Sha'anan Athletic Stadium seats 1,000. A UEFA-approved stadium to seat 30,000 is planned for south-west Haifa, due to be completed in 2009.

Source: Wikipedia > Haifa