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Maghar מַעָ'ר, מע'אר, מגאר‎ المغار
City council (from 2021)
Hebrew transcription(s)
• Also spelled	Mughar (official) Mrar, Mghar (unofficial)
MagharShow map of Northeast IsraelMagharShow map of Israel
Coordinates: 32°53′24″N 35°24′30″E / 32.89000°N 35.40833°E / 32.89000; 35.40833
Grid position	188/255 PAL
Country	Israel
District	Northern
Area
• Total	27,364 dunams (27.364 km or 10.565 sq mi)
Population
• Total	23,998
• Density	880/km (2,300/sq mi)
Name meaning	The Caves

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. In 2022 it had a population of 23,998. Its population consists of 57% Druze, 23% Christians, and 20% Muslims.

History

Antiquity

Maghar is identified with Mearaia (Hebrew: מעריה), a place mentioned in Jewish sources as the seat of the Bilgah priestly family following the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE.

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

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

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. 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.

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

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. 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 birkeh gives a good supply of water."

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.

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. All the Christians were Roman Catholic. 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.

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

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. 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. Christian shops, vehicle, house and the church were vandalized. The clashes forced around 2,000 of the Christians to flee their homes. According to Jack Khoury this clash may be a result of animosity between the wealthier Christian population and the poorer Druze. According to the police investigation, it turns out that a Druze youth had spread lie to his friends about the pictures. Dan Ronen the commander of Northern District commander called the violence "a pogrom".

During the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, two residents of Maghar were killed and several wounded in Hezbollah rocket and cluster bomb attacks. 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.

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. Israeli Police were on the scene of the attacks within minutes, where they gathered evidence and opened an investigation.

Demographics

The majority of residents are Druze (57.9%), with Arab Christians (21%) and Muslim (21.1%) minorities. Many of the Druze residents serve in the IDF and Israel Police. 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.

Notable people

• Mansour Abbas, politician
• Naim Araidi, a Druze resident of Maghar, a professor of Hebrew literature at Haifa University and Bar Ilan University, was appointed Israel's ambassador to Norway in 2012
• Suliman Bashear, was a leading Druze Arab scholar and professor, who taught at Birzeit University, An-Najah National University, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Bashear was noted for his work on the early historiography of Islam
• Ihab Khatib, soldier
• Salman Masalha, poet, writer, essayist and translator
• Daud Turki, a Palestinian-Arab poet and the leader of the Jewish-Arab socialist group called the Red Front

See also

• Arab localities in Israel
• Druze in Israel

References

1. ^ "Regional Statistics". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
2. ^ Palmer, 1881, p. 131
3. "Maghar becomes Israel's first Druze city | The Times of Israel". The Times of Israel.
4. Gutterman, Dov. Mughar (Israel) CRW Flags. Archived 23 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine
5. Avi-Yonah, Michael (1976). "Gazetteer of Roman Palestine". Qedem. 5: 79. ISSN 0333-5844.
6. Jaffe, 2010, Maghar
7. Jaffe, 2011, Maghar
8. Rhode, 1979, p. 145
9. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 187.
10. 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
11. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 3, 2nd appendix, p. 133
12. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 3, p. 239
13. Guérin, 1880, pp. 457-458
14. Conder and Kitchener, 1881, p. 364
15. Schumacher, 1888, p. 174
16. Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Tiberias, p. 39
17. Barron, 1923, Table XVI, p. 51
18. Mills, 1932, p. 83
19. ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 72
20. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 12
21. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 122
22. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 172
23. Morris, 1987, p. 226
24. ^ Khoury, Jack (11 February 2005). "Druze-Christian Clashes Cool Off in Maghar". Haaretz.
25. ^ "Clashes over 'naked women'". News24. 12 February 2005.
26. "Patriarch and Nuncio to visit village where Druze attacked Christians". Asianews. 2 August 2005.
27. ^ "Druze teen admits spreading rumor that sparked Maghar riots". Comeandsee. 14 February 2005.
28. "Christians flee homes after Druze youths riot". The Guardian. 14 March 2005.
29. Kalman, Matthew (2006-08-05). "In Israel: Arabs are among the dead and wounded in Hezbollah rocket attacks". Casualties of War: Families. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
30. "Lebanon/Israel: Hezbollah Hit Israel with Cluster Munitions During Conflict". Human Rights Watch. Archived from the original on 2008-10-08. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
31. Arabs are among the dead and wounded in Hezbollah rocket attacks
32. Einav, Hagai (2006-08-04). "3 killed in rocket attacks on north". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
33. Again: Stun grenade and gunfire at mosques in the village of the policeman killed in terror attack, Walla, 17 July 2017
34. "Incitement between Druze and Muslims": Grenades and gunfire in village where murdered policeman lived, YNet, 17 July 2017
35. In response to a Facebook status endorsing the terrorist attack: Stun grenade thrown at Mosque in Maghar, YNET, 15 July 2017
36. Winer, Stuart (July 17, 2017). "Mosques in slain policeman's village targeted again". Times of Israel. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
37. "Municipal Profiles – Maghar" (PDF). Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
38. Gutterman, Dov. Mughar (Israel) CRW Flags.
39. Druze Christian Clashes Cool off in Maghar
40. Israel Circus School and Circus Maghar
41. Integration at Israel's embassy in Norway
42. Mualem, Mazal (1 July 2014). "Druze Knesset member slams Arab leaders as 'weak'". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
43. Hannan Hever, "Not my Mother Tongue"
44. The diaries of Abraham the Bolshevik http://www.aljabha.org/q/barhom-albolshofi.pdf Archived 2009-03-19 at the Wayback Machine

Bibliography

• Barron, J.B., ed. (1923). Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922. Government of Palestine.
• Braun, Eliot (2004-06-09). "Maghar Archive Report- Final Report" (116). Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. Vol. 1. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
• Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945.
• Guérin, V. (1880). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine (in French). Vol. 3: Galilee, pt. 1. Paris: L'Imprimerie Nationale.
• Hadawi, S. (1970). Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine. Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center.
• Hütteroth, W.-D.; Abdulfattah, K. (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. ISBN 3-920405-41-2.
• Jaffe, Gilad Bezal’el (2010-02-28). "Maghar Final Report" (122). Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Jaffe, Gilad Bezal’el (2011-10-09). "Maghar Final Report" (123). Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
• Morris, B. (1987). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-33028-9.
• Palmer, E.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
• Rhode, H. (1979). Administration and Population of the Sancak of Safed in the Sixteenth Century (PhD). Columbia University.
• Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. Vol. 3. Boston: Crocker & Brewster.
• Schumacher, G. (1888). "Population list of the Liwa of Akka". Quarterly Statement - Palestine Exploration Fund. 20: 169–191.

External links

• Facebook page of Maghar
• City council website (in Arabic)
• Welcome To Maghar
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 6: IAA, Wikimedia commons

v t e Northern District of Israel
Cities	Acre Afula Beit She'an Karmiel Kiryat Shmona Ma'alot-Tarshiha Maghar Migdal HaEmek Nahariya Nazareth Nof HaGalil Safed Sakhnin Shefa-'Amr Tamra Tiberias Yokneam Illit
Local councils	Israel Abu Snan Arraba Basmat Tab'un Beitegen Bi'ina Bir al-Maksur Bu'eine Nujeidat Daburiyya Deir al-Asad Deir Hanna Eilabun Ein Mahil Fassuta Hurfeish Hatzor HaGlilit I'billin Iksal Ilut Jadeidi-Makr Jish Julis Ka'abiyye-Tabbash-Hajajre Kabul Kafr Kanna Kafr Manda Kafr Yasif Kaukab Abu al-Hija Kfar Kama Kfar Tavor Kfar Vradim Kisra-Sumei Majd al-Krum Mashhad Mazra'a Metula Migdal Mi'ilya Nahf Peki'in Ramat Yishai Rameh Reineh Rosh Pinna Sajur Sha'ab Shlomi Shibli–Umm al-Ghanam Tuba-Zangariyye Tur'an Yafa an-Naseriyye Yanuh-Jat Yarka Yavne'el Yesud HaMa'ala Zarzir Occupied Buq'ata Ein Qiniyye Ghajar Majdal Shams Mas'ade Katzrin (Israeli settlement)
Regional councils	Israel Al-Batuf Beit She'an Valley Bustan al-Marj Northern Jordan Valley (Emek HaYarden) Gilboa Jezreel Valley Lower Galilee Ma'ale Yosef Mateh Asher Megiddo Merom HaGalil Mevo'ot HaHermon Misgav Upper Galilee Occupied Golan

• Arab localities in Israel
• Arab Christian communities in Israel
• Druze communities in Israel
• Local councils in Northern District (Israel)