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Kiryat Shmona
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kiryat Shmona | ||
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| Hebrew | קִרְיַת שְׁמוֹנָה | |
| Name Meaning | City of Eight | |
| Founded in | 1950 | |
| Government | City (from 1974) | |
| Also Spelled | Qiryat Shemona (officially) | |
| District | North | |
| Population | 22,000 (2005) | |
| Jurisdiction | 9,960 dunams (10 km²) | |
| Mayor | Haim Barvivai | |
Kiryat Shmona (Hebrew: קִרְיַת שְׁמוֹנָה, "City of the Eight", alternatively spelt קריית שמונה) is a city located in the North District of Israel on the western slopes of the Hula Valley on the Lebanese border. The name was named for the eight people, including Joseph Trumpeldor, who died in 1920 defending Tel Hai. Today, about one-third of Kiryat Shmona’s population of 22,000 are younger than 19, and the majority of its inhabitants are Jews, particularly of Moroccan descent.
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On May 11, 1948, the Haganah rejected the request by the residents of al-Khalisa for an "agreement". Villagers fled from their homes after hearing news of the fall of Safad and sought refuge in Hunin. In later weeks, a few of them decided to return in order to dig up money they had buried in their land, or to harvest some of their tobacco and grain. They reported that the Israeli forces had burned and destroyed many of the houses. The settlement of Qiryat Shemona was established in 1950 on the village site as a transit camp for immigrants who worked mainly in farming. Stone rubble from the houses marks the site whilst the school, village mosque and minaret, as well as the Mandate government's office buildings stand abandoned. The level land surrounding the site was cultivated by the settlers and has continued to be done so.
Kiryat Shmona has been the scene of several attacks from Arab terrorists operating from across the Lebanese border. On April 11, 1974, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command, sent three members across the border from Lebanon to Kiryat Shmona. They killed eighteen residents of an apartment building, including many children, before being killed in an exchange of fire at the complex (see Kiryat Shmona massacre). [1][2]
The city continued to be the target of attacks after this, including Katyusha rocket attacks by the PLO in July 1981 [3], a Katyusha rocket attack by the PLO in March 1986 (killing a teacher and injuring four students and one adult), [4][5][6], and further Katyusha rocket attacks by Hezbollah during 1996's Operation Grapes of Wrath.[7] The citizens of the town had suffered almost daily attack from the mid 70's until the year 2000, when the IDF left Lebanon. In the years 2000-2006 the locals suffered loud explosion noises every few weeks because of Anti Plane rockets launched at IDF planes flying nearby.
During the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, the city often received media attention because of its being the frequent target of multiple Hezbollah Katyusha rocket attacks. On July 13, 2006, Kiryat Shmona closed its courts due to the ongoing danger of rocket attacks. The next day, three Hezbollah rockets landed in the town. On July 17, Hezbollah launched more Katyusha rockets that hit Kiryat Shmona and neighboring towns. The night of July 17, as a barrage of Hezbollah rockets were launched into northern Israeli communities, a Katyusha hit a house near Kiryat Shmona. During the war, a total of 1012 Katyusha rockets hit Kiryat Shmona. Approximately half of the city’s residents had left the area, and the other half who remained stayed in bomb shelters.
Kiryat Shmona has diverse economic activities amongst its inhabitants. The town's economy is based on both light industry, involving consumer-oriented products such as communications, information technology, and electronics as well as agriculture on the surrounding lands and tourism.
The town has a cable car link with kibbutz Manara above in the Naftali mountain range and also is home to an activity center and toboggan run located in the south of the town.
According to CBS, in 2001 the ethnic makeup of the city was 97.9% Jewish and other non-Arabs, without significant Arab population. In 2001 there were 121 immigrant settlers. The Jewish population of the town is largely of North African and Middle Eastern heritage, and many are industrial workers employed in local small industry and in neighboring kibbutzim.
According to CBS, in 2001 there were 10,800 males and 10,700 females. The population of the city was spread out with 33.5% 19 years of age or younger, 19.8% between 20 and 29, 19.3% between 30 and 44, 15.3% from 45 to 59, 3.5% from 60 to 64, and 8.5% 65 years of age or older. The population growth rate in 2001 was 1.8%.
According to CBS, as of 2000, in the city there were 8,303 salaried workers and 467 are self-employed. The mean monthly wage in 2000 for a salaried worker in the city is 4,306 shekels, a real change of 4.6% over the course of 2000. Salaried males have a mean monthly wage of 5,443 shekels (a real change of 7.1%) versus 3,065 shekels for females (a real change of -2.2%). The mean income for the self-employed is 6,769. There are 564 people who receive unemployment benefits and 1,655 people who receive an income guarantee.
According to CBS, there are 12 schools and 4,339 students in the city. They are spread out as 9 elementary schools and 2,355 elementary school students, and 6 high schools and 1,984 high school students. 49.3% of 12th grade students were entitled to a matriculation certificate in 2001.
Kiryat Shmona is the smallest city in Israel with a top flight football club, Ironi Kiryat Shmona. The club won promotion to the top division for the first time at the end of the 2006-7 season.
- ^ http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/time70s.html
- ^ http://www.palestinefacts.org/pf_1967to1991_terrorism_1970s.php
- ^ http://eightiesclub.tripod.com/id113.htm]
- ^ http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/1ce874ab1832a53e852570bb006dfaf6/47b4f73f22caf46e8025647d004278c5!OpenDocument
- ^ http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,961066,00.html
- ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE7DC103BF93BA15750C0A960948260
- ^ http://www.historyguy.com/israel-lebanon_conflict.html
