Encyclopedia
The
Galilee , meaning "circuit", is a large region overlapping with much of the North District of
Israel. It is traditionally divided into three regions:
Geography
The Galilee includes more than one-third of present-day
Israel, extending from Dan on the north, at the base of
Mount Hermon, to the ridges of Carmel and Gilboa on the south, and from the
Jordan Valley on the east across the plains of
Jezreel and
Akko to the shores of the
Mediterranean on the west."
The Western Galilee, also called the "Northern Coastal Plain," stretches from north of Haifa up to Rosh Hanikra on the border between
Israel and
Lebanon.
The Lower Galilee reaches from
Mount Carmel and the Gilboa ridge in the south to the Beit HaKerem Valley in the north. Its eastern border is the
Jordan River.
The Upper Galilee extends from the Beit HaKerem Valley northwards to the Lebanese border. Its eastern border is the
Sea of Galilee and the mountains of the
Golan Heights. The "Finger of the Galilee" is a region of the Upper Galilee and contains the towns Metulla and
Qiryat Shemona and the rivers of Dan and
Banias.
Most of the Galilee consists of rocky terrain, at heights of about 500-700 meters. There are several high mountain such as Mount Tabor and
Mount Meron. The relatively low tempartures and the large amounts of rainfall every year made the Galilee a center of
flora and
wildlife. The streams and waterfalls, the latter mainly in the Upper Galilee, along with vast fields of greenery and colorful wildflowers make it a popular tourist attraction in
Israel.
History
According to legend,
Solomon rewarded Hiram for certain services rendered him by the gift of an upland plain among the mountains of Naphtali. Hiram was dissatisfied with the gift, and called it "the land of Cabul". The Jews called it
Galil. During the
Hasmonaean period, in the midst of the decline of the
Seleucid Empire, the region was taken over by the Jews.
In Roman times, the region was divided into
Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, which comprised the whole northern section of the country, and was the largest of the three. Herod Antipas, son of
Herod the Great, ruled Galilee as tetrarch during
Jesus' ministry.
Galilee has been the scene of some of the most memorable events of Jewish history. Galilee also was the home of
Jesus during at least thirty years of his life. The first three Gospels of the
New Testament are chiefly taken up with Jesus' public ministry in this province, namely in the villages of
Nazareth and
Capernaum.
In 135, following the failed Bar Kokhba revolt, the Romans renamed the province of
Judaea as
Palaestina, in an attempt to remove all memory of the Jews' connection to the area.
After the Arab caliphate took control of the region in 638, it became part of the
jund of Urdunn . The
Shia Fatimids took the region in the 900s; a breakaway sect, venerating the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim, formed the
Druze religion, centered in and north of the Galilee.
During the
Crusades, Galilee was organized into the Principality of Galilee, one of the most important Crusader seigneuries.
In the early
20th century, the Galilee was inhabited by Arabs,
Druzes and minorities such as Circassians and
Jews. The Jewish population was increased significantly by
Zionist immigration.
After the
1948 Arab-Israeli war the entire Galilee came under Israel's control. A large portion of the population fled, leaving entire villages empty; however, more
Palestinians remained than in most areas, due especially to a successful rapprochement with the
Druze. The
kibbutzim around the
Sea of Galilee were sometimes shelled by the
Syrian army's
artillery. The shelling stopped after
Israel conquered the
Golan Heights in 1967.
During the 1970's and the early 1980's, the
PLO sometimes launched attacks on towns of the Upper and Western Galilee from
Lebanon. Israel initiated Operation Litani and
Operation Peace For Galilee with the stated objectives of destroying the PLO infrastructure in
Lebanon and protects the citizens of the Galilee. Israel remained in occupation of most of Southern Lebanon until 1985; in 1985 Israel withdrew to a narrow security "buffer zone" .
Until the year 2000,
Hezbollah continued to fight the
Israeli Defence Forces, sometimes shelling Upper Galilee communities and towns with
Katyusha rockets). In May 2000, Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak unilaterally withdrew IDF troops from southern Lebanon, maintaining a security force on the Israeli side of the international border recognized by the
UN. However, clashes between Hezbollah and Israel continued along the border, and UN observers condemned both for their attacks. Hezbollah claims that the
Shebaa Farms, located on the border of the Golan Heights and Lebanon, is Israeli-occupied Lebanon, while Israel and the UN claim that the Shebaa Farms are part of the Syrian
Golan Heights.
The
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict was characterized by round-the-clock Katyusha rocket attacks by Hezbollah on the entire Galilee, with long-range ground-launched missiles purportedly supplied by
Iran via
Syria, hitting as far south as the Sharon plain,
Jezreel Valley, and
Jordan Valley below the
Sea of Galilee.
Modern Galilee
Modern Galilee is one of the few areas of Israel to have retained a large
Arab population after the founding of the State in 1948, with a particularly large
Druze population. The "heart of the Galilee" - the districts of Carmel, Upper Nazareth, Ma'alot-Tarshiha, Migdal Ha'emek and Afula - has an Arab majority of 78%, despite Jewish Agency efforts to change the demographic balance. The population of the Galilee as a whole is 50% Jewish, 50% Arab and minorities.
Its main cities are
Akko , Nahariya,
Nazareth,
Safed ,
Karmiel, Afula,
Qiryat Shemona and
Tiberias. The port city of
Haifa, although outside the Galilee, serves as an administrational and commercial center.
Because of its hilly terrain, most of the settlements in the Galilee are small villages connected by relatively few roads. The railroad runs south from Nahariya along the Mediterranean coast. The main livelihood throughout the area comes from
agriculture and
tourism. Industrial parks are being developed, bringing further employment opportunities to the local population that includes many recent immigrants.
The Galilee is a popular destination for vacationing Israelis from other parts of the country who enjoy its scenery, recreational, and gastronomic offerings. Many kibbutzim and moshav families operate a
Zimmer . Numerous festivals are held throughout the year, especially in the autumn and spring holiday seasons. These include the Akko International Festival of Alternative Theater, the olive harvest festival, and music festivals featuring Anglo-American folk, klezmer, Renaissance, and chamber music.
See also
Reference
- Initial text from Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897. Please update as needed
