Everything about Galilee totally explained
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"Galil" redirects here. For the weapon, see IMI Galil.
Galilee (
ha-Galil, lit:
circuit, district;
al-Jaleel), is a large region in northern
Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative
Northern District of the country. Traditionally divided into
Upper Galilee,
Lower Galilee, and
Western Galilee, the region makes up one-third of Israel, extending from
Biblical Dan to the north, at the base of
Mount Hermon, along
Mount Lebanon to the ridges of
Mount Carmel and
Mount Gilboa to the south, and from the
Jordan Valley to the east across the plains of the
Jezreel Valley and
Akko to the shores of the
Mediterranean and
Israel's coastal plain in the west.
Most of the Galilee consists of rocky terrain, at heights of between 500 and 700 meters. There are several high mountains including
Mount Tabor and
Mount Meron in the region which relatively low temperatures and high rainfall in comparison to elsewhere in Israel. As a result of this climate,
flora and
wildlife thrive in the region, whilst many birds annually migrate from colder climates to Africa and back through the Hulah-Jordan corridor. The streams and waterfalls, the latter mainly in the Upper Galilee, along with vast fields of greenery and colorful wildflowers, as well as numerous towns of
biblical importance, make the region a popular tourist destination in
Israel.
Due to its high rainfall (900-1200 mm), mild temperatures (in comparison to other regions of Israel) and high mountains (The
Meron's elevation is 1,000-1,208 meters), the upper Galilee region contains some unique flora and fauna which appear no where else in Israel: prickly juniper (
juniperus oxycedrus), Lebanese cedar (
cedrus libani), which grows in a small grove on Mount Meron,
cyclamens,
paeonias and
rhododendron ponticum which sometimes appears on Meron.
History
According to the
Bible,
Solomon rewarded
Hiram for certain services by giving him the gift of an upland plain among the mountains of
Naphtali. Hiram called it "the land of
Cabul". In Isaiah (8:23), the region is referred to as "the District of the Nations"
(גְּלִיל - הַגּוׁיִם; lit:G’lîl Haggôyim), with much of this name being retained in its present name of
Galil or
HaGalil. During the
Hasmonaean period, with the revolt of the
Maccabees and the decline of the
Seleucid Empire, the Galilee was conquered by the newly independent state of
Judaea, and the region was resettled by Jews.
In Roman times, the
country was divided into
Judea,
Samaria, and the Galilee, which comprised the whole northern section of the country, and was the largest of the three regions.
Herod Antipas, son of
Herod the Great, ruled Galilee as
tetrarch.
The Galilee region was the home of
Jesus during at least thirty years of his life. The first three Gospels of the
New Testament are mainly an account of Jesus' public ministry in this province, particularly in the villages of
Nazareth and
Capernaum. Galilee is also cited as the place where Jesus cured a blind man.
After the
Arab caliphate took control of the region in 638, it became part of the
jund (military district) of
Urdunn (Jordan). The
Shia Fatimids conquered the region in the 900s; a breakaway sect, venerating the Fatimid caliph
al-Hakim, formed the
Druze religion, centered in and to north of, the Galilee. The Eastern Galilee, however, retained a Jewish majority for most of its history. During the
Crusades, Galilee was organized into the
Principality of Galilee, one of the most important Crusader seigneuries.
The Jewish population of the Galilee increased significantly following
their expulsion from Spain and welcome from the
Ottoman Empire. The community for a time made
Tzfat an international center of cloth weaving and manufacturing, as well as a key site for Jewish learning.
(External Link
) Today it remains one of Judaism's
four holy cities and a center for
kabbalah.
In the mid 18th century, the Galilee was caught up in a struggle between the
Bedouin leader
Dhaher al-Omar and the
Ottoman authorities who were centered in
Damascus.
In the early 20th century, the Galilee was inhabited by
Arabs,
Druzes and
Jews, whilst the Ottomans also settled minorities from elsewhere in their empire including
Circassians and
Bosniaks here. Two
Circassian villages remain in the Galilee region today. The Jewish population was increased significantly by
Zionist immigration.
After the
1948 Arab-Israeli war nearly the entire Galilee came under Israel's control. A large portion of the population fled, leaving entire villages empty; however, a large
Israeli Arab community remained based in towns including
Nazareth and
Shefa-'Amr, 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 until Israel seized the
Golan Heights in the 1967
Six-Day War.
During the 1970s and the early 1980s, the
PLO launched several attacks on towns of the Upper and Western Galilee from
Lebanon. Israel initiated
Operation Litani (1979) and
Operation Peace For Galilee (1982) with the stated objectives of destroying the PLO infrastructure in Lebanon and protecting the citizens of the Galilee. Israel occupied much of Southern Lebanon until 1985 when it withdrew to a
narrow security buffer zone.
Until the year, 2000,
Hezbollah, and earlier
Amal, continued to fight the
Israeli Defence Forces, sometimes shelling Upper Galilee communities 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.
The
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict was characterized by round-the-clock Katyusha rocket attacks (with a greatly extended range) by Hezbollah on the entire Galilee, with long-range ground-launched missiles, hitting as far south as the
Sharon plain,
Jezreel Valley, and
Jordan Valley below the
Sea of Galilee.
Modern Galilee
Today the Galilee is home to a large
Israeli Arab population, with a particularly large
Druze population. The central portion of the Galilee also known as the "Heart of the Galilee" stretching from the border with
Lebanon to the northern edge of the
Jezreel Valley including the cities of
Nazareth,
Sakhnin,
Shaghur,
Tamra and
Kafr Kanna has an Arab population of 78%. The
Jewish Agency has attempted to increase the Jewish population in this area, but the non-Jewish population continues to grow. In 2006, out of the 1.2 million residents in the Galilee area some 53.1% were of various minorities, while only 46.9% were Jewish.
The largest cities in the region are
Acre,
Nahariya,
Nazareth,
Tzfat,
Karmiel,
Shaghur,
Afula, and
Tiberias. The port city of
Haifa serves as a commercial center for the whole region.
Because of its hilly terrain, most of the settlements in the Galilee are small villages connected by relatively few roads. A railroad runs south from
Nahariya along the
Mediterranean coast. The main sources of livelihood throughout the area are in the fields of
agriculture and
tourism.
Industrial parks are being developed, bringing further employment opportunities to the local population which includes many recent immigrants. The Israeli government is contributing funding to the private initiative, The Galilee Finance Facility, organised by the
Milken Institute and
Koret Economic Development Fund.
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
Zimmers (German: "room", the local term for a
B&B). Numerous festivals are held throughout the year, especially in the autumn and spring holiday seasons. These include the Acco Festival of Alternative Theater,
(External Link) the olive harvest festival, and music festivals featuring Anglo-American folk,
klezmer, Renaissance, and
chamber music.
Regions
The Galilee is often divided into the following sub-regions:
Further Information
Get more info on 'Galilee'.
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