إعـــــــلان

**حسينية الأقصى** · 06-12-2004, 12:36 PM

Acre

Arabic, Akka; Hebrew, Akko
Acre was one of Palestine's two major seaports (the other was JAFFA) until the twentieth century and was a fortified town of significant political import throughout Palestine's history.
Lying at the foothills of Galilee on the northern end of the Gulf of Acre, the city's ************************ has given it a vital strategic importance for both defenders and potential conquerors. Acre's current walls date from the ninth century. In 1104, Acre fell to Crusaders and became the main seaport for the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. After changing hands several times, the city became the last Crusader stronghold in Palestine to fall, in 1291. In 1799, it earned the distinction of resisting Napoleon's conquest of Egypt and Palestine.
Acre was a major seaport and trade center for Greater Syria. The Ottoman sultan Sulayman the Lawgiver (the Magnificent) allowed the French king Francis I to station French traders in the city. In the seventeenth century, the regional ruler Fakhr al-Din II undertook many construction projects in the city , which was benefiting from the rise in European trade with the eastern Mediterranean. The Palestinians of Acre flourished during the rule of Zahir al-Umar in the third quarter of the eighteenth century , and so they undertook more rebuilding during the rule of the Ottoman governor Ahmad Jazzar Pasha. By the Ottoman era, Acre was a major port for the export of grain, which arrived from Hawran in southern Syria via camel caravan.
During the late Ottoman era, Acre's trade position began to suffer. The establishment of a railroad link between Damascus and the port of Beirut in 1895 led to the halving of Acre's trade. Its remaining trade was hurt in 1904 when the Syrian hinterland was connected with nearby HAIFA via railroad. However, the city's population doubled during the PALESTINE MANDATE, from some 6,420 in 1922 to 12,300 by 1944, one-sixth of whom were Christian Palestinians within a Muslim majority.
Acre contains several notable religious institutions. The Jazzar Mosque, built in 1781, includes relics from the Prophet Muhammad. Baha'ullah, the Iranian founder of the Baha'i faith, arrived in Acre in 1868 and was buried north of the town in 1892. The Islamic school for training ulama (men of religion), established during the Palestine Mandate in the Jazzar Mosque, was the only one of its kind in Palestine.
During the ARAB-ISRAEL WAR OF 1948, Acre was once again coveted for its vital strategic ************************. The Jewish Haganah captured the city on May 17, 1948, and all but some 3,200 of its inhabitants were expelled. The old quarters of the city , within the walls, soon disintegrated into slum districts. By 1953, 12,000 Jewish immigrants were settled in Acre. The city's population in 1987 stood at 37,200 Jews and 8,200 Palestinians.
Michael R. Fischbach

The above was quoted from Encyclopedia Of The Palestinians edited by Philip Mattar

**حسينية الأقصى** · 06-12-2004, 12:42 PM

Occupation date 18th of May 1948 (few days after the fall of Jaffa)

Elevation from the sea 30 meters

Acts of terror The massacre of 79 Palestinians soon after occupation.
No further information is available, so please do not hesitate to share with us any information about this unknown massacre.

Ethnic cleansing Out of 13,000 Palestinians who used to call Acre home, only 3,000 Palestinians were allowed to stay.

City's name through history:

Canaanites Acre was first founded by either a Canaanite or a Phoenician Arab tribe known by al-Jar Jashyyein on Tel al-Fukhar, two kilometers East of the city. For the Canaanites, Acre was known by 'Akkaw (meaning hot sand), which is derived from the Arabic word of 'Akk, meaning intense rubbing.
Ancient Egyptians 'Akka (as it's known to Arabs now)
Israelites Accho
Greeks Ptolemais
Crusades Accon, Acre, Acri, and Saint Jeand Acre (Nights of Saint John Mary).
Zionist Akko

In 1945, the district covered an area of 799.67 square kilometer, of which 2.79 square kilometer were allocated for public use, such as roads, wadies, railroads ... etc. Zionists owned only 25 square kilometer, which constituted 3.1% of the overall district's size.
During the Ottoman period, the district was made up of 60 plus villages, but during the British Mandate it was shrunk to 48 village (of which 26 villages where completely ethnically cleansed and defaced by the Zionists after the 194 war), eight Bedouin localities, and nine Zionist colonies.

It should noted that the villages of Iqrit, Tabrikha, and al-Mansura are Lebanese villages which became part of Palestine after WWI.

City size In 1945, the city covered an area of 1,538 dunums, of which 52 dunums were allocated for roads and railroads, and Zionists owned only 6 dunums of the total city size.

**حسينية الأقصى** · 06-12-2004, 12:44 PM

**Moayad** · 06-12-2004, 11:50 PM

Thank you sister for the information; the photos add alot to any topic. Could you please change the direction of the text from left to right next time you post info

.. Thanks again

**حسينية الأقصى** · 07-12-2004, 10:18 AM

اللهم صل على محمد و ال محمد

thanx dear brother moayad for ur words

about the direction

i turned the direction to the left by "CTRL+Shift"

it doesn't work

so i'll try the deirection button from the menu

thanx again.

**حسينية الأقصى** · 07-12-2004, 10:59 AM

اللهم صل على محمد و ال محمد

besan:

towns in besan:

**حسينية الأقصى** · 13-12-2004, 05:34 PM

اللهم صل و سلم على محمد و ال محمد

Hiafa city

Occupation date April 23rd,1948

Elevation from the sea Elevation varied between 50 meters in the coastal area to 500 meter on Mount Carmel.

Attacking Israeli force

The Zionist forces were made up of 5,000 soldiers mostly organized by Haganah (Carmeli Brigade) and some IZL troops. The attack on Arab Haifa started on the 21st of April and was initiated from Hadara Ha Carmel (Haifa's Jewish neighborhood), which aimed to split the city into three separate and isolated pockets (operation Misbarayim meaning scissor).
The 1st attacking force was directed from Wadi Rashmya towards the Northeastern neighborhoods of Arab Haifa, the 2nd attacking force was directed toward the Arab neighborhood next to the port, and the 3rd attacking was directed toward the commercial district.

Acts of terror

On December 30th ,1947, a Zionist terrorist planted a bomb in the Arab neighborhood where Palestinian Arab workers from nearby Palestine Oil Refinery used to live. As a result 6 Palestinians were killed, and 41 others were injured. Next morning, the Arab workers rioted in the Oil Refinery and attacked the Jewish workers to avenge the death of their Arab brothers, which resulted in the killing of 41 Jewish workers. In response, the Haganah and IZL forces retaliated by perpetrating the New Years Eve Massacre at Balad al-Shaykh, which resulted in the killing of close to 60 innocent men, women, and children. It should be noted that the people of Balad al-Shaykh had nothing to do with Oil Refinery riots, and the Haganah made the choice of picking an easy target to avenge the death of the Jewish workers at the Oil Refinery .

On February 29th ,1948, Zionist terrorists rolled downs a barrel of explosives from Haifa's Jewish neighborhood, Hadara Ha Carmel, into al-'Abasyah Arab neighborhood, which resulted in the destruction of most of the neighborhood. The bomb ended up terrorizing the nearby Arab neighborhoods into fleeing soon after that incident.

On March 22nd, 1948, Zionist terrorists disguised as British officers planted a car bomb in Iraq Street that killed and injured 36 people, mostly women and children, plus the destruction of several public buildings.

City name through history

The city's name is derived from the Canaanite Arabic word al-Hayfah meaning nearby, and during the Roman period it was known by Efa. The Crusades called Haifa by Cayphas and sometime they referred to it also by Sycaminon (meaning Wild Strawberry which is abandoned in the area). During the Islamic period, Acre dominated the coastal area, and Haifa was just a small town.
It is worth pointing out that Haifa is a modern and new city, which was initially developed by the Ottomans, and later on by the British Mandate and the Israelis.

District's size

Haifa's district covered an area of 1,031.76 square kilometers, of which Jews owned 364.28 square kilometers (35.3% of the overall district size). In 1945, the district was made of 52 villages, and 14 bedouin localities. The Israeli Zionists destroyed all of these villages and bedouin localities with the exception of 'Ablein, Shefa 'Amr, 'Ibtin, 'Ara and 'Ar'ara, Kafer Qare'a, 'Aseifa, and Dalyat al-Karmel (Palestinian Druze village).

**حسينية الأقصى** · 30-08-2005, 06:38 PM

Palestine is not for sale!
Popular movement shuns attempts to curb resistance to the Apartheid Wall

by Jamal Juma; March 20, 2005

Following the reports of Palestinian resistance during February and March, one cannot help but notice two striking features:

Firstly, that there has been wide-scale escalation of popular resistance confronting the ever intensifying Israeli Occupation and Apartheid, which has come to encompass all areas of the West Bank. Hebron, Beit Surik, Saffa, Ni’lein and Budrus in particular, have been the scene of intense resistance over recent weeks. Moreover, the Ramallah demonstration on March 14th reflected the highpoint of mobilization against the Apartheid Wall currently happening across the West Bank.

Secondly, the Palestinian struggle has escalated against a backdrop of political developments, all which are designed to make Palestinians passive subjects while the racist colonization of the Apartheid Wall project continues unabated on their land. We can summarize these developments as; the Sharm al-Sheikh conference; the announcement by the Occupation Forces that they were making “modifications” to the Apartheid Wall; the conference in London and the increasingly obvious attitude of the United Nations which has chosen to pursue the issue of the Apartheid Wall in “humanitarian” terms.

There is no coincidence in this chain of recent events. To understand why struggle has intensified requires a consideration of the over-riding factor that permeates all recent political discourse and developments. That is the attempt to stifle Palestinian opposition to the Wall, and to shape its “normalization” into the demographics of the West Bank.

The issue of the Wall was negated in the Sharm el-Sheikh meetings, only surfacing in a meek joint statement noting it to be a “controversial issue”. Furthermore, the outcome of the conference stressed the need for a “calming” period in Palestinian resistance and activity. This was expected to occur while the Apartheid Wall and the settlements continued to expand. Indeed, the Occupation Forces have used the de-facto impasse to pick up the pace of its “third phase” of the Wall, which started in the south during November 2004. Particular fervor has gone into construction of the Apartheid Wall around Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

The rhetoric of “calming down” and “ceasefire” (which assumes Palestinians and the Zionists are in war, and as if Palestinians do not confront their violence as people under Occupation), which does not deal with the Apartheid Wall and settlement construction as part of Israeli violence has no meaning. The implementation of the ICJ decision - for the dismantlement of the Wall - is not a negotiable or controversial issue but forms the basis of international law.

By undermining the ICJ decision, and consolidating US/European desires to see a re-routing of the Wall’s path, the Occupation Government announced a “modification” plan. Although some changes in the Wall route were made in individual villages, the Wall and its network of Jewish-only settlements and roads and military zones continues as before in the rest of the West Bank, annexing some 47% of it. It will still leave Palestinians in ghettos or semi-ghettos, linked together with tunnels and bridges under Occupation control. What is new in this fresh Wall route is that it is done under the title of a “disengagement plan” approved by Americans and Europeans who seem to consider it as part of the “road map”.

The Palestinian people were alert to the false impressions the Occupation Forces were attempting to create around its colonial project, which seeks to impose Apartheid upon them from the top. They realized how the Wall draws the features of the final settlement before even beginning negotiations. They totally reject the notion that isolated ghettos being created across the West Bank refer to any kind of “viable state”. That the Wall is the bulldozer and catalyst of the expansionist Zionist colonial project in Palestine, is not hard to discern for Palestinians who have experienced decades of colonialism and destruction of livelihoods, dignity and communities.

It has now been over a year since the opening session of the ICJ, and more than 8 months since its decision that the Wall should be halted and dismantled. While it was expected that Israel would reject the decision (it has never been prepared to abide by international law), it was more surprising that the call for the implementation of the ICJ decision had started to dissipate from official PA discourse. The Wall is pushed into the background as if it is just an illusion in the Palestinian consciousness. For the Europeans and Americans, the issue has been the Wall’s path and not the Wall itself. Thus, the ICJ decision appears to have been annulled by all parties, except for the Palestinian people (the affected people), who are using every possible occasion to call for the respect of international law, and the full implementation of the ICJ decision.

The process to normalize the Apartheid Wall - in contempt of international law - has been a discourse increasingly evident in the UN which prefers to treat it as a “humanitarian”, and not political, issue. On his visit to the West Bank Kofi Annan reiterated previous UN announcements that a damage register office would be established for those affected by the Wall. This move is highly alarming in a context where UN pressure on Israel to stop the Apartheid Wall is completely missing. Is it money instead of respect for international law the UN seeks to provide for the Palestinian people? Moreover, the wealth of reports and statements by UN officials all emphasize the humanitarian implications, ignoring the real issue of the Wall’s existence, thus serving to legitimize the de-facto construction of the Apartheid Wall.

The concrete ramifications of the sell out of the Palestinian people, land and struggle had its debut in the Conference held in London last month. Foreign ministers, the World Bank and Annan met with officials of the Palestinian Authority to lecture about “internal reforms”, “security matters” and, above all, money. Up to $1.2 billion has been promised to the Palestinian authority. This was slightly more than the minimum amount ($900 million) calculated by the World Bank in its report of December 2004 which appeared to be a do-it-yourself guide book on how to administer an entire people in an open air prison with detailed analysis of the financial necessities of life behind the Apartheid Wall. The bottleneck of the World Bank feasibility study – the hi-tech gates in the Apartheid Wall – has been solved with the Bank volunteering to stump up the money and it is now competing with a US standing offer to fund the project. However, despite the meticulous calculations of the world’s most important finance experts, and the “generosity” of the donor community – the Palestinian people are not putting their land and lives for sale.

The Palestinian popular resistance has responded to these developments with escalating grassroots mobilization in various ************************s. In Jerusalem the people of Beit Hanina, Beit Surik, Biddu, Dahya and Ram struggle against the Wall being built to isolate Jerusalem from the West Bank. Land has been confiscated for settlement expansion and the Judaization of Jerusalem in a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing.

The third phase of the Wall has led to further construction and land confiscation in Hebron, Yatta and the Old City, and in turn catalyzed residents into struggle against the Apartheid Wall.

In West Ramallah, and in Safa and Beli’n clashes have emerged on a daily basis over the last two weeks with Palestinians shot at, injured, detained and tear gassed.

The demonstration on March 14th 2005, organized by the Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, was the crowning moment in a “month of continuous struggle”. The huge attendance of people in the demonstration, from all areas of the West Bank, reflected the popular movement against the Wall. Slogans and statements revealed the deep anger of the people at the unrelenting construction of the Apartheid Wall, and widespread opposition to political developments designed to demobilize and pacify resistance to the Occupation.

Rejection of the deceitful “modifications to the Wall”, were emphasized in calls for the restoration of international law and dismantlement of the Wall. Criticism was also directed at the official PA position and discourse which has not sought to use the ICJ decision.

However, it was Annan, and the branches of the UN in Palestine, which received the lion’s share of people’s anger on March 14th. Annan failed to utter one word about the necessity to respect international law, and his focus on the register office, suggested the issue is humanitarian and can be solved with few dollars. Moreover, the recent OCHA report came to the same conclusion. The inability to treat the Apartheid Wall as a political issue – one that is intrinsic to the Zionist colonial project for the West Bank – is a deeply disturbing development within the United Nations.

What Anan and the UN have stated simply mirrors the rhetoric of the Zionists. They too consider the issue as “humanitarian”, and show “understanding” to deal with it! They too act in contempt of the ICJ decision as does Annan and the UN report. We are left to ponder - what exactly is the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the United Nations? Is it to adopt the Israeli –American position in relation to UN decisions, founded on a basis of double standards? Or is it to facilitate the implementation of international law, and support the Palestinian people in their legitimate struggle for justice, sovereignty and freedom.

Jamal Juma’ Coordinator of the Palestinian grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign – www.stopthewall.org