Misplaced Pages

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159-576: Naddaf supports the integration of Christian Arabs in all state institutions, including military and national service. He has been threatened by Israeli Arabs , including politicians. His oldest son, Jubran, was physically attacked in December 2013 for supporting his father's activities. Naddaf has received the support of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , the Israeli Ministry of Defense , members of

318-555: A sigma (σ) instead of a zeta (ζ). This has led some scholars to question whether "Nazareth" and its cognates in the New Testament actually refer to the settlement known traditionally as Nazareth in Lower Galilee . Such linguistic discrepancies may be explained, however, by "a peculiarity of the 'Palestinian' Aramaic dialect wherein a sade (ṣ) between two voiced (sonant) consonants tended to be partially assimilated by taking on

477-576: A Jewish lawyer. The Rabbinic and modern Hebrew name for Christians, notzrim , is also thought to derive from Nazareth, and be connected with Tertullus' charge against Paul of being a member of the sect of the Nazarenes , Nazoraioi , "men of Nazareth" in Acts. Against this, some medieval Jewish polemical texts connect notzrim with the netsarim "watchmen" of Ephraim in Jeremiah 31:6. In Syriac Aramaic Nasrath (ܢܨܪܬ)

636-543: A Palestinian component ("Israeli", "Arab", "Arab in Israel", "Israeli Arab"), and 15% chose Palestinian identities without an Israeli component ("Palestinian", "Palestinian Arab"). When these two components are presented as competitors, 69% chose exclusive or primary Palestinian identity, compared with 30% who chose exclusive or primary Israeli Arab identity. 66% of the Arab population agreed that "the identity of 'Palestinian Arab in Israel'

795-417: A Palestinian state would be able to move to Israel. All citizens of Israel, whether Jews or Arabs, would be required to pledge an oath of allegiance to retain citizenship. Those who refuse could remain in Israel as permanent residents. In January 2007 the first non-Druze Arab minister in Israel's history, Raleb Majadele , was appointed minister without portfolio ( Salah Tarif , a Druze , had been appointed

954-591: A broad left-right-center government without consulting the Arab parties, disappointing the Arab community. Tensions between Arabs and the state rose in October 2000 when 12 Arab citizens and one man from Gaza were killed while protesting the government's response to the Second Intifada . In response to this incident, the government established the Or Commission . The events of October 2000 caused many Arabs to question

1113-587: A closed military zone, followed by the use of Ottoman legislation on abandoned land to take control of the land. Travel permits, curfews, administrative detentions , and expulsions were part of life until 1966. Arabs who held Israeli citizenship were entitled to vote for the Israeli Knesset . Arab Knesset members have served in office since the First Knesset . The first Arab Knesset members were Amin-Salim Jarjora and Seif el-Din el-Zoubi who were members of

1272-476: A conference in Nazareth, attended by Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon , it was reported that in 2013 the numbers of Arabic-speaking Christians IDF recruits continued to increase further, and was about 150 people, in addition to national service. It was reported that the number of IDF recruits in only the first quarter of 2014, up to and including March 2014 was around 100 people. In September 2014, Naddaf addressed

1431-549: A joint forum with participation of the government and the Christian community which will promote the recruitment of members of the community to the IDF and national service, and their integration into national life. This forum should work to integrate the Christian community according to the Law of Equal Burden and oversee administrative and legal aspects necessary for this purpose, such as protecting

1590-453: A link between "Nazareth" and the terms " Nazarene " and " Nazoraean " on linguistic grounds, while some affirm the possibility of etymological relation "given the idiosyncrasies of Galilean Aramaic ." The form Nazara is also found in the earliest non-scriptural reference to the town, a citation by Sextus Julius Africanus dated about AD 221 (see "Middle Roman to Byzantine Periods" below). The Church Father Origen (c. AD 185 to 254) knows

1749-537: A main one is that they cannot continue to ignore the Palestinian citizens of Israel. Any solution should include full equality for all citizens as well as the respect and recognition of our rights as a national minority." Some media using the term "Palestinian citizens of Israel" or "Palestinians in Israel" have treated the terms as interchangeable with "Arab citizens of Israel" or "Israeli Arabs", and have not discussed whether Druze and Circassians are exceptions. such as

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1908-583: A major cult centre in that era. The Franciscan priest Bellarmino Bagatti , "Director of Christian Archaeology", carried out extensive excavation of this "Venerated Area" from 1955 to 1965. Fr. Bagatti uncovered pottery dating from the Middle Bronze Age (2200 to 1500 BC) and ceramics, silos and grinding mills from the Iron Age (1500 to 586 BC) which indicated substantial settlement in the Nazareth basin at that time. Archaeological evidence shows that Nazareth

2067-456: A majority of Israeli Arabs condemned the 7 October massacre , but also opposed the mass bombardment of Gaza. Many Israeli Arabs expressed a general resentment over the war, as other Palestinians regarded them as supporters of Israel, whereas Israeli Jews saw them as potential Hamas supporters. In 2006, the official number of Arab residents in Israel – including East Jerusalem and Golan Heights permanent residents many of whom are not citizens –

2226-461: A member of the Palestinian people, a son of this Palestinian homeland. And whether we like it or not, the State of Israel, with its identity, was established inside the Palestinian homeland," Sami Abu Shehadeh of Balad is "an outspoken advocate of Palestinian identity". He says, referring to the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis , "... If the past weeks provided lessons for the international community, then

2385-575: A minister without portfolio in 2001). The appointment was criticized by the left, which felt it was an attempt to cover up the Labor Party's decision to sit with Yisrael Beiteinu in the government, and by the right, who saw it as a threat to Israel's status as a Jewish state . In 2021, Mansour Abbas , the leader of the United Arab List , made history by becoming the first Israeli Arab political leader to join an Israeli governing coalition . During

2544-477: A minor village into a large town by encouraging immigration to it. Nazareth played a strategic role in Zahir's sheikhdom because it allowed him to wield control over the agricultural areas of central Galilee. He ensured Nazareth's security for other reasons as well, among them strengthening ties with France by protecting the Christian community and protecting one of his wives who resided in Nazareth. Zahir authorized

2703-770: A more active military role, contributing nine commanders between them. The leaders of the revolt sought to use Nazareth as a staging ground to protest the British proposal to include the Galilee into a future Jewish state. On 26 September 1937, the British district commissioner of the Galilee, Lewis Yelland Andrews , was assassinated in Nazareth by local rebels. By 1946, the municipal boundary of Nazareth had been enlarged and new neighborhoods, namely Maidan, Maslakh, Khanuq and Nimsawi, were established. New homes were established in existing quarters and

2862-537: A personal conversation. It has been speculated that its original purpose was probably to fire him from his position. The meeting itself was held on June 25, 2013, and lasted for hours, but the counter-pressure exerted by the heads of the Israeli establishment, including Justice Minister Tzipi Livni , and Interior Minister Gideon Sa'ar , apparently persuaded the Patriarch not to fire Naddaf during that meeting . On 6 May 2014,

3021-572: A platform promising to improve personal security and oversees law enforcement. Prominent organized crime families among Israeli Arabs include Al-Hariri, Bakri, Jarushis, and the Druze Abu Latifs. Since the outbreak of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war , Israel has carried out mass arrests and detentions of Palestinian workers and Arab citizens of Israel. On 5 November 2023, CNN reported that "dozens" of Palestinian residents and Arab Israelis were arrested in Israel for expressions of solidarity with

3180-446: A political or national identification, obscuring their Palestinian identity and connection to Palestine . The term Israeli Arabs in particular is viewed as a construct of the Israeli authorities. It is nonetheless used by a significant minority of the Arab population, "reflecting its dominance in Israeli social discourse." Between 1920 and 1948, in what was then Mandatory Palestine , all citizens were known as Palestinians, and

3339-712: A protest against land expropriations and house demolitions. The date of the protest, 30 March, has since been commemorated annually as Land Day . The 1980s saw the birth of the Islamic Movement . As part of a larger trend in the Arab World , the Islamic Movement emphasized moving Islam into the political realm. The Islamic movement built schools, provided other essential social services, constructed mosques, and encouraged prayer and conservative Islamic dress. The Islamic Movement began to affect electoral politics particularly at

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3498-555: A public school, a police station, three orphanages, a hotel, three inns, a flour mill and eight souks . The Ottomans lost control of Palestine, including Nazareth, to the Allied Powers during World War I . By then, Nazareth's importance had declined significantly as most of the Arab villages in the Jezreel Valley had been replaced by newly established Jewish communities. The United Kingdom gained control of Palestine in 1917,

3657-579: A reflection of differences in perception of the purpose and outcomes of the war. In the aftermath of the 1947–49 war, the territory previously administered by the British Empire as Mandatory Palestine was de facto divided into three parts: the State of Israel, the Jordanian -held West Bank, and the Egyptian -held Gaza Strip. Of the estimated 950,000 Arabs that lived in the territory that became Israel before

3816-651: A right-wing political party Yisrael Beiteinu , to join his coalition government. The party leader, Avigdor Lieberman , advocated an ethnicity based territory exchange, the Lieberman Plan , by transferring heavily populated Arab areas (mainly the Triangle ), to Palestinian Authority control and annexing major Jewish Israeli settlement blocs in the West Bank close to the green line as part of a peace proposal. Arabs who would prefer to remain in Israel instead of becoming citizens of

3975-411: A rigorous regime of military rule that dominated what remained of the Arab population in territory ruled by Israel, enabling the state to expropriate most Arab-owned land, severely limit its access to investment capital and employment opportunity, and eliminate virtually all opportunities to use citizenship as a vehicle for gaining political influence'. A variety of Israeli legislative measures facilitated

4134-478: A small church which encompassed a cave complex might have been located in Nazareth in the early 4th century", although the town was Jewish until the 7th century. The Christian monk and Bible translator Jerome , writing at the beginning of the 5th century, says Nazareth was a viculus or mere village. In the 6th century, religious narrations from local Christians about the Virgin Mary began to spark interest in

4293-762: A spokesman for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, Father Issa Mesleh, published a statement that: "the Patriarch Theophilus III decided to revoke all the powers of the Father Naddaf at his church and oust him from his position as head of the Orthodox Church in Yafia"; within two weeks the spokesman turned out to be a speaker from the Palestinian Authority who published things on his own and that

4452-431: A tribal name used by resettling groups on their return from exile. Alternatively, the name may derive from the verb na·ṣar , נָצַר , 'watch, guard, keep", and understood either in the sense of 'watchtower' or 'guard place', implying the early town was perched on or near the brow of the hill, or, in the passive sense as 'preserved, protected' in reference to its secluded position. The negative references to Nazareth in

4611-581: A village in Judea and locates it near Cochaba (modern-day Kaukab ). In the same passage Africanus writes of desposunoi – relatives of Jesus – who he claims kept the records of their descent with great care . Ken Dark describes the view that Nazareth did not exist in Jesus's time as "archaeologically unsupportable". James F. Strange, Professor of Religious Studies at the University of South Florida, notes: "Nazareth

4770-539: A white flag over the town's police station. Most of the fighting around Nazareth occurred in its satellite villages, particularly in Saffuriya , whose residents put up resistance until largely dispersing following Israeli air raids on 15 July. During the ten days of fighting which occurred between the first and second truce, Nazareth capitulated to Israeli troops during Operation Dekel on 16 July, after little more than token resistance. By then, morale among local militiamen

4929-845: A wide variety of self-identification: as Israeli or "in Israel"; as Arabs, Palestinians, or Israelis; and as Muslims , Christians or Druze . The choice of terms to refer to Arab citizens of Israel is a highly politicized issue, and there is a broad range of labels that members of this community use to self-identity. Generally speaking, supporters of Israel tend to use Israeli Arab or Arab Israeli to refer to this population without mentioning Palestine, while critics of Israel (or supporters of Palestinians) tend to use Palestinian or Palestinian Arab without referencing Israel. According to The New York Times , most preferred to identify themselves as Palestinian citizens of Israel rather than as Israeli Arabs, as of 2012. The New York Times uses both 'Palestinian Israelis' and 'Israeli Arabs' to refer to

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5088-503: A written agreement, whereby the town's leaders agreed to cease hostilities in return for promises from the Israeli officers, including brigade commander Ben Dunkelman (the leader of the operation), that no harm would come to the civilians of the town. Soon after the signing of the agreement, Dunkelman received an order from the Israeli General Chaim Laskov to forcibly evacuate the city's Arabs. He refused, remarking that he

5247-503: A zayin (z) sound". The Arabic name for Nazareth is an-Nāṣira , and Jesus ( Arabic : يَسُوع , romanized :  Yasū' ) is also called an-Nāṣirī , reflecting the Arab tradition of according people an attribution , a name denoting whence a person comes in either geographical or tribal terms. In the Qur'an , Christians are referred to as naṣārā , meaning "followers of an-Nāṣirī ", or "those who follow Jesus of Nazareth". In

5406-437: Is "an inclusive term used by Israel that describes a number of different and primarily Arabic-speaking groups, including Muslim Arabs", Christian Arabs, Druze and Circassians. They further stated that "considering the number of those defined as Muslim Arabs and Christian Arabs together, the population of Palestinian citizens of Israel amounted to around 1.8 million" in 2019. There are at least two terms which specifically exclude

5565-454: Is appropriate to most Arabs in Israel." According to a 2020 survey by Camil Fuchs of Tel-Aviv University , 51% of Arabs identify as Arab-Israeli, 7% identify as Palestinian, 23% identify as Israeli, 15% identify as Arab, and 4% identify as "other." This significantly differs from their 2019 survey, in which 49% identified as Arab-Israeli, 18% as Palestinian, 27% as Arab, and 5% as Israeli. Common practice in contemporary academic literature

5724-706: Is more definite: "It must be accepted with certainty that [the Ordinance of Caesar]… was brought to the Nazareth market by outside merchants." Princeton University archaeologist Jack Finnegan describes additional archaeological evidence related to settlement in the Nazareth basin during the Bronze and Iron Ages , and states that "Nazareth was a strongly Jewish settlement in the Roman period." In 2020, Yardenna Alexandre confirmed that Jews from Judea migrated to Galilee and settled in new villages and settlements, including Nazareth, since

5883-637: Is mostly Levantine Arabic , including Lebanese Arabic in northern Israel, Palestinian Arabic in central Israel, and Bedouin Arabic across the Negev . Because the modern Arabic dialects of Israel's Arabs have absorbed many Hebrew loanwords and phrases, it is sometimes called the Israeli Arabic dialect . By religious affiliation, the majority of Arab Israelis are Muslims, but there are significant Christian and Druze minorities, among others. Arab citizens of Israel have

6042-570: Is not mentioned in ancient Jewish sources earlier than the third century AD. This likely reflects its lack of prominence both in Galilee and in Judaea." Strange originally calculated the population of Nazareth at the time of Christ as "roughly 1,600 to 2,000 people" but, in a subsequent publication that followed more than a decade of additional research, revised this figure down to "a maximum of about 480." In 2009, Israeli archaeologist Yardenna Alexandre excavated archaeological remains in Nazareth that date to

6201-558: Is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel . In 2022 its population was 78,007. Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and commercial center for the Arab citizens of Israel . The inhabitants are predominantly Arab citizens of Israel , of whom 69% are Muslim and 30.9% Christian . The city also commands immense religious significance, deriving from its status as

6360-488: Is to identify this community as Palestinian as it is how the majority self-identify (See Self-Identification for more). Terms preferred by most Arab citizens to identify themselves include Palestinians , Palestinians in Israel , Israeli Palestinians , the Palestinians of 1948 , Palestinian Arabs , Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel or Palestinian citizens of Israel . There are, however, individuals from among

6519-584: Is to intimidate me and my family. My wife is afraid to go out, and my second 15-year-old son refuses to go out, fearful that radical activists will also hurt him." In November 2012, a month after the first conference of the Christian IDF Forum, the director of the National Civic Service, Sar-Shalom Gerbi, came to Nazareth: "to express his support to Naddaf for his steadfastness and unwavering support for encouraging young Christians to integrate into

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6678-623: Is used for Nazareth, while "Nazarenes" (Acts 24:5) and "of Nazareth" are both Nasrani or Nasraya (ܕܢܨܪܝܐ) an adjectival form. Nasrani is used in the Quran for Christians, and in Modern Standard Arabic may refer more widely to Western people. Saint Thomas Christians , an ancient community of Jewish Christians in India who trace their origins to evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle in

6837-580: The Nazōraios ." One plausible view is that Nazōraean ( Ναζωραῖος ) is a normal Greek adaptation of a reconstructed, hypothetical term in Jewish Aramaic for the word later used in Rabbinical sources to refer to Jesus. "Nazaréth" is named twelve times in surviving Greek manuscript versions of the New Testament, 10 times as Nazaréth or Nazarét , and twice as Nazará . The former two may retain

6996-408: The 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis widespread protests and riots intensified across Israel, particularly in cities with large Arab populations. In Lod, rocks were thrown at Jewish apartments and some Jewish residents were evacuated from their homes by the police. Synagogues and a Muslim cemetery were vandalized. Communal violence including "riots, stabbings, arson, attempted home invasions and shootings"

7155-754: The Amnesty International 2022 report "Israel's Apartheid against Palestinians: Cruel System of Domination and Crime against Humanity", the organization excludes the Israeli Arab Druze and non-Arab Circassians from the term Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel: The Washington Post included the Druze among the Palestinians. The Council of Foreign Relations stated:"The majority of Arab citizens are Sunni Muslims, though there are many Christians and also Druze, who more often embrace Israeli identity." The question of Palestinian identity extends to representation in

7314-558: The Arab Liberation Army (ALA) had entered Nazareth on 9 July. The local defense of the town consisted of 200–300 militiamen distributed along the hills surrounding the town. The defense in the southern and western hills collapsed after Israeli shelling, while resistance in the northern hills had to contend with an incoming Israeli armored unit. Not long after the Israelis began shelling the local militiamen, Nazareth's police chief raised

7473-583: The Crusades after Tancred established it as the capital of the Principality of Galilee . The city declined under Mamluk rule, and following the Ottoman conquest, the city's Christian residents were expelled, only to return once Fakhr ad-Dīn II granted them permission to do so. In the 18th century, Zahir al-Umar transformed Nazareth into a large town by encouraging immigration to it. The city grew steadily during

7632-678: The Democratic List of Nazareth party and Tawfik Toubi , member of the Maki party. In 1965 a radical independent Arab group called al-Ard forming the Arab Socialist List tried to run for Knesset elections. The list was banned by the Israeli Central Elections Committee . In 1966, martial law was lifted completely, and the government set about dismantling most of the discriminatory laws, while Arab citizens were granted

7791-664: The East Jerusalem Arab population and the Druze and other Arabs in the Golan Heights : the Arabs inside the Green Line , and the Arabs within (Arabic: عرب الداخل , romanized:  ‘Arab al-Dākhil ). These terms clarify that While known officially by the Israeli government only as " Israeli Arabs " or "Arab Israelis", the development of Palestinian nationalism and identity in

7950-562: The East Jerusalem Arab population or the Druze in the Golan Heights , as these territories were occupied by Israel in 1967: According to The New York Times , as of 2012, most Israeli Arabs preferred to identify themselves as Palestinian citizens of Israel rather than as Israeli Arabs. The Council on Foreign Relations also states that most members of the Israeli Arab community prefer this term. The Washington Post asserted in 2021 that "surveys showed" that Israeli Arabs preferred

8109-552: The Gospel of John suggest that ancient Jews did not connect the town's name to prophecy. Another theory holds that the Greek form Ναζαρά ( Nazará ), used in the Gospel of Matthew and Gospel of Luke , may derive from an earlier Aramaic form of the name, or from another Semitic language form. If there were a tsade (צ) in the original Semitic form, as in the later Hebrew forms, it would normally have been transcribed in Greek with

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8268-616: The Grotto of the Annunciation . Pilgrimage tours to surrounding sacred sites were organised by the Franciscans, but the monks suffered harassment from surrounding Bedouin tribes who often kidnapped them for ransom. Stability returned with the rule of Zahir al-Umar , a powerful Arab sheikh who ruled the Galilee , and later much of the Levantine coast and Palestine. He transformed Nazareth from

8427-403: The Knesset , and other officials. In 2016, Naddaf was selected to light a torch at the Israel Independence Day ceremony on Mount Herzl . Gabriel Naddaf was born in Yafa an-Naseriyye (Yafia), an Arab Muslim village with a large Christian minority in the Nazareth metropolitan area. Since 1995, Naddaf has served as a priest in the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, and as a priest of

8586-407: The Mensa Christi Church , and the Basilica of Jesus the Adolescent . One view holds that the name 'Nazareth' is derived from one of the Hebrew words for 'branch', namely ne·ṣer , ‏נֵ֫צֶר‎ , and alludes to the prophetic, messianic words in Book of Isaiah 11:1: "from (Jesse's) roots a Branch [ netzer ] will bear fruit". One view suggests this toponym might be an example of

8745-410: The New York Times . Surveys of Arab-Israeli self-identification are diverse, and have often presented differing if not contradictory results. In 2017 the Konrad Adenauer Foundation 's Program for Jewish-Arab Cooperation at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University conducted a telephone poll, in which the results were: The focus groups associated with

8904-473: The Supreme Muslim Council 's Organization of Muslim Youth and the National Muslim Association were established in Nazareth later in the 1920s. In 1922 there were 4885 Christians, 2486 Muslims and 58 Jews living in Nazareth. Nazareth was relatively slow to modernize. While other towns already had wired electricity, Nazareth delayed its electrification until the 1930s and invested instead in improving its water supply system. This included adding two reservoirs at

9063-422: The United Nations Human Rights Council under the auspices of the "Face of Israel" advocacy group, where he called on the world to unite against Islamic extremism and to stop harassing Israel, since: "Israel is the only place in the Middle East where Christians are safe". Father Naddaf has pushed, along with Shadi Khalloul Risho , a major in the reserves, and a spokesman for the Christian IDF Forum and Chairman of

9222-404: The first ever papal visit to the Holy Land. As of the early 1990s, no city plans drafted by Nazareth Municipality have been approved by the government (both the British Mandate and later Israel) since 1942. This has left many people in Nazareth who vote in the city's municipal elections and receive services from its municipality effectively outside of the city's jurisdiction. Such areas include

9381-427: The massacres of 1860 by Aqil Agha , the Bedouin leader who exercised control over the Galilee between 1845 and 1870. Kaloost Vartan , an Armenian from Istanbul , arrived in 1864 and established the first medical mission in Nazareth, the Scottish "hospital on the hill", or the Nazareth Hospital as it is known today, with sponsorship from the Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society . The Ottoman Sultan, who favored

9540-435: The 'feminine' endings common in Galilean toponyms. The minor variants, Nazarat and Nazarath are also attested. Nazara ( Ναζαρά ) might be the earliest form of the name in Greek, going back to the putative Q document . It is found in Matthew 4:13 and Luke 4:16. However, the Textus Receptus clearly translates all passages as Nazara , leaving little room for debate there. Many scholars have questioned

9699-485: The 1948 Nakba , the Palestinians that have remained within the 1949 Armistice borders have been colloquially known as "48 Arabs" (Arabic: عرب ٤٨ , romanized:  ʿArab Thamāniya wa-ʾArbaʿīn ). With the end of military administrative rule in 1966 and following the 1967 war, national consciousness and its expression among Israel's Arab citizens spread. A majority then self-identified as Palestinian, preferring this descriptor to Israeli Arab in numerous surveys over

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9858-556: The 1st century, are sometimes known by the name "Nasrani" even today. Archaeological researchers have revealed that a funerary and cult center at Kfar HaHoresh , about two miles (3.2 km) from current Nazareth, dates back roughly 9,000 years to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B era. The remains of some 65 individuals were found, buried under huge horizontal headstone structures, some of which consisted of up to 3 tons of locally produced white plaster. Decorated human skulls uncovered there have led archaeologists to identify Kfar HaHoresh as

10017-494: The 20th and 21st centuries has been met by a marked evolution in self-identification, reflecting a rising identification with Palestinian identity alongside Arab and Israeli signifiers. Many Palestinian citizens of Israel have family ties to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as well as to Palestinian refugees in Jordan , Syria and Lebanon . Between 1948 and 1967, very few Arab citizens of Israel identified openly as "Palestinian", and an "Israeli-Arab" identity,

10176-487: The 4th century AD, but latent anti-Christian hostility broke out in AD 614 when the Persians invaded Palestine . The Christian Byzantine author Eutychius claimed that Jewish people of Nazareth helped the Persians carry out their slaughter of the Christians. When the Byzantine or Eastern Roman emperor Heraclius ejected the Persians in AD 629-630, he expelled the Jews from the village, turning it all-Christian. The Arab Muslim invasion of AD 638 had no immediate impact on

10335-502: The Arab citizenry who reject the term Palestinian altogether. A minority of Israel's Arab citizens include "Israeli" in some way in their self-identifying label; the majority identify as Palestinian by nationality and Israeli by citizenship . The Israeli establishment prefers Israeli Arabs or Arabs in Israel , and also uses the terms the minorities , the Arab sector , Arabs of Israel and Arab citizens of Israel . These labels have been criticized for denying this population

10494-409: The Association of Christian Arameans, for the recognition of the Arabic-speaking Christians of Israel as a separate people, Aramean , as opposed to Arab or Palestinian. He said: "My two-year old son made history and Gideon Sa'ar made history and the Jewish people finally did justice with other nations in this region. We have been waiting for justice for thousands of years" upon registering his son at

10653-419: The Bible, Jesus grew up in Nazareth from some point in his childhood. However, some modern scholars also regard Nazareth as the birthplace of the historical Jesus. A Hebrew inscription found in Caesarea dating to the late 3rd or early 4th century mentions Nazareth as the home of the priestly Hapizzez/Hafizaz family after the Bar Kokhba revolt (AD 132–135). From the three fragments that have been found,

10812-489: The Christian world. By the end of the war, Nazareth's population saw a large influx of refugees from major urban centers and rural villages in the Galilee. In the first few years of its incorporation into Israel, Nazareth's affairs were dominated by the issues of land expropriation, internally displaced refugees and the hardships of martial law, which included curfews and travel restrictions. Efforts to resolve these issues were largely unsuccessful and led to frustration among

10971-404: The Christians of Nazareth and their churches, since Bishop Arculf remembered seeing there around 670 two churches, one at the house of Joseph where Jesus had lived as a child, and one at the house of Mary where she received the Annunciation - but no synagogue, which had possibly been transformed into a mosque. The 721 iconoclastic edict of Caliph Yazid II apparently led to the destruction of

11130-419: The Crusader Tancred captured Galilee and established his capital in Nazareth. He was the ruler of the Principality of Galilee , which was established, at least in name, in 1099, as a vassal of the Kingdom of Jerusalem . Later, in 1115, Nazareth was created as a seigneury within the principality. A Martin of Nazareth, who probably acted as viscount of Nazareth, is documented in 1115 and in 1130/1131. Nazareth

11289-407: The Druze serve? Why do the Bedouin serve? But not the Christians?" Naddaf asked during a Times of Israel interview. "Because they are scared." And that, he suggested, had to change. "It is time to say in a loud and clear voice: enough." On 16 October 2012, a conference was held in Nazareth , designed to encourage recruitment of young Christians into the army and for national service. The conference

11448-575: The Franciscans to build a church in 1730. That structure stood until 1955, when it was demolished to make way for a larger building completed in 1967. He also permitted the Franciscans to purchase the Synagogue Church in 1741 and authorized the Greek Orthodox community to build St. Gabriel's Church in 1767. Zahir commissioned the construction of a government house known as the Seraya , which served as

11607-623: The French, allowed them to establish an orphanage, the Society of Saint Francis de Sale. By the late 19th century, Nazareth was a town with a strong Arab Christian presence and a growing European community, where a number of communal projects were undertaken and new religious buildings were erected. In 1871 Christ Church, the city's only Anglican church, was completed under the leadership of the Rev John Zeller and consecrated by Bishop Samuel Gobat . In

11766-549: The Golan Heights , occupied and administered by Israel in 1967, are considered permanent residents under Israels Golan Heights Law of 1981. As of mid 2022, 4,303 Druze citizens of Syria have been granted Israeli citizenship, or, 20% of the total Druze residents in the Golan Heights. Most Jewish Israelis refer to the 1948 Arab–Israeli War as the War of Independence, while most Arab citizens refer to it as al-Nakba (the catastrophe),

11925-572: The Gospel of Luke, Nazareth is first described as "a town of Galilee" and home of Mary . Following the birth and early epiphanial events of chapter 2 of Luke, Mary, Joseph and Jesus "returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth". The phrase "Jesus of Nazareth" appears seventeen times in English translations of the New Testament, whereas the Greek original contains the form "Jesus the Nazarēnos " or "Jesus

12084-595: The Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilus III, who promised him that Naddaf will not be boycotted by the Church. In February 2013, MK Ayelet Shaked met with Naddaf; in June 2013, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Interior Minister Gideon Sa'ar met with him as did Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon on July 2. On August 5, 2013, Naddaf met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who directed the establishment of

12243-489: The Greek Orthodox monastery in Nazareth, which belongs to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and is the Christian denomination with the largest affiliation in Israel. He served as a spokesman for the Patriarchate and as a judge in the religious courts of the church. In 2005, he became known to the general public for the first time, when he and another priest, Fr. Romanos Radwan, petitioned an Israeli court to prevent

12402-521: The Grotto of the Annunciation, where, according to Catholic tradition, angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced that she would conceive and bear Jesus . According to Greek Orthodox belief, the same event took place at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation , also known as Church of Saint Gabriel. Other important churches in Nazareth include the Synagogue Church , St. Joseph's Church ,

12561-458: The Israeli Knesset . Journalist Ruth Margalit says of Mansour Abbas of the United Arab List , a member of the governing coalition , "The traditional term for this group, Arab Israelis, is increasingly controversial, but it's the one that Abbas prefers." Abbas gave an interview to Israeli media in November 2021 and said "My rights don't just come from my citizenship. My rights also come from being

12720-515: The Israeli government had invested time and effort to protect Jewish citizens from Hezbollah attacks, but had neglected Arab citizens. They pointed to a dearth of bomb shelters in Arab towns and villages and a lack of basic emergency information in Arabic. Many Israeli Jews viewed the Arab opposition to government policy and sympathy with the Lebanese as a sign of disloyalty. In October 2006, tensions rose when Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert invited

12879-546: The Likud or Yisrael Beiteinu. He wants to bring the Christian community to the status of the Druze community, and take it out of its national affiliation". In addition patriarch was sent letters on the matter from leaders of the Arab sector councils. In mid-June 2013, the Patriarch Theophilus III published in the Israeli Arab media a severe condemnation of activities organized by Naddaf. A week later, he summoned him to have

13038-421: The Nazareth police against MK Ghattas. On December 6, 2013, just days later, Naddaf's eldest son was attacked by a young Arab from Nazareth, who beat his head and body with an iron rod. According to Naddaf, "as I call to integrate our children in Israeli society, the extremists are trying to divide and tear and inciting against me. Incitement passed yesterday from verbal threats to physical violence, as their purpose

13197-512: The Nazareth region bearing the name Nazareth נצרת (in this case vocalized "Nitzrat"), which was home to the descendants of the 18th Kohen family Happitzetz (הפצץ), for at least several centuries after the Bar Kochva revolt. Although it is mentioned in the New Testament gospels, there are no extant non-biblical references to Nazareth until around AD 200, when Sextus Julius Africanus , cited by Eusebius ( Church History 1.7.14), speaks of Nazara as

13356-545: The Palestinian Authority paid a visit to the Greek Orthodox Patriarch in June 2013, following the second conference of recruits Christians IDF and national service and ordered him to fire Naddaf immediately, providing letters from a number of Arab MKs, including Haneen Zoabi, Muhammad Barakeh, and Basel Ghattas. According to MK Ghattas: "Patriarch should explain Naddaf that it's not his job. Please take off his cape and join

13515-416: The Patriarchate did not reject the authority of Father Naddaf. In May 2016, Israeli television station Channel 2 reported accusations that Naddaf had sought sexual favours from male youth he had come into contact with through his IDF recruitment work. Channel 2 also claimed that Naddaf used his governmental contacts to arrange Israeli entry visas for Palestinians for illicit business purposes. Naddaf denied

13674-565: The Population Registry as "Aramean" The mayor of the city of Nazareth and Chairman of the Association of Arab mayors, Ramiz Jaraisy, Greek-Orthodox as well as Naddaf, and MKs Mohammed Barakeh , Dov Khenin and Hana Sweid , a Greek-Catholic, all members of Hadash , have condemned the Christian IDF Forum and claim that Naddaf's actions are going "to cause a sectarian rift in Arab society." The Orthodox Christian Community Council have in

13833-684: The Sharqiya and Jabal el-Daula quarters which are in Nazareth Illit's jurisdiction and whose residents had to acquire building permits from the latter city. Similarly, the Bilal neighborhood of the Safafra Quarter is located within Reineh 's jurisdiction. In 1993, the residents of Bilal became official residents of Reineh. Nazareth's municipal plans for expansion prior to the establishment of Nazareth Illit, were to

13992-613: The West Bank. As permanent residents, they are eligible to vote in Jerusalem 's municipal elections, although only a small percentage takes advantage of this right. The Golan Heights was not part of Mandatory Palestine or the Ottoman political units which preceded it, but rather was part of Syria, and the UN still recognizes it as such, and calls it the Syrian Golan. The remaining Druze population of

14151-554: The aftermath of the Second Intifada . Arabs who left their homes during the period of armed conflict, but remained in what had become Israeli territory, were considered to be " present absentees ". In some cases, they were refused permission to return to their homes, which were expropriated and turned over to state ownership, as was the property of other Palestinian refugees . Some 274,000, or 1 of every 4 Arab citizens of Israel are "present absentees" or internally displaced Palestinians . Notable cases of "present absentees" include

14310-600: The beauty of the Hebrew women there, he records them saying St. Mary was a relative of theirs, and notes that, "The house of St. Mary is a basilica." Constantine the Great ordered that churches be built in Jewish cities, and Nazareth was one of the places designated for this purpose, although construction of churches apparently only started decades after Constantine's death, i.e. after 352. Archaeologists have unearthed evidence that previous to

14469-529: The beginning of December 2013, Naddaf filed a complaint, along with the movement Im Tirtzu with the Knesset Ethics Committee against MK Basel Ghattas ( Balad ), claiming that the MK: "exploits his immunity to incite against me and threaten me very intensely to make it easier for someone lacking all come and physically hurt me". Naddaf noted that in parallel, he filed another complaint on the same subject at

14628-447: The cities devoid of a non-Jewish population. Epiphanius, writing of Joseph of Tiberias , a wealthy Roman Jew who converted to Christianity in the time of Constantine , says he claimed to have received an imperial rescript to build Christian churches in Jewish towns and villages where no gentiles or Samaritans dwell, naming Tiberias , Diocaesarea , Sepphoris , Nazareth and Capernaum . From this scarce notice, it has been concluded that

14787-459: The city's municipal headquarters until 1991. His descendants—known as the "Dhawahri"—along with the Zu'bi, Fahum, and 'Onassah families later constituted Nazareth's traditional Muslim elite. Nazareth's Christian community did not fare well under Zahir's Ottoman successor, Jazzar Pasha (r. 1776–1804), and friction increased between its Christians and Muslim peasants from the surrounding villages. Nazareth

14946-501: The civilian population of Gaza, sharing Quran verses, or expressing "any support for the Palestinian people". Haaretz described the widespread targeting of Arab Israelis by Israeli security forces. Referring to "hundreds" of interrogations, El País reported on 11 November that Israel increasingly treats its Arab minority as a "potential fifth column ". At the same time, the conflict saw an increased self-identification with Israel among Arab citizens. According to different polls,

15105-604: The claims. Following the airing, the Israel Police opened a criminal investigation against Naddaf for sexual assault and illicit favors. Following evidence of more purported victims of improper conduct and sexual harassment, the investigators turned the case to the State Attorney for possible prosecution . In 2018, the Haifa district prosecutor's office closed the case due to lack of evidence and absence of criminal liability. At

15264-629: The community and pressuring the Israeli government. This was followed in 1975 by the formation of the Committee for the Defense of the Land, which sought to prevent continuing land expropriations. That same year, a political breakthrough took place with the election of Arab poet Tawfiq Ziad , a Maki member, as mayor of Nazareth, accompanied by a strong communist presence in the town council. In 1976, six Arab citizens of Israel were killed by Israeli security forces at

15423-404: The community in Israel". Gerbi said at that meeting, that: "this is a courageous act, a man of letters, undeterred by threats and pressures and insists on serving the country... I hope that law enforcement authorities will act decisively to stop the campaign of incitement and de-legitimization of Naddaf and against the young men and women doing national service". About two weeks later, Gerbi met with

15582-609: The country as citizens and wanted to return to their homes. Israel offered compensation to these internal refugees, but most refused for fear of permanently relinquishing their right of return . Tensions between Nazareth's inhabitants and the state came to a head during a 1958 May Day rally where marchers demanded that refugees be allowed to return to their villages, an end to land expropriation, and self-determination for Palestinians. Several young protesters were arrested for throwing stones at security forces. Martial law ended in 1966. On 5 January 1964, Pope Paul VI included Nazareth in

15741-993: The country from within. The State of Israel and the Israeli Prime Minister stand by your side." On December 14, 2014, at a ceremony organized by the Christian IDF forum in Nazareth Illit , Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his support of the Christian community of Israel, in the face of rising Islamic extremism in the Middle East, especially against Christians. Israeli Arabs The Arab citizens of Israel form Israel’s largest ethnic minority. They are mostly former Palestinian citizens who have continued to live in what became Israel, and their descendants. The majority of Arabs in Israel now prefer to be identified as Palestinian citizens of Israel . Following

15900-556: The erection of the Byzantine-period church at the site of Mary's house in the mid-5th century, Judeo-Christians had built there a synagogue-church, leaving behind Judeo-Christian symbols. Until being expelled in c. 630, Jews probably kept on using their older synagogue, while the Judeo-Christian needed to build their own, probably at the site of Mary's house. The Jewish town profited from the Christian pilgrim trade which began in

16059-435: The establishment of Israel in the wake of the 1948 Palestine war , it conferred its citizenship to the Arabs who remained or were not expelled from its territory, but they were put under military law until 1966. After the 1967 Six-Day War , which resulted in an ongoing occupation of several territories, Israel annexed East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights in the early 1980s, thereby granting citizenship eligibility to

16218-479: The focus group findings of strong Palestinian national identity, not conflicting with Israeli civic identity, match those seen in the public sphere. According to a 2019 survey by University of Haifa professor Sammy Smooha , conducted in Arabic among 718 Arab adults, 47% of the Arab population chose Palestinian identities with an Israeli component ("Israeli Palestinian", "Palestinian in Israel", "Palestinian Arab in Israel"), 36% prefers Israeli Arab identities without

16377-400: The formation of a governing coalition. Increased participation of Arab citizens was also seen at the civil society level. However, tension continued to exist with many Arabs calling for Israel to become a " state of all its citizens ", thereby challenging the state's Jewish identity. In the 1999 elections for prime minister, 94% of the Arab electorate voted for Ehud Barak . However, Barak formed

16536-500: The former church, so that Willibald found during his pilgrimage in 724-26 only one church there, the one dedicated to St. Mary, which Christians had to save through repeated payments from destruction by the "pagan Saracens" (Muslim Arabs). The ruins of St. Joseph's remained untouched for a very long time, while the Church St. Mary is repeatedly mentioned throughout the following centuries, including by an Arab geographer in 943. In 1099,

16695-552: The forms Nazará and Nazarét . Later, Eusebius in his Onomasticon (translated by St. Jerome ) also refers to the settlement as Nazara . The nașirutha of the scriptures of the Mandeans refers to "priestly craft", not to Nazareth, which they identified with Qom . The first non-Christian reference to Nazareth is an inscription on a marble fragment from a synagogue found in Caesarea Maritima in 1962. This fragment gives

16854-462: The hilltops around the town. Other new or expanded government offices included a headquarters for the district commissioner at the former Ottoman military barracks, and offices for the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Survey and Settlement. Nazareth was in the territory allotted to the Arab state under the 1947 UN Partition Plan . In the months leading up to the 1948 Arab–Israeli War ,

17013-504: The hometown of Jesus , the central figure of Christianity and a prophet in Islam . Findings unearthed in the neighboring Qafzeh Cave show that the area around Nazareth was populated in the prehistoric period. Nazareth was a Jewish village during the Roman and Byzantine periods and is described in the New Testament as the childhood home of Jesus . It became an important city during

17172-464: The inhabitants, which in turn contributed to political agitation in the city. As the largest Arab town in Israel, Nazareth became a center of Arab and Palestinian nationalism , and because the Communist Party was the sole legal political group that took up many of the local Arab causes, it gained popularity in Nazareth. Arab political organization within Nazareth and Israel was largely stymied by

17331-418: The inscription seems to be a list of the twenty-four priestly courses, with each course (or family) assigned its proper order and the name of each town or village in Galilee where it settled. Nazareth is not spelled with the "z" sound but with the Hebrew tsade (thus "Nasareth" or "Natsareth"). Eleazar Kalir (a Hebrew Galilean poet variously dated from the 6th to 10th century) mentions a locality clearly in

17490-473: The king of France, attended mass in the grotto, accompanied by his wife. In 1263, Baybars , the Mamluk Sultan , destroyed the Christian buildings in Nazareth and declared the site off-limits to Latin clergy, as part of his bid to drive out the remaining Crusaders from Palestine. While Arab Christian families continued to live in Nazareth, its status was reduced to that of a poor village. Pilgrims who visited

17649-457: The late 19th and early 20th centuries, when European powers invested in the construction of churches, monasteries, educational and health facilities. Since late antiquity, Nazareth has been a center of Christian pilgrimage , with many shrines commemorating biblical events. The Church of the Annunciation is considered one of the largest Christian sites of worship in the Middle East . It contains

17808-593: The late 19th century and the first years of the 20th century, Nazareth prospered as it served the role of a market center for the dozens of rural Arab villages located within its vicinity. Local peasants would purchase supplies from Nazareth's many souks (open-air markets), which included separate souks for agricultural produce, metalwork, jewelry and leathers. In 1914, Nazareth consisted of eight quarters: 'Araq, Farah, Jami', Khanuq, Maidan, Mazazwa, Sharqiya and Shufani. There were nine churches, two monasteries, four convents, two mosques, four hospitals, four private schools,

17967-616: The late Hellenistic-Hasmonean period ( c.  late 2nd century ). Under the leadership of priestly families, the Jewish inhabitants observed ritual purity laws. Previously, most of Galiee, except for minor short-lived Israelite settlements in the Naḥal Ẓippori basin, had an occupational gap for about 5 centuries because of the Assyrian conquest in 732 BCE . However, there is strong evidence for Assyrian presence in Galilee, based on artefacts in Cana , which

18126-568: The local level. Many Arab citizens supported the First Intifada and assisted Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, providing them with money, food, and clothes. A number of strikes were also held by Arab citizens in solidarity with Palestinians in the occupied territories. The years leading up to the Oslo Accords were a time of optimism for Arab citizens. During the administration of Yitzhak Rabin , Arab parties played an important role in

18285-460: The most important "component in their personal identity" was to them; 33 percent answered "Israeli citizenship", 32 percent "Arab identity", 23 percent "religious affiliation", and 8 percent "Palestinian identity". University of Haifa professor Sammy Smooha commented in 2019, "The largest now and the most growing identity is a hybrid identity, which is 'Palestinian in Israel' or a similar combination. I think that’s what’s going to take over." In

18444-527: The movement while also proclaiming solidarity with the Jews of Palestine . Politically, Nazareth was becoming further involved in the growing Palestinian nationalist movement . In 1922, a Muslim-Christian Association was established in the town, largely sponsored by the Muslim al-Zu'bi family. A consistent and effective united Palestinian Arab religious front proved difficult to establish and alternative organizations such as

18603-585: The name Nazareth, Christ was called a Nazoraean, and that, in earlier centuries, Christians were once called Nazarenes. Tertullian (Against Marcion 4:8) records that "for this reason the Jews call us 'Nazarenes'." In the New Testament Christians are called "Christians" three times (in Acts 11:26; 26:28; and 1 Peter 4:16), but never directly by the Apostle Paul. They are called "Nazarenes" once by Tertullus ,

18762-435: The nature of their Israeli citizenship. To a large extent, they boycotted the 2001 Israeli Elections as a means of protest. This boycott helped Ariel Sharon defeat Ehud Barak; as aforementioned, in the 1999 elections, 94 percent of Israel's Arab minority had voted for Ehud Barak. IDF enlistment by Bedouin citizens of Israel dropped significantly. During the 2006 Lebanon War , Arab advocacy organizations complained that

18921-509: The north and east, areas that the latter city now occupy. Arab satellite towns are closely located to the north, west and southwest. Thus, the remaining area within the city's municipal boundaries available for expansion were to the northwest and the south, where the topography restricted urban development. After lobbying the Knesset and the Interior Ministry , el-Zoubi was able to have areas to

19080-470: The northwest of the city annexed to the municipality. In the 1980s, the government began attempts to merge the nearby village of Ilut with Nazareth, although this move was opposed by residents from both localities and the Nazareth Municipality. Ilut's residents were included as part of Nazareth's electorate in the 1983 and 1989 municipal elections, which Ilut's residents largely boycotted, and in

19239-699: The northwestern hills and several new cisterns . By 1930, a church for the Baptist denomination, a municipal garden at Mary's Well and a police station based in Zahir al-Umar's Seraya had been established and the Muslim Sharqiya Quarter had expanded. In the 1936–1939 Arab Revolt , Nazareth played a minor role, contributing two rebel commanders out of 281 rebel commanders active in the country. The two were Nazareth native and Christian Fu'ad Nassar and Nazareth resident and Indur native Tawfiq al-Ibrahim. The nearby villages of Saffuriya and al-Mujaydil played

19398-416: The overthrow of Patriarch Irenaios I . The attempts failed and Theophilus III , regarded as hostile towards Israel, was elected. Naddaf is married. He and his wife have two children. Naddaf believes that the Christian community should integrate more into mainstream Israeli society. He is in favor of recruiting Arabic-speaking Christians in the army, police and for sherut leumi (national service): "Why do

19557-521: The past attempted to boycott Naddaf and prevent his entry into the church compound in Nazareth on the grounds that the Christian Arabs should not divide Arab society in Israel. Naddaf could then enter his church with guards, Christian soldiers in the IDF and Border Police. According to people around Naddaf, the leftist-Islamic coalition went on an aggressive slander against him in the Arab press, local and international, on social networks and YouTube. He

19716-430: The poll provided a different outcome, in which "there was consensus that Palestinian identity occupies a central place in their consciousness". reflecting "the strength of Palestinian-Arab identity", and that they do not see a contradiction between that and Israeli civic identity. The focus group revealed strong opposition to the term "Israeli-Arab" and to the concept of Israel's "Independence Day". The study concluded that

19875-599: The poorest in the country, and generally attend schools that are separated to some degree from those attended by Jewish Israelis . Arab political parties traditionally did not join governing coalitions until 2021, when the United Arab List became the first to do so. The Druze and the Bedouin in the Negev and the Galilee have historically expressed the strongest non-Jewish affinity to Israel and are more likely to identify as Israelis than other Arab citizens. Speakers of both Arabic and Hebrew , their traditional vernacular

20034-571: The preferred phrase of the Israeli establishment and public, was predominant. Public expressions of Palestinian identity, such as displays of the Palestinian flag or the singing and reciting of nationalist songs or poetry were illegal. With the end of military administrative rule in 1966 and following the 1967 war, national consciousness and its expression among Israel's Arab citizens spread. A majority then self-identified as Palestinian, preferring this descriptor to Israeli Arab in numerous surveys over

20193-589: The residents of Saffuriyya and the Galilee villages of Kafr Bir'im and Iqrit . Between Israel's declaration of independence on 14 May 1948 and the Israeli Nationality Law of 14 July 1952, there technically were no Israeli citizens. While most Arabs remaining in Israel were granted citizenship, they were subject to martial law in the early years of the state. Zionism had given little serious thought as to how to integrate Arabs, and according to Ian Lustick subsequent policies were 'implemented by

20352-402: The same population. The relationship of Arab citizens to the State of Israel is often fraught with tension and can be regarded in the context of relations between minority populations and state authorities elsewhere in the world. Arab citizens consider themselves to be an indigenous people . The tension between their Palestinian Arab national identity and their identity as citizens of Israel

20511-501: The same rights as Jewish citizens under law. After the 1967 Six-Day War , Arab citizens were able to contact Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for the first time since the establishment of the state. This along with the lifting of military rule, led to increased political activism among Arab citizens. In 1974, a committee of Arab mayors and municipal councilmen was established which played an important role in representing

20670-580: The same year of the Balfour Declaration , which promised British support for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. In the years preceding and following the declaration, Jewish immigration to Palestine had been increasing. Representatives of Nazareth opposed the Zionist movement , sending a delegation to the 1919 First Palestine Arab Congress and issuing a letter of protest in 1920 that condemned

20829-582: The site among pilgrims, who founded the first church at the location of the current Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation at the site of a freshwater spring, today known as Mary's Well . Around 570, the Anonymous of Piacenza reports travelling from Sepphoris to Nazareth. There he records seeing in the Jewish synagogue the books from which Jesus learnt his letters, and a bench where he sat. According to him, Christians could lift it, but Jews could not, since it disallowed them from dragging it outside. Writing of

20988-499: The site in 1294 reported only a small church protecting the grotto . In the 14th century, Franciscan friars were permitted to return and live within the ruins of the basilica. In 1584 the Franciscan friars were evicted again from the site of the ruined basilica. In 1620, Fakhr-al-Din II , a Druze emir who controlled this part of Ottoman Syria , permitted them to build a small church at

21147-408: The state until recent decades. Arab and Palestinian nationalist sentiment continue to influence Nazareth's political life. In 1954, 1,200 dunams of Nazareth's land, which had been slated for future urban expansion by the municipality, was expropriated by state authorities for the construction of government offices and, in 1957, for the construction of the Jewish town of Nazareth Illit . The latter

21306-452: The supporters of recruitment and recruits from violence and threats and increased enforcement of the law against rioters and those inciting violence. He added that: "we should allow for the Christian community to join the IDF. You are loyal citizens who want to defend the country and I salute you and support you. We will not tolerate threats to you and we will enforce the law firm hand against persecute you. I will not accept attempts to undermine

21465-553: The term "Palestinian citizen of Israel" and that "for people who often feel caught between two worlds, however, the contours of what it means to be a Palestinian citizen of Israel remain a work in progress." However, these findings conflict with a 2017 Tel Aviv University poll which showed most Israelis self-identify as either Arab-Israeli or simply Israeli. Similar terms that Israeli Arabs, media and other organizations may use are Palestinian Arabs in Israel and Israeli Palestinian Arabs . Amnesty reports that "Arab citizens of Israel"

21624-556: The time of Jesus in the early Roman period. Alexandre told reporters, "The discovery is of the utmost importance since it reveals for the very first time a house from the Jewish village of Nazareth." Other sources state that during Jesus' time, Nazareth had a population of 400 and one public bath, which was important for civic and religious purposes, as a mikva . A tablet at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, dating to AD 50,

21783-515: The town became a refuge for Arab-Palestinians fleeing the urban centers of Tiberias , Haifa and Baysan before and during the Haganah 's capture of those cities on 18 April 22 April and 12 May 1948, respectively. Nazareth itself was not a field of battle during the 1948 War, which began on 15 May, before the first truce on 11 June, although some of the villagers had joined the loosely organized peasant military and paramilitary forces, and troops from

21942-458: The town still had an abundance of orchards and agricultural fields. Two cigarette factories, a tobacco store, two cinemas and a tile factory had been established, significantly boosting Nazareth's economy. A new police station was built on Nazareth's southernmost hill, while the police station in the Seray had been converted into Nazareth's municipal headquarters. Watchtowers were also erected on some of

22101-501: The town's name in Hebrew as נצרת (n-ṣ-r-t). The inscription dates to c. AD 300 and chronicles the assignment of priests that took place at some time after the Bar Kokhba revolt , AD 132–35. (See "Middle Roman to Byzantine Periods" below.) An 8th-century AD Hebrew inscription, which was the earliest known Hebrew reference to Nazareth prior to the discovery of the inscription above, uses the same form. Around 331, Eusebius records that, from

22260-638: The transfer of land abandoned by Arabs to state ownership. These included the Absentee Property Law of 1950 which allowed the state to expropriate the property of Palestinians who fled or were expelled to other countries, and the Land Acquisition Law of 1953 which authorized the Ministry of Finance to transfer expropriated land to the state. Other common legal expedients included the use of emergency regulations to declare land belonging to Arab citizens

22419-467: The two primary communities were referred to by the British authorities as "Arabs" and " Jews ". Between 1948 and 1967 , very few citizens of Israel identified openly as "Palestinian". An "Israeli-Arab" identity, the preferred phrase of the Israeli establishment and public, was predominant. Public expressions of Palestinian identity, such as displays of the Palestinian flag or the singing and reciting of nationalist songs or poetry were illegal. Ever since

22578-726: The two territories' populace respectively. Acquisition of Israeli citizenship there is scarce as only 5% of Palestinians in East Jerusalem were Israeli citizens in 2022. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , the Israeli Arab population stood at 2.1 million people in 2023, accounting for 21% of Israel's total population. The majority of these Arab citizens identify themselves as Arab or Palestinian by nationality and as Israeli by citizenship. They mostly live in Arab-majority towns and cities , some of which are among

22737-406: The war, over 80% fled or were expelled. The other 20%, some 156,000, remained. Some of them are supporting Israel from the beginning. Arab citizens of Israel today are largely composed of the people who remained and their descendants. Others include some from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank who procured Israeli citizenship under family-unification provisions made significantly more stringent in

22896-443: The years. Arabs in East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights (Syrian Golan) are special cases regarding citizenship and identity. Arabs living in East Jerusalem , occupied and administered by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967 hold Israeli ID cards, but most are non-citizen permanent residents since few accepted Israel's offer of citizenship after the war's end, refusing to recognize its sovereignty, and most maintain close ties with

23055-492: The years. In a 2017 telephone poll, 40% of Arab citizens of Israel identified as "Arab in Israel / Arab citizen of Israel", 15% identified as "Palestinian", 8.9% as "Palestinian in Israel / Palestinian citizen of Israel", and 8.7% as "Arab"; the focus groups associated with the poll provided a different outcome, in which "there was consensus that Palestinian identity occupies a central place in their consciousness". A November 2023 poll asked respondents from this demographic what

23214-418: Was 'shocked and horrified' that he would be commanded to renege on the agreement he, and also Chaim Laskov, had just signed. Twelve hours after defying his superior, he was relieved of his post, but not before obtaining assurances that the security of Nazareth's population would be guaranteed. David Ben-Gurion backed Dunkelman's judgement, fearing that expelling Christian Arabs might provoke an outcry throughout

23373-749: Was 1,413,500 people, about 20% of Israel's population. The Arab population in 2023 was estimated at 2,065,000, representing 21% of the country's population. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (May 2003), Muslims, including Bedouins, make up 82% of the entire Arab population in Israel, along with around 9% Druze, and 9% Christians. Projections based on 2010 data, predicted that Arab Israelis will constitute 25% of Israel's population by 2025. Nazareth Nazareth ( / ˈ n æ z ər ə θ / NAZ -ər-əth ; Arabic : النَّاصِرَة ‎ , romanized :  an-Nāṣira ; Hebrew : נָצְרַת ‎ , romanized :  Nāṣraṯ ; Syriac : ܢܨܪܬ , romanized :  Naṣrath )

23532-421: Was built as a way for the state to counterbalance the Arab majority in the region. Knesset member Seif el-Din el-Zoubi , who represented Nazareth, actively opposed the Absentees' Property Law , which allowed state expropriation of land from Arab citizens who were not permitted to return to their original villages. Zoubi argued that the internally displaced refugees were not absentees as they were still living in

23691-646: Was called: "Zionist agent, traitor, crazy, man running after money and recruiting young people into the army of occupation" on Arab sites and posted links to a Facebook page that displays a "black list" of priests, soldiers and security personnel from the Christian community who support and encourage young people to join the IDF. As a result, young recruits and soldiers from Nazareth had to ask their commanders to leave home in civilian clothes, for fear of bullying and harassment. MK Haneen Zoabi ( Balad ) and MK Ahmed Tibi ( United Arab List ) have written open letters and talked and rallied against Naddaf. Representatives from

23850-662: Was famously described by an Arab public figure as: "My state is at war with my nation". Arab/Palestinian citizens of Israel may refer to themselves by a wide range of terms. Each of these names, while referring to the same group of people, connotes a different balance in what is often a multilayered identity assigning varying levels of priority or emphasis to the various dimensions which may be historic-geographic (" Palestine (region) "), "national" or ethnoreligious (Palestinian, Arab, Israeli, Druze, Circassian), linguistic (Arabic-speaking), civic (feeling "Israeli" or not), etc.: Two appellations, among others listed above, are not applied to

24009-411: Was low and most refused to fight alongside the ALA because of their perceived weakness in the face of Israel's perceived military superiority and the alleged maltreatment of Christian residents and clergy by ALA volunteers. Seking to prevent the town's destruction, the Muslim mayor of Nazareth, Yusef Fahum requested a halt to all resistance put up by Nazarenes. The surrender of Nazareth was formalized in

24168-400: Was north of Nazareth. Konrad Schmid and Jens Schroter note that Assyrians were typically relocated to conquered territories, which most likely included Israel. Some scholars believed Jesus , a native of Nazareth, was influenced by Cynicism , which was popular in Hellenized Galilean cities such as Gadara . Epiphanius in his Panarion ( c.  AD 375 ) numbers Nazareth among

24327-448: Was occupied during the late Hellenistic period, through the Roman period and into the Byzantine period. According to the Gospel of Luke , Nazareth was the home village of Mary as well as the site of the Annunciation (when the angel Gabriel informed Mary that she would give birth to Jesus). According to the Gospel of Matthew , Joseph and Mary resettled in Nazareth after returning from the flight from Bethlehem to Egypt . According to

24486-438: Was organized by the Ministry of Defense and the Municipality of Nazareth, at the request of the Christian Community mobilization Forum and its spiritual leader, Father Naddaf. The conference was attended by 121 young Arab Christians and some Muslims, Bedouins, and Druze, who expressed a desire to join the Israel Defense Forces IDF. The second conference was held and organized by Naddaf and the Christian IDF Forum in June 2013. It

24645-534: Was reported from Beersheba, Rahat, Ramla, Lod, Nasiriyah, Tiberias, Jerusalem, Haifa and Acre. The Arab community in Israel has seen a significant increase in violence and organized crime , including a rise in gang-related murders in recent years. A report by the Abraham Initiative highlighted that 244 Arab community members were killed in Israel in 2023, more than double the previous year's count. The report attributed this surge in homicides directly to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir , who campaigned on

24804-440: Was reported that the rate of recruitment of young Christians in the IDF tripled between 2010 and 2013, although it is still a very small in absolute numbers. On August 5, 2013, the office of the Prime Minister reported that: "Last year there was an increase in the number of Christian IDF recruits, from 35 recruits a year ago to 100 this year, and 500 other young people from the community are doing national service." On 1 May 2014, at

24963-506: Was sent from Nazareth to Paris in 1878. It contains an inscription known as the "Ordinance of Caesar" that outlines the penalty of death for those who violate tombs or graves. However, it is suspected that this inscription came to Nazareth from somewhere else (possibly Sepphoris ). Bagatti writes: "we are not certain that it was found in Nazareth, even though it came from Nazareth to Paris. At Nazareth there lived various vendors of antiquities who got ancient material from several places." C. Kopp

25122-543: Was temporarily captured by the troops of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799, during his Syrian campaign . Napoleon visited the holy sites and considered appointing his general Jean-Andoche Junot as the duke of Nazareth. During the rule of Governor Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt (1830–1840) over much of Ottoman Syria , Nazareth was opened to European missionaries and traders. After the Ottomans regained control, European money continued to flow into Nazareth and new institutions were established. The Christians of Nazareth were protected during

25281-511: Was the original site of the Latin Patriarch, also established by Tancred. The ancient diocese of Scythopolis was relocated under the Archbishop of Nazareth , as one of the four archdioceses in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. When the town returned to Muslim control in 1187 following the victory of Saladin in the Battle of Hattin , the remaining Crusaders and European clergy were forced to leave town. Frederick II managed to negotiate safe passage for pilgrims from Acre in 1229, and in 1251, Louis IX ,

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