Editing Shefa-Amr (section)

==History==
===Ancient period===
[[File:Byzant.jpg|thumb|Christian Byzantine graves, 5th and 6th century CE.<ref name=SWP339/>]]

Walls, installations and pottery [[sherd]]s from the [[Bronze Age#Near East timeline|Early Bronze Age IB]] and the [[Bronze Age#Near East timeline|Middle Bronze Age IIB]], [[Ancient Near East#Iron Age|Iron]], [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] and [[Roman Empire|Roman]] periods have been excavated at Shefa-ʻAmr.<ref>Feig, 2014, [http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=9564&mag_id=121 ‘En Shefar‘am, Final report]</ref>

Shefa-Amr is first mentioned under the name ''Shefar'am'' ({{langx|he|שפרעם}}) in the [[Tosefta]] ([https://www.sefaria.org/Tosefta_Mikvaot.6.1?lang=he&vside=Sefaria_Community_Translation|en&with=Translation%20Open&lang2=he Tractate Mikvaot 6:1]), followed by the [[Talmud]] redacted in 500 [[Common Era|CE]] where it is mentioned in several places, in Tractate [https://www.sefaria.org/Avodah_Zarah.8b.14?lang=bi ''Avodah Zarah'' 8b] and [https://www.sefaria.org/Rosh_Hashanah.31b?lang=bi ''Rosh Hashanah'' 31b], ''et al.''

Settlement has existed there without interruption since the Roman period, when it was one of the cities mentioned in the [[Talmud]] as containing the seat of the Jewish [[Sanhedrin]] during the reign of [[Marcus Aurelius]].<ref name="Zaharoni1978">Zaharoni (1978), p. 125</ref><ref name="Babli">{{cite book  | title = Talmud Bavli Rosh Hashana | page = 31b }}</ref> The seat of the Sanhedrin was traditionally thought to be where the Old Synagogue "Maḥaneh Shekhinah" was built in later times.<ref name="Zaharoni1978" /> Old Shefa-'Amr was settled in the area where are now built the Police Station, the various Churches and Jews' Street.<ref>Zaharoni (1978), p. 126</ref> Decorated burial caves were documented by the [[Survey of Western Palestine]] in the late nineteenth century; they were found to be Christian tombs from the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] era, dating to the 5th and 6th century CE. [[Greek language|Greek]] inscriptions were also found.<ref name=SWP339>Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp01conduoft#page/339/mode/1up 339] -343</ref>

Archaeological excavations of a cave and [[quarries]] revealed that they were used in the Roman and Byzantine eras.<ref>Atrash, 2016, [http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=25021&mag_id=124 Shefar‘am, Highway 79]</ref> Shefa-ʻAmr contains Byzantine remains, including a church and tombs.<ref>Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp01conduoft#page/33/mode/1up p. 343]; Guérin, 1880, p [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr01unkngoog#page/n427/mode/1up 414], TIR, 230. All cited in Petersen, 2001, p. [https://www.academia.edu/21620272/Gazetteer_6._S-Z 276]</ref>

A [[Rescue archaeology|salvage dig]] was conducted in the southern quarter of the old city exposing remains from five phases in the Late Byzantine and early [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] periods. Finds include a [[tabun oven]], a pavement of small fieldstones, a mosaic pavement that was probably part of a [[wine press]] treading floor, a small square wine press, handmade [[krater]]s, an imported Cypriot bowl and an open cooking pot. Also discovered were glass and pottery vessels.<ref>Abu Raya, 2010,
[http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=1428&mag_id=117 Shefar‘am Final Report]</ref>

===Middle Ages===
Under the [[Crusades|Crusaders]] the place was known as "Safran", "Sapharanum", "Castrum Zafetanum", "Saphar castrum" or "Cafram".<ref name="Pringle">Pringle, 1997, [https://books.google.com/books?id=-_NbE5obqRMC&pg=PA115 p. 115]</ref> The Crusaders built a [[List of Crusader castles|fortress]], used by the [[Knights Templar]], in the village. At the foot of the castle was a fortified settlement with a church, inhabited either by local Christians or Crusaders.<ref>Ellenblum, 2003, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=riHMZiH_Te4C&pg=PA143 143]</ref> The village, then called "Shafar 'Am", was used by Muslim leader [[Saladin]] between 1190–91 and 1193-94 as a military base for attacks on [[Acre, Israel#Crusader and Ayyubid period|Acre]].<ref>[[Abu Shama]] [[Recueil des Historiens des Croisades|RHC]] (or.), IV, [https://archive.org/stream/recueildeshistor04acad_0#page/487/mode/1up p. 487]. [[Yaqut al-Hamawi|Yaqut]], p. 304, Both cited in Petersen, 2001, p. [https://www.academia.edu/21620272/Gazetteer_6._S-Z 277]</ref>

By 1229, the place was back in Crusader hands; this was confirmed by Sultan [[Baybars]] in the peace treaty of 1271, and by Sultan [[Qalawun]] in 1283.<ref>Barag, 1979, p. 207, No. 63.</ref> Italian monk [[Riccoldo da Monte di Croce]] visited the village in 1287–88, and noted that it had Christian inhabitants.<ref>Ellenblum, 2003, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=riHMZiH_Te4C&pg=PA144 144]</ref> It apparently was under [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk]] control by 1291,<ref>[[Ibn al-Furat]], Cited in Petersen, 2001, p. [https://www.academia.edu/21620272/Gazetteer_6._S-Z 277]</ref><ref name=Pringle1998>Pringle, 1998, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2Y0tA0xLzwEC&pg=PA301 301]-4</ref> as it was mentioned in that year when sultan [[al-Ashraf Khalil]] allocated the town's income to a [[Waqf|charitable organization]] in [[Cairo]].<ref>Barag, 1979, p. 203</ref>

===Ottoman period===
The region became part of the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1517. In the Ottoman tax census of 1525–26, Shefa-Amr had a population of 150, 90% of whom were Muslims and 10% Jews. The population increased to 388 in the 1538–39 census, with Jews constituting 13% of the inhabitants. According to the records of 1547–48 and 1555–56, Shefa-Amr had a population 423 and 594 respectively, all Muslims.{{sfn|Rhode|1979|p=189}} In 1564, the revenues of the village of Shefa-Amr were designated for the new [[waqf]] (endowment) of [[Hasseki Sultan Imaret]] in Jerusalem, established by Hasseki Hurrem Sultan ([[Roxelana]]), the wife of Sultan [[Suleiman the Magnificent]].<ref>Singer, 2002, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=zHBHBTNwBQoC&pg=PA126 126]</ref>

In the census of {{circa|1572}}, the village had a population of 510 Muslims.{{sfn|Rhode|1979|p=189}} A 1573 [[Firman (decree)|firman]] (decree) mentioned that Shefa-Amr was among a group of villages in the ''[[nahiya]]'' (sub district) of [[Acre, Israel|Acre]] in rebellion against the state. By 1577, the village had accumulated an arsenal of 200 muskets.<ref>Heyd, 1960, pp. 84-85, no. 2. Cited in Petersen, 2001, p. [https://www.academia.edu/21620272/Gazetteer_6._S-Z 277]</ref> In the 1596 [[Defter|tax records]], Shefa-Amr was part of the ''nahiya'' of Acre, part of [[Safed Sanjak]], with a population of 83 households (''khana''), and eight bachelors, all Muslims. The total revenue was 13,600 [[akçe]], most of which was given in fixed amounts.<ref>Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 192</ref> The taxable produce also comprised occasional revenues, goats and beehives, and the inhabitants paid for the use or ownership of an olive oil press.<ref>Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 192. Also quoted in Petersen, 2001, p. [https://www.academia.edu/21620272/Gazetteer_6._S-Z 277]</ref><ref>Note that Rhode, 1979, p. [https://www.academia.edu/2026845/The_Administration_and_Population_of_the_Sancak_of_Safed_in_the_Sixteenth_Century 6] writes that the register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9.</ref>

[[File:Fort in Shefa Amr.jpg|thumb|Zahir al-Umar fort]]
[[File:Shfa3amer 1910.jpg|thumb|upright=1|Shefa-Amr, 1910]]

During the 18th century Shefa-Amr was the center of its own fiscal district in the province of [[Sidon Eyalet|Sidon]]. Its importance derived from its position in the heart of the Galilee's cotton-growing area and its natural and man-made defenses. The significance of cotton to the growth of Shefa-Amr was fundamental. Tax returns for the village attest to the large returns expected of this crop.<ref>Cohen, 1973, p. 128. Cited in Petersen, 2001, p. [https://www.academia.edu/21620272/Gazetteer_6._S-Z 277]</ref> Its local prominence was headed by the [[sheikh]]s of the [[Zayadina]] (sing. Zaydani), a local family of [[multazim]]s (limited-term tax farmers), in charge of collecting taxes for the governor of Sidon.{{sfn|Petersen|2001|p=[https://www.academia.edu/21620272/Gazetteer_6._S-Z 277]}} As early as 1704, the village was held as a tax farm by the Zaydani sheikh Ali ibn Salih, along with other villages in the [[Lower Galilee]].{{sfn|Cohen|1973|pp=9–10}} At an unknown point after, the Zayadina lost Shefa-Amr but Ali's son Muhammad of [[al-Damun]] had regained control of it by {{circa|1740}}, during a period when the Zayadina were expanding their holdings across the Galilee under the leadership of [[Zahir al-Umar]] (Muhammad's first cousin).{{sfn|Philipp|2001|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=95I5QVdp4_gC&pg=PA33 33]}} 

It is known that there was a castle in the village by this time.{{sfn|Petersen|2001|p=[https://www.academia.edu/21620272/Gazetteer_6._S-Z 277]}} Its fortifications were strengthened by the Zayadina in {{circa|1742}} during a respite in the [[sieges of Tiberias (1742–1743)|sieges of the Zaydani stronghold of Tiberias]] by the governor of [[Damascus Eyalet|Damascus]].{{sfn|Joudah|2013|p=37}} Afterward, in 1743, Muhammad was arrested and executed by Zahir's order to remove him as an obstacle to Zahir's regional ambitions.{{sfn|Philipp|2001|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=95I5QVdp4_gC&pg=PA35 35]}} In 1761, Zahir offered to grant Shefa-Amr to his son Uthman in exchange for the latter assassinating Zahir's brother Sa'd. Although Uthman complied, Zahir reneged following protestations by Shefa-Amr's inhabitants. Uthman and his brothers Ahmad and Sa'id besieged the village in 1765 but were repulsed by its local defenders with Zahir's support.{{sfn|Joudah|2013|pp=54–56}} Uthman was nevertheless granted Shefa-Amr at some point by Zahir.{{sfn|Cohen|1973|pp=84–85}}{{sfn|Joudah|2013|pp=143–144}} He is generally credited as the builder of its large fortress.{{sfn|Conder|Kitchener|1881|p=[https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp01conduoft#page/272/mode/1up 272]}}

After Zahir's death in 1775, the Ottoman-appointed governor [[Jazzar Pasha]] allowed Uthman to continue as subgovernor of Shefa-Amr in return for a promise of loyalty and advance payment of taxes.{{sfn|Cohen|1973|p=93}} Jazzar Pasha ignored orders from [[Constantinople]] to demolish the village's fortress.{{sfn|Cohen|1973|p=106}} Several years later Uthman was removed and replaced by Ibrahim Abu Qalush, an appointee of Jazzar Pasha,{{sfn|Petersen|2001|p=[https://www.academia.edu/21620272/Gazetteer_6._S-Z 277]}} who rebelled against him in 1789.{{sfn|Cohen|1973|p=25}} A map by [[Pierre Jacotin]] from [[French campaign in Egypt and Syria|Napoleon's invasion of 1799]] showed the place, named as ''Chafa Amr''.<ref>Karmon, 1960, [http://www.jchp.ucla.edu/Bibliography/Karmon,_Y_1960_Jacotin_Map_(IEJ_10).pdf p. 162] (PDF)</ref>
[[File:Constantine and Helena Church Shefa-'Amr.jpg|thumb|Ss. Constantine and Helena Church]]

A Jewish community had been established in the village under the auspices of Zahir's rule.{{sfn|Barnai|1992|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=GdEDefYc4u0C&pg=PA156 156]}} In 1839, [[Moses Montefiore]] counted 107 [[Sephardic Jews]] living in Shefa-Amr.<ref>Zaharoni (1978), p. 127</ref> Their condition worsened with the departure of the autonomous leader of [[Egypt Eyalet|Egypt]], [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt|Muhammad Ali Pasha]], during which time Shefa-Amr was nearly emptied of its Jewish residents, who had opted to move to [[Haifa]] and [[Tiberias]].<ref>Zaharoni (1978), p. 127–128</ref> [[James Finn]] wrote in 1877 that "The majority of the inhabitants are Druses. There are a few Moslems and a few [[Palestinian Christians|Christians]]; but [in 1850] there were thirty Jewish families living as agriculturists, cultivating grain and olives on their own landed property, most of it family inheritance; some of these people were of Algerine descent. They had their own synagogue and legally qualified butcher, and their numbers had formerly been more considerable." However, "they afterwards dwindled to two families, the rest removing to [Haifa] as that port rose in prosperity."<ref>Finn, 1877, p. [https://archive.org/stream/byewaysinpalesti00finniala#page/243/mode/1up 243]</ref> 

Conder and Kitchener, who visited in 1875, was told that the community consisted of "2,500 souls—1,200 being Moslems, the rest Druses, Greeks, and Latins."<ref name="SWPI">Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp01conduoft#page/272/mode/1up p. 272]</ref> The town's Druze community dwindled considerably in the 1880s as its members migrated east to the [[Hauran]] plain to avoid conscription by the Ottoman authorities.<ref>Firro, 1992, p. 168.</ref> A population list from about 1887 showed that Shefa-Amr had about 2,750 inhabitants; 795 Muslims, 95 [[Melkites|Greek Catholics]], 1,100 Catholics, 140 Latins, 175 [[Maronites]]/Protestants, 30 Jews and 440 Druze.<ref>Schumacher, 1888, p. [https://archive.org/stream/quarterlystateme19pale#page/n200/mode/1up 175]</ref> That year, some 42 Jewish families from [[Morocco]] settled in Shefa-Amr.<ref name="Zaharoni128">Zaharoni (1978), p. 128</ref>

=== British Mandate ===
[[File:PikiWiki Israel 11504 Oldest first market.JPG|thumb|The old market in Shefa-Amr]]
The [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate of Palestine]] was established in 1920. By then, all of Shefa-Amr's Jews had moved out.<ref name="Zaharoni128"/> According to the [[1922 census of Palestine]], Shefa-Amr had a population of 2,288: 1,263 Christians, 623 Muslims, and 402 Druze.<ref>Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Haifa, p.[https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n35/mode/1up 33]</ref> Of the Christians, 1,054 were Melkites (Greek Catholics), 94 Anglicans, 70 Roman Catholics, 42 Greek Orthodox and three Maronitew.<ref>Barron, 1923, Table XVI, p.[https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n51/mode/1up 49]</ref> By the [[1931 census of Palestine|1931 census]], Shefa-Amr had 629 occupied houses and a population of 1,321 Christians, 1,006 Muslims, 496 Druze, and one Jew. A further 1,197 Muslims in 234 occupied houses was recorded for "Shafa 'Amr Suburbs".<ref name="Census1931">Mills, 1932, [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas p. 96] (PDF)</ref>

Statistics compiled by the Mandatory government in the [[Village Statistics, 1945|1945 statistics]] showed an urban population of 1,560 Christians, 1,380 Muslims, 10 Jews and 690 "others" (presumably Druze) and a rural population of 3,560 Muslims.<ref name=DoS1945>Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p15.jpg 15]</ref><ref>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Haifa/Page-049.jpg p. 49]</ref><ref>{{cite book | author = Sami Hadawi | title = Land Ownership in Palestine | publisher = Palestine Arab Refugee Office | location = New York | year = 1957 | page = 44 | url = http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015010745381 }}</ref>

=== Israel ===
==== 20th century ====
In 1948 Shefa-Amr was captured by the [[Israel Defense Forces|Israeli Army]] during the first phase of [[Operation Dekel]], from 8 to 14 July. The Druze population actively cooperated with the IDF. The Muslim quarter was heavily shelled and thousands of inhabitants fled to [[Saffuriya|Saffuriyeh]]. Following the fall of Nazareth some of the refugees were allowed to return to their homes.<ref>[[Benny Morris|Morris]], 1987, pp. 199, 200, 202</ref> After the end of the war, the Arab population was placed under [[Martial law#Israel|strict martial law]] until 1967.

Ibraheem Nimr Hussein, a former mayor of Shefa-Amr, was chairman of the Committee of Arab Mayors in Israel (later the Arab Follow-Up Committee) from its inception in 1975. In 1981 an [[NGO]] to promote health care in the Arab community was set up in Shefa-Amr. It called itself ''{{ill|The Galilee Society|qid=Q6573412}}'' - the Arab National Society for Health Research and Services.<ref>[[Ilan Pappe|Pappe, Ilan]] (2011) ''The Forgotten Palestinians. A History of the Palestinians in Israel.'' Yale. {{ISBN|978-0-300-13441-4}}. p.198</ref> In 1982, following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, Mayor Ibrahim Nimr Husayn formed the "Supreme Follow-Up Committee" based on a committee that had been formed following [[Land Day]]. It consisted of 11 heads of local councils as well as Arab Members of Knesset. By the 1990s the committee, meeting in Nazareth, had expanded and become a mini-parliament representing Palestinians in the Galilee.<ref>Pappe. p.146</ref>

==== 21st century ====
[[File:Orsan Yasen 01.jpg|upright=.8|thumb|Orsan Yasen, mayor of Shefa-Amr (2018-2024)<ref name="ListOfMayors">{{cite web |trans-title=Former Mayors |title=رؤساء بلدية سابقون |url=https://shefaram.muni.il/ar/CmsPage/Page?pageId=1405 |website=Shfar'am municipal website |access-date=2024-07-18 |language=ar}}</ref>]]
On 16 May 2004, Whehebe Moheen, a man in his sixties, murdered Manal Najeeb Abu Raed, his widowed daughter-in-law, wife of his son, and mother of his two granddaughters.<ref name=sulha>{{cite web |url=http://www.sulha.org/2009/03/04/sulha-in-shefaram/ |title=Sulha in Shefaamer « Sulha Research Center |website=www.sulha.org |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522172229/http://www.sulha.org/2009/03/04/sulha-in-shefaram/ |archive-date=2011-05-22}}</ref> Manal had lost her husband to cancer two years earlier, and was living in the couple's home, in the Druze village of [[Daliat El Carmel]], near Haifa. Following this event there was conflict between the families of the victim and of the killer. The final reconciliation took place on 27 February 2009, when about 300 family members, dignitaries and residents of the mixed city of Shefa-Amr and Daliyat al-Carmel participated in the reconciliation ritual.<ref name=sulha/> They gathered, along with Christian and Muslim dignitaries, including mayors of the two towns involved, [[Knesset]] members (Druze and Muslim), the religious leader of Israel's Druze community, and a sizable contingent of Druze religious leaders from many villages in northern Israel.<ref name=sulha/> Following the speeches, the dignitaries signed the ''sulha'' (reconciliation) agreement, and after the document was declared officially endorsed, the killer's family handed the leader of the ''sulha'' committee, Sheikh [[Muafak Tarif]], a bag containing the blood money (''diya'') compensation, and Tarif handed the bag to cousins of the murdered woman.<ref name=sulha/> The bag contained 200,000 NIS (about [[US$]]50,000), about half what a "normal" conciliation payment would be, but the killer's family refused to bring more money, claiming that they had no resources, and were not prepared to make themselves bankrupt because of a "crazy" uncle.<ref name=sulha/>

On 4 August 2005, an Israeli soldier who was [[absent without leave]], [[Eden Natan-Zada]], opened fire while aboard a bus in the city, killing four Arab residents and wounding twenty-two others. After the shooting, Natan-Zada was overcome by nearby crowds, [[lynched]] and beaten with rocks. According to witnesses, the bus driver was surprised to see a ''[[kippah]]''-wearing Jewish soldier making his way to Shefa-Amr via public bus, so inquired of Natan-Zada whether he was certain he wanted to take his current route. The four fatalities were two sisters in their early twenties, Hazar and Dina Turki, and two men, bus driver Michel Bahouth and Nader Hayek. In the days following the attack, 40,000 people attended mass funeral services for the victims. The sisters were buried in an Islamic cemetery and the men were buried in the Catholic cemetery. The wounded were taken to [[Rambam Hospital]] in Haifa. The Shefa-Amr municipality established a monument to commemorate the victims.<ref>{{ Cite book
| first=Tamir| last=Sorek
| title=Palestinian Commemoration in Israel: Calendars, Monuments, and Martyrs
| publisher=Stanford University Press
| year=2015
| isbn=9780804795203
| location=Stanford, CA 
| url=http://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=23855
}}, p. 109</ref>

In January 2008, Mayor Ursan Yassin met with officials of the Israeli state committee on the celebrations for the 60th anniversary of independence, and announced that Shefa-Amr intended to take part in the celebrations.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3501480,00.html|title=Arab town plans big celebration for Israel's Independence Day|work=ynet|date=February 2008|last1=Roffe-Ofir |first1=Sharon }}</ref> In 2011, 7,000 Christians, Druze and Muslims held a solidarity march in [[Persecution of Christians in Iraq|support of Christians in Iraq]] and [[Persecution of Copts|Egypt]] who were suffering from religious persecution.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=204034|title=Shfaram: 7,000 march in solidarity with Christians|work=The Jerusalem Post - JPost.com|date=23 November 2011 }}</ref>

On November 18, 2024, a [[Hezbollah]] rocket struck a residential building in the city, killing a woman in her 50s and causing injuries to 56 others, including 18 children and teenagers.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-11-18 |title=Hezbollah rocket kills woman in Shfaram, wounds dozens |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-829732 |access-date=2025-05-27 |website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com |language=en}}</ref>