Editing Sha'ab, Israel

{{Short description|Arab town in northern Israel}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name                   = Sha'ab
| native_name            = {{Hlist
 | {{Lang|he|{{Script/Hebrew|שַׁעַבּ}}|rtl=yes}}
 | {{Lang|ar|شعب|rtl=yes}}
 }}
| settlement_type        = [[Local council (Israel)|Local council]] 
| translit_lang1         = Hebrew
| translit_lang1_type1   = [[ISO 259]]
| translit_lang1_info1   = Šaˁḅ
| translit_lang1_type3   = Also spelled
| translit_lang1_info3   = Sha'av (unofficial)
| image_skyline          = PikiWiki Israel 5068 view on shaab from tzorit.jpg
| pushpin_map_alt        = 
| pushpin_map            = Israel#Israel northwest
| pushpin_mapsize        = 
| pushpin_label_position = left
| pushpin_map_caption    = 
| coordinates            = {{coord|32|53|22|N|35|14|19|E|region:IL|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| grid_name              = Grid&nbsp;position
| grid_position          = 172/254 [[Palestine grid|PAL]]
| subdivision_type       = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name       = 
{{flag|Israel}}
| subdivision_type1      = 
| subdivision_name1      = 
| subdivision_type2      = [[Districts of Israel|District]]
| subdivision_name2      = 
[[Northern District (Israel)|Northern]]
| unit_pref              = dunam
| area_total_dunam       = {{formatnum:5442|R}}
| population_footnotes   = {{Israel populations|reference}}
| population_total       = {{Israel populations|Sha'ab}}
| population_as_of       = {{Israel populations|Year}}
| population_density_km2 = auto
}}

'''Sha'ab''' ({{langx|ar|شعب}}; {{langx|he|שַׁעַבּ}}; meaning "The spur")<ref>Palmer, 1881, [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00conduoft#page/116/mode/1up p.116]</ref> is an [[Arab localities in Israel|Arab]] town and [[local council (Israel)|local council]] in the [[Northern District (Israel)|Northern District of Israel]]. It has an area of 5,442 [[dunam]]s ({{convert|6.4|km2|abbr=on}}) of land under its jurisdiction. In {{Israel populations|Year}} its population was {{Israel populations|Sha'ab}}.{{Israel populations|reference}}

==History== 
French scholar [[Victor Guérin]] associated Sha'ab with ''Saab'', a place mentioned by 1st-century Jewish historian [[Josephus]].<ref>Josephus, [https://archive.org/stream/completeworksofj04jose#page/34/mode/2up/search/saab III, § 21], cited in Guérin, 1880, p. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr01unkngoog#page/n447/mode/2up 434-435], cited in Petersen, 2001, p. 275</ref><ref>TIR, p. 218, cited in Petersen, 2001, p. [https://www.academia.edu/21620272/Gazetteer_6._S-Z 275]</ref> The ''[[Midrash Rabba]]'' ([[Leviticus Rabba]] s. 20,9) mentions a certain Rabbi Mani of Sha'ab, together with Yehoshua of Sakhnin and Rabbi [[Johanan bar Nappaha]]. In the 14th century, the tax income from the village was given to the [[wakf]] of the [[madrasah]] and [[mausoleum]] of the [[Shafi'i]] Manjaq in [[Egypt]].<ref>MPF, 71, No. 53. Cited in Petersen, 2001, p. [https://www.academia.edu/21620272/Gazetteer_6._S-Z 275]</ref>

===Ottoman era===
In 1517, Sha'ab was incorporated into the [[Ottoman Empire]] along with the rest of [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]]. In 1573 (981 [[Hijri year|AH]]) Sha'ab was one of several villages in [[Galilee]] which rebelled against the Ottomans.<ref>Heyd, 1960, p. 84-85. Cited in Petersen, 2001, p. [https://www.academia.edu/21620272/Gazetteer_6._S-Z 275]</ref> In 1596, the village appeared in Ottoman [[Defter|tax registers]] as being in the ''[[Nahiya]]'' of [[Acre, Israel|Acre]], part of [[Safad Sanjak]],  with a population of 102 households and 37 bachelors, all [[Muslim]]s. The villagers  paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3%  on wheat, barley, fruit trees, "goats and bees", in addition to "occasional revenues"; a total of 14,354 [[akçe]]. 3/4 of the revenue went to a [[Waqf]].<ref>Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 193</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>

According to local tradition, the village started to flourish under anti-Ottoman rebel [[Zahir al-Umar]] (c. 1768).<ref name=Petersen275>Petersen, 2001, p. [https://www.academia.edu/21620272/Gazetteer_6._S-Z 275]</ref> In 1859, the population was estimated to be 1,500. Some were [[Roman Catholicism in Israel|Catholic]], the majority Muslim. The cultivated fields were estimated to be 80 [[feddan]]s.<ref name=CondorKitch271>Conder and  Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp01conduoft#page/271/mode/1up 271]</ref> Guérin visited in the 1870s, and wrote that the village of Sh'aib consisted of four quarters. The inhabitants, he wrote, were for the most part Muslim, about 800, and some 20 "[[Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem|Schismatic Greek]]" families. The Muslims had two Mosques and two [[wali]]s.<ref>Guérin, 1880, p. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr01unkngoog#page/n447/mode/2up 434-435]</ref><ref>Conder & Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp01conduoft#page/339/mode/1up 339]</ref> In 1881, Sha'ab was described as being in a valley with fine olive groves, while part of the hill behind it was cultivated in corn.<ref name=CondorKitch271/>

A population list from about 1887 showed that Sha'ab had about 1,430  inhabitants; 1,345 Muslims and 85 Greek Catholics.<ref>Schumacher, 1888, p. [https://archive.org/stream/quarterlystateme19pale#page/n200/mode/1up 175]</ref>

===British Mandate era===
In the  [[1922 census of Palestine]] conducted by the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate authorities]], Sha'ab had a population of 1,206; 1,166 Muslims and 40 Christians,<ref name="Census1922">Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Acre, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n39/mode/1up   37]</ref> where the Christians were 15 Orthodox and 25 [[Melkite]]s.<ref>Barron, 1923, Table XVI, p.[https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n52/mode/1up 50]</ref> The population increased slightly in the  [[1931 census of Palestine|1931 census]] to 1,297;  1,277 Muslims, 19 Christians and 1 Jew, in a total of 284  houses.<ref name="Census1931">Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 102]</ref>

[[File:Sha'ab being demolished, 1936.jpg|thumb|right|The demolition of houses in Sha'ab by [[Mandatory Palestine|British]] forces during the [[1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine|1936–1939 revolt]], 1936]]

During the [[1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine|1936 revolt]] in Palestine, the British Army attacked Sha'ab, demolishing 190 houses in the village. According to an eyewitness account, the British collectively punished the village for harboring a rebel who allegedly set off a roadside explosive that killed four British soldiers and injured three. A day prior to the demolition of the homes, the army rounded up around 200 of its adult male residents and led them to a valley outside the village. As they were being lined up, a rebel fighter positioned on a nearby hill began yelling and firing into the air, confusing the soldiers and causing Sha'ab's detained men to disperse chaotically. One resident named Hassan Hajj Khatib was killed.<ref>Ghandour, 2009, p. 12.</ref>

In the  [[Village Statistics, 1945|1945 statistics]], Sha'ab had 1,740 inhabitants; 30 Christians and 1,710 Muslims.<ref name=DoS1945>Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p04.jpg 4]</ref>  They owned a total of 17,870 [[dunam]]s of land, while 121 dunams were public.<ref name=Hadawi41>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in  Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Acre/Page-041.jpg  41]</ref> 3,248 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land, 6,602 dunams for cereals,<ref>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in  Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Acre/Page-081.jpg 81]</ref> while 231 dunams were built-up (urban) land.<ref>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Acre/Page-131.jpg 131]</ref>

===State of Israel===
Sha'ab was captured by the [[Israel Defense Forces|Israel Forces]] (IDF) on 19 July 1948 during the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]]. The villagers surrendered without a fight.<ref>Morris 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA423  423]</ref> In December 1948, the residents were ordered to leave by the  [[Oded Brigade]].<ref>Morris 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA514  514]</ref> The village was the headquarters and hometown of Abu Is'af, who led Arab resistance groups during the war and was viewed as a hero.<ref>Cohen, 2010, p. 100.</ref> Many of the original residents settled in nearby Arab villages, predominantly in [[Majd al-Krum]] and [[Sakhnin]] while refugees from  [[al-Birwa]], [[al-Damun]] and [[Mi'ar]] relocated to  Sha'ab after the war. Refugees from [[Kirad al-Ghannam]] and [[Kirad al-Baqqara]] in the [[Hula Valley]] joined them in 1953. The original residents  launched a campaign to return to their homes soon after the war. <ref>Cohen, 2010, p. 101</ref> Refugees from the Hula Valley and al-Birwa sympathized with them but those from  al-Damun and Mi'ar were opposed. By 1950, roughly 10% of Sha'ab's original inhabitants returned to the village and eventually many more obtained permission to return.<ref>Cohen, 2010, pp. 102-103</ref>

==Notable buildings==
===Mosque of Zahir al-Umar===
The [[mosque]] of [[Zahir al-Umar]] is situated in the centre of the old village. In 1933 it was inspected by Na'im Makhouly from the [[Rockefeller Museum|Palestine Antiquities Museum]], who found that the mosque dated from the time of Zahir al-Umar. In 1933 the mosque was in disrepair. Pictures from the time show two [[Arcade (architecture)|arcades]]: one had four [[arch]]es connected with the side wall, with two [[column]]s in the centre. A reused [[Ionic order|Ionic]] [[Capital (architecture)|capital]] could be seen, and above the doorway was a reused [[Ancient Roman architecture|Roman]] [[Lintel (architecture)|lintel]] (first noticed by Guérin in the 1870s).<ref name=Petersen275/><ref name=Petersen276>Petersen, 2001, p. [https://www.academia.edu/21620272/Gazetteer_6._S-Z 276]</ref>

Andrew Petersen, an archaeologist specialising  in [[Islamic architecture]], surveyed the mosque in 1994. He found that the present mosque, built in the 1980s, encased the old building. The old part is the prayer hall, has an entrance to the north. This hall is square, covered with a [[dome]]. The dome rests on large [[squinch]]es, which are supported by [[corbel]]s. According to Petersen, the domed prayer hall is consistent with an 18th-century construction date.<ref name=Petersen276/>

===Tomb of Shaykh Alami=== 
The [[Maqam (shrine)|Maqam]] Shaykh Alami is situated south of the mosque, within its enclosure. It is built at a slope, where the ground rises to the south. On the east side there are two entrances; to the maqam, and to an underground [[cistern]].<ref name=Petersen276/>

The building is rectangular, 10 x 20 m, with an interior divided into two. The southern part contains a [[mihrab]] and is covered with a [[barrel vault]]. The northern end is covered with a dome, and has two large [[cenotaph]]s. According to Petersen, the buildings appear medieval.<ref name=Petersen276/>

==See also==
*[[Arab localities in Israel]]
*[[Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel]]

==References==
{{reflist|25em}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book | editor =Barron, J.B. | title = Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922 |url=https://archive.org/details/PalestineCensus1922 |publisher = Government of Palestine | year = 1923}}
*{{cite book|first=Hillel|last=Cohen|title=Good Arabs: The Israeli Security Agencies and the Israeli Arabs, 1948-1967|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q7RTdcvtO2sC|publisher=University of California Press|year=2010|isbn=9780520944886}}
*{{cite book
|last1=Conder|first1=C.R.|author-link1=Claude Reignier Conder
|last2=Kitchener|first2=H.H.|author-link2=Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
|year=1881
|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp01conduoft
|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology
|location=London|publisher=[[Palestine Exploration Fund|Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund]]
|volume=1}}  
*{{cite book
|title=Village Statistics, April, 1945 |url=http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nli/Hebrew/library/Pages/BookReader.aspx?pid=856390
|author=Department of Statistics
|year=1945
|publisher=Government of Palestine}} 
*{{cite book
|title=A Discourse on Domination in Mandate Palestine: Imperialism, Property and Insurgency
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DTh6AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA112&dq=Sha%27ab+1936+British+Palestine#q=Shaab|first=Zeina B.|last=Ghandour|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2009|isbn=9781134009633}}
*{{cite book
|last=Guérin|first=V.|author-link=Victor Guérin
|title=Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine
|url=https://archive.org/details/descriptiongogr01unkngoog
|volume=3: Galilee, pt. 1|year=1880
|publisher= L'Imprimerie Nationale|location=Paris|language=fr}}  
*{{cite book
|title=Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine
|url=http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html
|first=S.|last=Hadawi|author-link=Sami Hadawi
|year=1970|publisher=Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center}}
*{{cite book 
| last1= Hütteroth|first1=W.-D.|author-link1=Wolf-Dieter Hütteroth
| last2= Abdulfattah|first2=K. |author-link2=Kamal Abdulfattah 
| title = Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=wqULAAAAIAAJ  | year = 1977 | publisher = Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft|isbn= 3-920405-41-2}}
*Heyd, Uriel (1960): ''Ottoman Documents on Palestine, 1552-1615'', Oxford University Press, Oxford. 
*{{cite book | editor = Mills, E.  | title = Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas |url=https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas | publisher = Government of Palestine | location = Jerusalem | year = 1932}}
*{{cite book|title=The Birth of the Palestinian refugee problem, 1947-1949|url=https://archive.org/details/birthofpalestini00morr|url-access=registration|author-link=Benny Morris|first=B.|last=Morris|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=1987|isbn= 0-521-33028-9}}
*MPF: Ipsirli and al-Tamimi (1982): ''The Muslim Pious Foundations and Real Estates in Palestine. Gazza, Al-Quds al-Sharif, Nablus and Ajlun Districts according to 16th-Century Ottoman Tahrir Registers'', Organisation of Islamic Conference, Istanbul 1402/1982. 
*{{cite book|last=Palmer|first=E.H.|author-link=Edward Henry Palmer|year=1881|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp00conduoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer|publisher=[[Palestine Exploration Fund|Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund]]}}
*{{cite book|title=A Gazetteer of Buildings in Muslim Palestine (British Academy Monographs in Archaeology)|url=https://www.academia.edu/21620272|volume= I|first=Andrew|last=Petersen|year=2001|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-727011-0}} 
*{{cite thesis|type=PhD 
|last=Rhode |first=H.|author-link=Harold Rhode
|date=1979 |url=https://www.academia.edu/2026845   
|title=Administration and Population of the Sancak of Safed in the Sixteenth Century   
|publisher=[[Columbia University]]}}
*{{cite book
|title=Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the Year 1838
|url=https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearc01smitgoog 
|author-link=Edward Robinson (scholar)|first1=E.|last1=Robinson
|first2=E.|last2=Smith|author-link2=Eli Smith
|publisher=Crocker & Brewster|year=1841|volume=1}}   ( p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearc01smitgoog#page/n300/mode/1up 268])
*{{cite book
|last1=Robinson|first1=E.|author-link1=Edward Robinson (scholar)
|last2=Smith|first2=E.|author-link2=Eli Smith
|year=1841|url=https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearc00smitgoog |title=Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838|  location=Boston|publisher=[[Crocker & Brewster]]|volume=2}}   p.&nbsp;257, 279, 305
*{{cite journal 
| last = Schumacher | first =G.| author-link = Gottlieb Schumacher 
| title = Population list of the Liwa of Akka 
|  journal = Quarterly Statement - Palestine Exploration Fund | volume = 20 
| pages = [https://archive.org/details/quarterlystateme19pale/page/169 169]–191 | url =https://archive.org/details/quarterlystateme19pale | year = 1888}}
*{{cite book 
|author1=Tsafrir, Y. |author-link1=Yoram Tsafrir
|author2=Leah Di Segni |author3=Judith Green | title = (TIR): Tabula Imperii Romani: Judaea, Palaestina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8XJtAAAAMAAJ  | publisher = Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities | location = Jerusalem | year = 1994 | isbn=965-208-107-8}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://shaab.muni.il/ Official website]
*[http://www.palestineremembered.com/Acre/Sha'ab/index.html Welcome To Sha'ab]
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 5: [http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8368  IAA], [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.05.jpg Wikimedia commons] 
{{Arab localities in Israel footer|uncollapsed}}
{{North District (Israel)}}

[[Category:Arab localities in Israel]]
[[Category:Local councils in Northern District (Israel)]]
[[Category:Ancient Jewish settlements of Galilee]]