Jisr az-Zarqa

{{main|Tel Taninim}}

Excavations have revealed walls with pottery remains dating from the 1st-century CE, with amphoras dating from the 4th to 7th centuries CE,Said, 2009, [http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=1052&mag_id=115 Jisr ez-Zarqa Final Report] and remains of a structure carrying a ceramic pipe, most probably dating to the Byzantine era.Massarwa, 2010, [http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=1512&mag_id=117 Jisr ez-Zarqa, Final Report] It has been suggested that the aqueduct in Jisr az-Zarqa is part of the aqueduct ending in Caesarea Maritima, but was never completed.Shadman, 2011, [http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=1691&mag_id=118 Jisr ez-Zarqa, Final Report]

The Jurban family was the first family coming from Jordan Valley, escaping due to conflict. Other main families are Amash from Qadum in West Bank, Najar from Al Arish or Egypt, Shihab from the Hauran, Twatcha and Um Bashi from Sudan.{{Cite book|title=The Relation between the Environment Conditions and the Traditional Rural Settlement and the Agrarian Situation in Menashe Plateau before 1948|last=Bar Cohen|first=Anat|publisher=Bar Ilan University (Thesis for Master Degree)|year=2001|location=Ramat Gan, Israel|pages=74}}

In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it: "This is properly speaking a dam rather than a bridge, built across the river so as to form a large pool. There is a causeway on the top of the dam: the height on the west is 20 feet; on the east the level of the water was 3 feet below the roadway. The masonry resembles that of the aqueduct fed from the pool. [..] The eastern face of the dam is cemented. Sluices lined with cement are constructed in the dam. The roadway is 8 feet to 10 feet broad. The work appears to be Roman."Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp02conduoft#page/13/mode/1up 13]

The SWP further noted: "There are small encampments of Arabs who live permanently in the marshes of the river Zerka. They are so strongly posted (the intricate way through the marshes being only known to themselves), that they are almost free from contributions to Government. They are known as 'Arab el Ghawarni."Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp02conduoft#page/35/mode/1up 35]

A population list from about 1887 showed that Guwarnet ez Zerka had about 335 inhabitants, all Muslim.Schumacher, 1888, p. [https://archive.org/stream/quarterlystateme19pale#page/n206/mode/1up 181]

File:Tell al-Malat in the Survey of Palestine 14-21-Caesarea-1932 (cropped).jpg map showing the town as Khirbet ash-Shomeriyaa]]

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Jisr al Zarqa showed a population of 348 Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Haifa, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n37/mode/1up 35] increasing in the 1931 census (when it was counted with Kabara) to 572 Muslims, in a total of 117 houses.Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 92]

In the 1945 statistics the population of Arab el Ghawarina (Jisr Zerqa) was 620, all Muslims,Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p13.jpg 13] while the total land area was 3,428 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Haifa/Page-047.jpg 47] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303202537/http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Haifa/Page-047.jpg |date=2016-03-03 }} Of this, 6 were plantations and irrigable land, 674 for grain crops,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Haifa/Page-089.jpg 89] while 69 dunams were classified as built-up (urban) areas.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Haifa/Page-139.jpg 139]

Before the establishment of the state, it was inhabited by Bedouin of the Ghawarina tribe.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HTzSDHxSck4C&pg=PA144|title=State Lands and Rural Development in Mandatory Palestine, 1920-1948|first=Warwick P. N.|last=Tyler|date=October 7, 2001|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|isbn=9781902210759 |access-date=October 7, 2019|via=Google Books}} The intervention of Jews from the neighboring towns of Zikhron Ya'akov and Binyamina, who relied on the population of Jisr az-Zarqa for agricultural labor, prevented the dispersal of its population in 1948.{{Cite web |url=http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/8205/8205.ch05.html |title=Sacred Landscape: CHAPTER FIVE |access-date=2006-10-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060904163907/http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/8205/8205.ch05.html |archive-date=2006-09-04 |url-status=dead }}

In November 2002, the Caesarea Development Corporation constructed a large earthen embankment running the length of the 160 meter-wide corridor between Jisr az-Zarqa and neighboring Caesarea. The embankment was built to block noise from the muezzin in local mosques, celebratory gunfire,{{Cite web|url=http://www.caesarea.org.il/template_e/default.asp?maincat=12&catid=53&pageId=187&id_site=9|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061008081747/http://www.caesarea.org.il/template_e/default.asp?maincat=12&catid=53&pageId=187&id_site=9|url-status=dead|title=Caesarea|archive-date=October 8, 2006|access-date=October 7, 2019}} and to reduce property crime in surrounding communities.{{Cite web|url=http://friendvill1203.homestead.com/Long.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060103093208/http://friendvill1203.homestead.com/Long.html|url-status=dead|title=Website Disabled|archive-date=January 3, 2006|website=friendvill1203.homestead.com|access-date=October 7, 2019}} Residents of Jisr az-Zarqa claim that the national park in the north, the embankment to the south, the highway to the east and the sea to the west, are keeping the town from expanding.{{dead link|date=November 2013}}

The main coastal highway was built without providing an access to the village. However, a new interchange to Jisr az-Zarqa is being planned.{{when|date=April 2020}} The municipality of Jisr az-Zarka is seeking to promote environmental tourism to the town and its beachfront.{{Cite web|url=https://greenprophet.com/2011/01/forgotten-israeli-town/|title="Forgotten" Arab Israeli Town Gets Chance to Change Eco-Image|first=Maurice|last=Picow|website=Green Prophet | Impact News for the Middle East|date=22 January 2011 |access-date=October 7, 2019}} The Israel National Trail, a cross-country trail that runs from Dan in the north to Eilat in the south, passes through Jisr az-Zarka.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/149059/israels-new-beach-town|title=Israel's Last Undiscovered Beach: Jisr Az Zarqa|date=October 15, 2013|website=Tablet Magazine|access-date=October 7, 2019}} In 2013 it was reported that there were efforts to turn the town into a tourist destination{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xp-sLAHfQgk |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211219/Xp-sLAHfQgk |archive-date=2021-12-19 |url-status=live|title=Juha's guesthouse in Jisr a Zarqa. please enter the link below|access-date=October 7, 2019|via=www.youtube.com}}{{cbignore}}

In 2011, a women's leadership program was established in the wake of a similar project in the nearby town of Fureidis, to encourage women's participation in political and public leadership positions.{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-arab-women-learn-abcs-of-leadership-1.5344836|title=In an Impoverished Israeli Arab Town, Women Are Learning the ABCs of Leadership|date=October 4, 2013|access-date=October 7, 2019|newspaper=Haaretz}}

Problems of pollution and overfishing in the coastal waters have affected the local economy, and many now work inland. From 20 to 30 buses transport on a daily basis Jisr az-Zarqa residents to jobs, mostly menial, in Haifa, Tel Aviv and elsewhere.Skylar Lindsay, [http://mondoweiss.net/2016/09/palestinian-fishermen-netanyahus/ 'Palestinian fishermen struggle to survive next door to Netanyahu’s palatial suburb,'] Mondoweiss 23 September 2016.

Image:Jissr-street.jpg

The inhabitants of Jisr az-Zarqa are primarily Muslim.{{Cite web|url=http://www.cbs.gov.il/publications16/local_authorities14_1642/pdf/564_0541.pdf|title=Oops, Something is wrong|website=www.cbs.gov.il|access-date=October 7, 2019}}

The people of Jisr az-Zarqa belong to the Ghawarna,{{Cite book |last=Grossman |first=David |title=Arab Demography and Early Jewish Settlement in Palestine: Distribution and Population Density during the Late Ottoman and Early Mandate Periods |date= |publisher=The Hebrew University Magness Press, Jerusalem |year=2004 |isbn=978-965-493-184-7 |location=Jerusalem |pages=159 |language=he}} i.e. people of the Ghor, a plain situated at the lowest end of a drainage system.{{Cite journal |last=Khawalde |first=Sliman |last2=Rabinowitz |first2=Dan |date=2002 |title=Race from the Bottom of the Tribe That Never Was: Segmentary Narratives Amongst the Ghawarna of Galilee |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3631037 |journal=Journal of Anthropological Research |volume=58 |issue=2 |pages=225–243 |issn=0091-7710}} They come from various places. According to one account, they were believed to be Sudanese people brought to work as slaves for the Bedouins.

In 2020, the Mossawa Center, which advocates for Arab-Israeli rights, stated that 80% of residents live below the poverty line. Unemployment is high, and those who hold down a job on average earn half the national average in terms of income. Additionally, the average income in the village is only about half that of the national average.Naim Mousa and Wasim Nasser, [https://mondoweiss.net/2020/07/escorted-by-heavily-armed-police-israel-demolishes-livelihood-of-local-fisherman-in-jisr-al-zarqa/ 'Escorted by heavily armed police, Israel demolishes livelihood of local fisherman in Jisr al-Zarqa,'] Mondoweiss 22 July 2020 In 2006 it had the highest school dropout rate in the country, at 12%.{{cite news|title=Jisr al-Zarqa, J'lem, Eilat have highest high school dropout rates|date=8 September 2006|newspaper=Haaretz|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=760264}}{{cite news|title=Equal opportunity? Not in our school|date=27 September 2006|newspaper=Haaretz|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/766858.html}} By 2020, less than a quarter (23%) of high school students went on to graduate.

A local resident, Mariam Amash, applied for a new identity card in Hadera in February 2008, using a birth document issued by the Ottoman Empire showing she was born in 1888. If verified by the Guinness Book of World Records, this would have made her the oldest living person in the world at 120.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7247679.stm |title=World's 'oldest' person in Israel |first=Martin |last=Patience |date=2008-02-15 |access-date=2008-02-12 |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC MMVII}}{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3505680,00.html |title=120 year-old woman files for identity card |newspaper=Ynetnews |date=2008-02-12 |access-date=2008-02-12 |publisher=Ynetnews.com|last1=Goldstein |first1=Tani }} She died on December 22, 2012, at the age of 124.{{cite web |url=http://www.news.com.au/world/mariam-amash-possibly-worlds-oldest-person-dies-age-124/story-fndir2ev-1226542513980 |title=Mariam Amash, possibly world's oldest person, dies age 124 (with video) |date=2012-12-23 |access-date=2008-02-12 |publisher=Ynetnews.com |archive-date=2012-12-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121223175758/http://www.news.com.au/world/mariam-amash-possibly-worlds-oldest-person-dies-age-124/story-fndir2ev-1226542513980 |url-status=dead }}

In 1998, the first multiple kidney transplant in Israel took place between a couple from Jisr az-Zarqa and a Jewish couple from Jerusalem.{{cite news|title=An Israeli and an Arab showing the way|date=13 May 1998|publisher=ArabicNews.com|url=http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/980513/1998051370.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060215235436/http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/980513/1998051370.html|archive-date=15 February 2006}}

The film Al Jiser (2004) by Ibtisam Mara'ana examines the lives of residents of Jisr-az Zarka.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ibtisamfilms.com/en-us/films/details/Al%5EJisr|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015053634/http://www.ibtisamfilms.com/en-us/films/details/Al%5EJisr|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 15, 2012|title=Al-Jisr - Ibtisam Films|date=October 15, 2012|access-date=October 7, 2019}}

Image:Dzjasser085.jpg

• Taleb Tawatha
• Mark Gerban -> First rower in history to represent the State of Palestine at the World Championships. He had the highest placed World Championship finish (16th) of a Palestinian athlete in any sport. Father is from Jisr az-Zarqa.

• Arab localities in Israel

{{reflist|25em}}

{{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

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|title=Sacred landscape: the buried history of the Holy Land since 1948

|first=M.|last=Benveniśtî|author-link=Meron Benvenisti

|edition=Illustrated|publisher=University of California Press|year=2000|isbn=0-520-21154-5}}

• {{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=1882

|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp02conduoft

|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology|location=London|publisher=Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund

|volume=2}}

• {{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=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|access-date=2015-04-27|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20181208215837/http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html|archive-date=2018-12-08|url-status=dead}}

• {{cite journal

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|date= 2010-10-03

|url=http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=1512&mag_id=117

|title= Jisr ez-Zarqa Final Report

|journal=Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel

|number=122}}

• {{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

|url=https://archive.org/details/1948after00benn

|first=B.|last=Morris|author-link=Benny Morris

|year=1994|title=1948 and after; Israel and the Palestinians

|isbn=0-19-827929-9|publisher=Oxford University Press|chapter=8

|pages=Ghosh and Beit Naqquba, Al Fureidis}}

• {{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=Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund}}

• {{cite journal

|last=Sa‘id|first=Kareem

|date=2009-02-22|url=http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=1052&mag_id=115

|title=Jisr ez-Zarqa Final Report

|journal=Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel

|number=121

|access-date=2009-04-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719082106/http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=1052&mag_id=115|archive-date=2011-07-19|url-status=dead}}

• {{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 = 169–191 | url = https://archive.org/details/quarterlystateme19pale

| year = 1888}}

• {{cite journal

|last=Shadman|first=Amit

|date= 2011-06-25

|url=http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=1691&mag_id=118

|title= Jisr ez-Zarqa Final Report

|journal=Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel

|number=123}}

• {{cite journal

|last=Torgë|first=Hagit

|date= 2006-07-09

|url=http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=380&mag_id=111

|title= Tel Tanninim

|journal=Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel

|number=118}}

{{refend}}

• [http://www.palestineremembered.com/GeoPoints/Kh__Jisr_al_Zarqa_1331/index.html Welcome To Kh. Jisr al-Zarqa, Palestine Remembered]
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 7: [http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8370 IAA], [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.07.jpg Wikimedia commons]

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