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Karmiel

Karmiel
  • כַּרְמִיאֵל
  • كرمئيل
Hebrew transcription(s)
 • ISO 259 Karmiˀel
 • Translit. Karmi'el
 • Also spelled Carmiel (unofficial)
Karmiel - Israel 2008.jpg
Flag of Karmiel
Flag
Official logo of Karmiel
Coat of arms
Karmiel is located in Israel
Karmiel
Karmiel
Coordinates: 32°54′49.38″N 35°17′45.92″E / 32.9137167°N 35.2960889°E / 32.9137167; 35.2960889Coordinates: 32°54′49.38″N 35°17′45.92″E / 32.9137167°N 35.2960889°E / 32.9137167; 35.2960889
District Northern
Founded 1964
Government
 • Type City (from 1986)
 • Mayor Adi Eldar
Area
 • Total 19,188 dunams (19.188 km2 or 7.409 sq mi)
Population (2015)
 • Total 44,858
Name meaning God's vineyards

Karmiel (Hebrew: כַּרְמִיאֵל‎, lit. "God's vineyards") is a city in northern Israel. Established in 1964 as a development town, Karmiel is located in the Beit HaKerem Valley which divides upper and lower Galilee. The city is located south of the Acre-Safed road, 32 kilometres (20 miles) from Safed and 20 km (12 miles) from Ma'alot-Tarshiha and 20 km (12 mi) from Acre. In 2015 Karmiel had a population of 44,858.

In 1956, about 1,275 acres (5.16 km2) of land in the Israeli Arab villages of Deir al-Asad, Bi'ina and Nahf were declared "closed areas" by Israeli authorities. This area, near the main road between Acre and Safed, had been an important marble quarrying site. In 1961, the Israeli authorities expropriated the land to build Karmiel. The villagers offered "equally good land" in the area, but when Moshe Sneh (Maki) and Yusef Khamis (Mapam) brought the case to the Knesset on behalf of the villagers, the Knesset established that there was no such land. According to the Haredi newspaper She'arim, about 10 square kilometres (3.9 sq mi) (394 lots) were confiscated by a court order on 4 March 1963, at the request of the Israel Development Authority. However, the land was rocky, uninhabited and unfit for agriculture. In 1964, when local Arabs applied for permission to move into the town, Minister of Housing Yosef Almogi replied that "Karmiel was not built to solve the problems for the people in the surrounding area." In February 1965, 400 protesters marched from Tel Aviv to protest against "discrimination of a group of our citizens". Representatives went to a local police station, informing the police that they were staying in the area without permission. Eventually the perceived leaders were arrested and tried before a military tribunal.


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Wikipedia

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