Wadi Nisnas

Wadi Nisnas (Arabic: وادي النسناس; Hebrew: ואדי ניסנאס) is a predominantly Arab neighborhood in the city of Haifa, Israel, with a population of about 8,000 inhabitants.^[1]^[2]

Etymology[edit]

'Wadi' is the Arabic word for valley, and 'nisnas' means mongoose, with the Egyptian mongoose being indigenous to the region.^{[citation needed]}

History[edit]

Wadi Nisnas was developed at the end of the nineteenth century as a Christian-Arab neighborhood outside the walls of Haifa.^[3]^[4]

1948 Palestine war[edit]

During the 1948 Palestine war, as part of the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight, the vast majority of Haifa's Arab population fled or were expelled from the city, many during the battle of Haifa. The remaining Arab population was relocated to Wadi Nisnas in a process that has been described as "ghettoization".^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]

Present day[edit]

The current Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics census estimates that 66% of the Wadi Nisnas population are Christians, 31.5% are Muslims, and the rest are Jews.^[9]

Cultural references[edit]

Wadi Nisnas is the setting for the 1987 novel, Hatsotsrah ba-Vadi (Hebrew: "Trumpet in the Wadi") by Sami Michael. It centers on the love story between a young Israeli Arab woman and a new Jewish immigrant from Russia.^[10]

References[edit]

^ "Gentrification in Haifa soars as Palestinian homes are converted into luxury real estate". 16 January 2019.
^ Being different in Haifa
^ Lefkowitz, Daniel (2004). Words and Stones: The Politics of Language and Identity in Israel. Oxford University Press. p. 49. ISBN 9780198028437. There are two main Arab neighborhoods in Haifa—Wadi Nisnas, which is largely Christian, and Halisa, which is largely Muslim.
^ Tripodi, Lorenzo (2011). Everyday Life in the Segmented City. Emerald Group Publishing. p. 73. ISBN 9781780522586.
^ Benny Morris (1988). "Haifa’s Arabs: Displacement and Concentration, July 1948". Middle East Journal, 42(2), 241–259. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4327736
^ Ilan Pappé, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (2006)
^ Finkelstein, Norman. “Myths, Old and New.” Journal of Palestine Studies 21, no. 1 (1991): 66–89. https://doi.org/10.2307/2537366 - "In July, Haifa's remaining inhabitants, some 3,500, were packed into a ghetto in the downtown Wadi Nisnas neighborhood."
^ Azoulay, Ariella. “Declaring the State of Israel: Declaring a State Of.” Critical Inquiry 37, no. 2 (2011): 265–85. https://doi.org/10.1086/657293 - "[...] the ghetto in Wadi Nisnas that had been established for them after they had been expelled from their homes."
^ Tripodi, Lorenzo (2011). Everyday Life in the Segmented City. Emerald Group Publishing. p. 74. ISBN 9781780522586.
^ Sami Michael, Trumpet in the Wadi. New York:Simon & Schuster, 2003, translated by Yael Lotan. ISBN 978-0-7432-4496-1

32°48′59″N 34°59′47″E / 32.81639°N 34.99639°E / 32.81639; 34.99639

[1] "Gentrification in Haifa soars as Palestinian homes are converted into luxury real estate". 16 January 2019.

[2] Being different in Haifa

[3] Lefkowitz, Daniel (2004). Words and Stones: The Politics of Language and Identity in Israel. Oxford University Press. p. 49. ISBN 9780198028437. There are two main Arab neighborhoods in Haifa—Wadi Nisnas, which is largely Christian, and Halisa, which is largely Muslim.

[4] Tripodi, Lorenzo (2011). Everyday Life in the Segmented City. Emerald Group Publishing. p. 73. ISBN 9781780522586.

[5] Benny Morris (1988). "Haifa’s Arabs: Displacement and Concentration, July 1948". Middle East Journal, 42(2), 241–259. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4327736

[6] Ilan Pappé, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (2006)

[7] Finkelstein, Norman. “Myths, Old and New.” Journal of Palestine Studies 21, no. 1 (1991): 66–89. https://doi.org/10.2307/2537366 - "In July, Haifa's remaining inhabitants, some 3,500, were packed into a ghetto in the downtown Wadi Nisnas neighborhood."

[8] Azoulay, Ariella. “Declaring the State of Israel: Declaring a State Of.” Critical Inquiry 37, no. 2 (2011): 265–85. https://doi.org/10.1086/657293 - "[...] the ghetto in Wadi Nisnas that had been established for them after they had been expelled from their homes."

[9] Tripodi, Lorenzo (2011). Everyday Life in the Segmented City. Emerald Group Publishing. p. 74. ISBN 9781780522586.

[10] Sami Michael, Trumpet in the Wadi. New York:Simon & Schuster, 2003, translated by Yael Lotan. ISBN 978-0-7432-4496-1

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