Tulkarm: Difference between revisions
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==Culture== |
==Culture== |
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The [[Palestinian costumes|traditional costumes]] of women from Tulkarem were plain, dark-colored gowns with or without embroidery as most rural women from the north of Palestine.<ref>Karmi, 2004, p.22.</ref> Today, embroidery is the main source of income for the women of the city. {{fact|date=December 2011}}The most popular embroidered images are maps of historic Palestine. [[Musakhan]], the national dish of the Palestinian people originated in Tulkarem and the surrounding area. It consists of [[taboon bread]] garnished with [[sumac]] and [[onion]]s. Tulkarm shares many of its cultural features with neighboring [[Haifa]], [[Jenin]], [[Nablus]], [[Qalqilia]], and [[Jaffa]]<ref name="SandB"/> |
The [[Palestinian costumes|traditional costumes]] of women from Tulkarem were plain, dark-colored gowns with or without embroidery as most rural women from the north of Palestine.<ref>Karmi, 2004, p.22.</ref> Today, embroidery is the main source of income for the women of the city. {{fact|date=December 2011}}The most popular embroidered images are maps of historic Palestine. [[Musakhan]], the national dish of the Palestinian people originated in Tulkarem and the surrounding area. It consists of [[taboon bread]] garnished with [[sumac]] and [[onion]]s. Tulkarm shares many of its cultural features with neighboring [[Haifa]], [[Jenin]], [[Nablus]], [[Qalqilia]], and [[Jaffa]]<ref name="SandB"/>A Tulkarm amusement park called Mega Land attracts tens of thousands of visitors on Muslim holidays. <ref>[http://www.scribd.com/doc/50434209/Israeli-Arabs-and-West-Bank-Economy The economic impact of Israeli-Arab visitors to the West Bank]</ref> |
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==Sports== |
==Sports== |
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Revision as of 13:22, 28 December 2011
Template:Infobox Palestinian Authority municipality
Tulkarem or Tulkarm (Arabic: طولكرم, Ṭūlkarm; Hebrew: טול כרם) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the northern Samarian mountain range in the Tulkarm Governorate. Netanya and Haifa are to the west, the Nablus and Jenin Districts to the east. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Tulkarem and the adjacent refugee camp had a population of 58,962 inhabitants in mid-2006.[1]
Etymology
"Tulkarem" means "the bountiful mountain." The Arabic name is derived from the Aramaic words "Toor Karma," meaning "mount of vineyards."
History
Tulkarm was founded by the Mamluks in the 13th century.[2] It was established as a waqf to support al-Jawhariyya Madrasa, an Islamic religious school. The elite families of Tulkarm were the administrators of this trust, which granted them higher social and economic status. The population was increased through intermarriage with families fleeing clan violence and family feuds.[3]
In 1596, Tulkarem appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Qaqun of the Liwa of Nablus. Tulkarem later became a caza [clarification needed]of Haifa, It had a population of 176 Muslim households and paid taxes on wheat, barley, summercrops, olives, goats or beehives and a press for olives or grapes.[4]
Tulkarem gained more importance when the Ottomans—who ruled the area since 1517—granted the small town the status of a township and gained its own caza in 1886, giving it precedence over the nearby villages, during this time Qalqilya was also part of the district of Tulkarem. In addition, Tulkarem gained an Ottoman governor, bringing the residents who numbered only a few thousand and were mostly fellahin, closer to the government. In 1908, the Ottomans turned Tulkarem into a major rail junction on the Hejaz railway line running up from Egypt and southern Palestine to Haifa and Akka in the northwest, Jerusalem, Nablus and Ramallah to the south, Lebanon to the north, and Syria and Transjordan to the east.[2] The local Burqawi family controlled the area around the city in the 19th century.[5] The Ottoman Army used Tulkarem as a one of their main bases during the World War I Sinai and Palestine campaign, but in 1918, the city was captured by British forces.[2]
At the time of the 1931 census, Tulkarm had 804 occupied houses and a population of 4540 Muslims, 1555 Christians, 300 Jews, 100 Samaritans, and 75 Druze. There is still at least one operational church in Tulkarm and it is one of the oldest churches in the world.[citation needed] The census also listed "Tul Karm Suburbs" as having 516 Muslims, 15 Jews and 10 Christians.[6]
Israeli military administration of Tulkarem ended in 2005, when control of the city was handed over to the Palestinian Authority. [7]
Geography
The city is situated on the western part of the northern West bank, on the Mediterranean in the foothills of the Samarian mountains about 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) west of Nablus and Jenin and 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) east of the Israeli coastal towns of Netanya and Haifa. It is bordered by the 1948 cease-fire line, the Center, and Haifa Districts in the west, Qalqiliya and Ramle Districts to the south.. Its central location between a plain and a mountain has made it commercially and strategically significant and has had a great effect on its growth. In the past, Tulkarem was a caravan station and a trading center for products from the city's surrounding villages and farms, as well as a point from which armies crossed to Egypt and the Levant (al-Sham).
Tulkarem is at the crossroads of three historically important arteries: A road which runs north from the Latrun area along the edge of the plain to Mount Carmel, Mount Tabor, Mount Gilboa Nazareth and the Galilee and the Golan Heights, a road which winds northward along the outer tier of hills from the Ajalon valley to the Jezreel Valley, and a road that rises from the Mediterranean Sea at modern-day Netanya east to Nablus. In the past it was a junction of the coastal railroad from north of Haifa to Cairo and a branch of the narrow gauge Hejaz railway to Damascus.
Tulkarem was built on the foothills of the Samarian mountain range over a higher area than that surrounding it. The land which was formed as a result of the new fourth epoch consists mostly of creeping sands from the west to the east. The mountainous valleys carry quantities of alluvium and gravel to Tulkarem's lands in seasons of heavy rain and floods, thus creating fertile soil. In addition, an aquifer feeds numerous wells and springs in the area.
Agriculture
Tulkarem's arable land allows the city inhabitants to produce citrus fruits, melons, olives, olive oil, tomatoes, potatoes, wheat, sesame, peanut, eggplant, peppers, green beans, guava, and other products.
Climate
The climate of Tulkarm is Mediterranean and subtropical as the area surrounding it, with rainfall limited to the winter. The average temperature in the winter ranges from 8 to 16 °C (46 to 61 °F), while the average temperature in the summer ranges from 17 to 30 °C (63 to 86 °F). Tulkarem is distinguished by the moderating effect the sea breeze has on its climate because of its location on the Samarian mountains.. The average temperature doesn’t exceed 27 °C (81 °F) in August, while February's average temperature doesn’t fall below 13.5 °C (56 °F). Humidity is moderate in summer, about 40-70%, though it rises in winter to between 70-85%. Tulkarem receives in excess of 550 millimeters (22 in) of rain yearly, which is dispersed and intermittent, characteristic of the Mediterranean Basin.
| Climate data for Tulkarm | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 17.0 (62.6) |
17.5 (63.5) |
19.6 (67.3) |
23.9 (75.0) |
24.2 (75.6) |
28.3 (82.9) |
29.0 (84.2) |
30.0 (86.0) |
27.9 (82.2) |
26.0 (78.8) |
23.0 (73.4) |
19.2 (66.6) |
22.76 (72.97) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 8.9 (48.0) |
8.7 (47.7) |
10.5 (50.9) |
13.6 (56.5) |
17.2 (63.0) |
20.6 (69.1) |
23.0 (73.4) |
23.6 (74.5) |
20.7 (69.3) |
18.5 (65.3) |
14.1 (57.4) |
10.9 (51.6) |
15.54 (59.97) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 124.9 (4.92) |
92.2 (3.63) |
52.8 (2.08) |
23.6 (0.93) |
2.7 (0.11) |
2.8 (0.11) |
2.2 (0.09) |
0.7 (0.03) |
1.2 (0.05) |
28.0 (1.10) |
77.4 (3.05) |
135.5 (5.33) |
538.3 (21.19) |
| Average precipitation days | 13.9 | 11.7 | 8.6 | 3.6 | 1.4 | 3.2 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 3.9 | 8.0 | 11.8 | 63.7 |
| Source: Israel Meteorological Service[8] | |||||||||||||
The rainy season starts in October and continues through May. Between December and February, almost 70% of annual rainfall occurs, while 20% of annual rainfall occurs in October and November. Rain in June and September is rare and comes to negligible amounts. July and August have no rain at all, except for one rainfall of 1.5 millimeters (0.059 in) on July 10, 1995 in Tulkarem City (Tulkarm Agricultural Department). The mean annual rainfall in the city of Tulkarem is 642 millimeters (25.3 in) for the period from 1952 to 1995 (Tulkarem Agricultural Department).
Education
There are four high schools in Tulkarm, two for girls (Al'adawiyya and Jamal Abd-Al-Naser) and two for boys (Alfadeleyya and Ihsan Samarah). Khodori Institute is a college in Tulkarem established during the British Mandate by an endowment from the Iraqi-born Jewish philanthropist J.S. Kadoorie. Other institutions of higher learning include Al-Quds Open University and two campuses of An-Najah National University.
Culture
The traditional costumes of women from Tulkarem were plain, dark-colored gowns with or without embroidery as most rural women from the north of Palestine.[9] Today, embroidery is the main source of income for the women of the city. [citation needed]The most popular embroidered images are maps of historic Palestine. Musakhan, the national dish of the Palestinian people originated in Tulkarem and the surrounding area. It consists of taboon bread garnished with sumac and onions. Tulkarm shares many of its cultural features with neighboring Haifa, Jenin, Nablus, Qalqilia, and Jaffa[2]A Tulkarm amusement park called Mega Land attracts tens of thousands of visitors on Muslim holidays. [10]
Sports
Tulkarem has 2 semi-professional soccer teams; Thaqafi Tulkarem and Markez Shabab Tulkarem. Both are in the Palestinian League Division One and both are usually at or near the top of the standings.
Notable residents
- Ekrem Akurgal, Turkish archaeologist born in 1911 in Tulkarem
- Khaled Abu Toameh, Palestinian Israeli-Arab Muslim journalist
- Shakeeb Dallal
- Hasan Karmi
References
- ^ Projected Mid -Year Population for Tulkarm Governorate by Locality 2004- 2006 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.
- ^ a b c d Semplici, Andrea and Boccia, Mario. Tulkarm: The Bountiful Mountain. Med Corporation. pp.3-8.
- ^ Landed Property and Elite Conflict in Ottoman Tulkarm
- ^ Wolf-Dieter Hütteroth and Kamal Abdulfattah (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. p. 137.
- ^ Doumani, 1995, p.54.
- ^ E. Mills, ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine. p. 58.
- ^ Israel to hand over control of Jericho, Tulkarem in first West Bank transfers to Palestinians
- ^ "Averages and Records for Tel Aviv (Precipitation, Temperature and Records [Excluding February and May] written in the page)". Israel Meteorological Service.
- ^ Karmi, 2004, p.22.
- ^ The economic impact of Israeli-Arab visitors to the West Bank
Bibliography
- Doumani, Beshara (1995). "Rediscovering Palestine, Merchants and Peasants in Jabal Nablus, 1700-1900" (Document). University of California Press.
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