Sakhnin

Infobox Israel municipality
name=Sakhnin


imgsize=
hebname=Hebrew|סַחְ'נִין, סִכְנִין
arname=سخنين
meaning=
founded=
type=city
typefrom=1995
stdHeb=
altOffSp=
altUnoSp=
district=north
population=24,400
popyear=2005
area_dunam=9700
pushpin_

latd=32 |latm=52
longd=35 |longm=18
mayor=Mohammad Bashir

Sakhnin ( _ar. سخنين; _he. סַחְ'נִין or Hebrew|סִכְנִין "Sikhnin") is an Arab Israeli city in Israel's North District. It is located in the Lower Galilee, about convert|23|km|mi east of Acre. Sakhnin was declared a city in 1995. Its population of almost 25,000 [ [http://www.cbs.gov.il/population/new_2007/table3.pdf Population of Localities Numbering Above 1,00 residents] Israel Central Bureau of Statistics.] is mostly Muslim with a sizable Christian minority. It is located on the site of the ancient Jewish town "Sikhnin", which flourished during the Roman conquest (2nd century CE).

Geography

Sakhnin is built over three hills and is located in a valley surrounded by mountains, the highest one being 602 meters high. Its rural landscape is almost entirely covered by olive and fig groves as well as oregano and sesame shrubs.

History

Settlement at Sakhnin dates back 3,500 years to its first mention in 1479 BCE by Thutmose II, whose ancient Egyptian records mention it as a centre for production of indigo dye. Sargon II also makes mention of it as "Suginin".

Known as "Sikhnin" or "Sikhni", meaning "home of the labourers" in Aramaic, and "Sukhsikha", meaning "produces oil" in Hebrew, the town was known for Jewish scholars like the rabbi Joshua of Sakhnin in the periods of the Mishna and Gemara. His grave is known in Arabic as "Nabi as-Sideiq", and was a focus of pilgrimage from the Middle Ages through the present. The town continued to flourish as Hellenist "Sogne" into the period of Roman conquest.

Annexed to the Ummayad Caliphate after the Battle of Yarmouk, it came under brief crusader rule as "Zakkanin" until retaken by Saladin and the Ayyubid Dynasty following the Battle of Hattin where it remained in Muslim hands under the Mamluks, Dhaher al-Omar, and the Ottomans, until Palestine fell to the British after World War I.

During the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, Sakhnin surrendered to Israeli forces on July 18, 1948, during Operation Dekel, but was re-captured by Arab forces shortly afterwards. It finally fell without battle into Israeli hands in October 1948. In 1976, it became the site of the first Land Day marches, in which six Israeli Arabs were killed by Israeli forces during violent protests of government confiscation of convert|5000|acre|km2|0 of Arab-owned land near Sakhnin. The city was also one of the flashpoints in the October 2000 events.

Sports

In 2003, the town's football club, Bnei Sakhnin, became one of the first Arab teams to play in Ligat ha'Al, the top tier of Israeli football. [http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/15/sports/soccer.php Soccer: In Israel and Italy, storied teams rise] International Herald Tribune, 15 April 2007] The following year, the club won the State Cup, and was the first Arab team to do so; consequently, it participated in the UEFA Cup the following season, losing out to Newcastle United. The team received a new home with the 2005 opening of Doha Stadium, funded by the Israeli government and the Qatar National Olympic Committee, whose capital it is named after. The stadium has a capacity of 5,000.

Sakhnin is also the hometown of Abbas Suan, an Israeli international footballer who previously played for Bnei Sakhnin.

Economy

Sakhnin's economy is going and growing more than ever. It now has a new opened "Sakhnin Mall" which is expected to be the direct source of Sakhnin's thriving economy and it's due in about a month.

See also

*List of Arab localities in Israel

References

* [http://www.eretz.com/NEW/article/sachnin.html 'Not quite Zurich'] Eretz magazine
*http://www.palestineremembered.com/Acre/Sakhnin/Story256.html

External links

* [http://www.sakhnin.muni.il Sakhnin municipality site] (in process of development)