Haifa
HAIFA
A major city in northwest historic Palestine, located on the Bay of Haifa on the Mediterranean coast, now Israel's third largest city. As part of the Ottoman Empire, Haifa was populated predominantly by Muslim and Christian Palestinians until Jews began to settle there in the late nineteenth century. Under the British Mandate (1917–1948), Haifa expanded, especially after 1933, when a deep-water port was opened. In 1922 its population was recorded as 25,000, of whom 6,000 were Jews and 18,000 Palestinians. By 1944, as a result of growth and increased Jewish immigration, it had about 66,000 Jews and 62,000 Palestinians. During the Arab-Israel War of 1948, Arab and Israeli forces
fought for control of the city. After the war, only 3,000 Palestinians remained, the rest having been expelled by Israeli forces; many of them fled to Lebanon. Present-day Haifa is Israel's principal port and a major industrial and commercial center. Its population in 2001 was over 270,000, of whom 10 percent were Palestinians.
SEE ALSO British Mandate;Ottomans.