Ma'alot

As a researcher of historical facts, I have some factual data regarding our area which I would like to share with you.

Much of the information I gleamed from reading “The Survey of Western Palestine 1881” by Lieut Claude Reignier Conder and Lieut Horatio Herbert Kitchener The Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund 1 Adam Street Adelphi London

According to Joseph ben Matityahu aka Josephus Flavius the area of the tribe of Asher was a fertile and flourishing region noted for its olive orchards and the excellent olive oil derived from them.

According to the “Old Testament” the patriarch Yakov blessed his son: "As for Asher, his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties." Genesis 49:20 24. Moses, also promised affluence and importance: "

And of Asher he said: "Blessed be Asher above sons; let him be the favored of his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil." Deuteronomy 33:24 
According to an ancient legend, the oil for the anointment of all the kings and priests of Israel was produced by the tribe of Asher. It was also stated that none of the other tribes were as fortunate in the number of their children. Josephus states in his History of the Jews; "The maidens of the tribe of Asher were exceedingly beautiful and were wedded to the sons of priests and members of the royal family."

During the Roman ‘sojourn’ in the Galilee from 66 to 69 CE  during the (first) Great Jewish Revolt, on orders given by Vespasian and Titus, a number of towns were destroyed. The majority of the population in the Galilee and their villages however, were left predominantly untouched. This is because the populace fled to live in caves as found by archaeologists from the Safed Academic College by Dr. Yinon Shivtiel and Vladimir Boslove of the Israeli Cave Research Center of to have escaped to live in caves where water cisterns carved into the rock, as well as pitchers, pottery shards, coins, and other artifacts dating to the 1st century C.E. were found in many of the cliff shelters.
Historians have questioned the validity of whether Josephus, who wrote extensively about the Roman-Jewish wars, didn't embellish his role in the Jewish uprising by glorifying his own actions. With the discoveries, which were made over a period of years of the presence of Jewish refugees who escaped death at the hands of the Romans to caves in the Galilee. These discoveries have given a new credence to his accounts.

According to the researchers’ assessments and scientific research during the Bar Kokhba rebellion which took place between 132–136 CE the vengeful Romans obliterated the majority of the Jewish population and entire towns in Judaea during the revolt.

In practice, there was not a single village in Judea which survived and continued to function after the revolt. Everything was destroyed. The situation in the Galilee however differed from those in the Judea region since by contrast, no fighting took place. There were Jews who traveled to Judea in order to join in the fight and there were occasional sporadic incidents in the Galilee. Most incidents according to Roman records broke out when the Romans suspected families of stockpiling weapons. These families would then be investigated and their homes would be destroyed. Some Jewish families simply abandoned their homes to escape the Romans and lived in caves which enabled them to survive.

It is written in rabbinic literature that Quintus Tineius Rufus as consul, governor of Judaea from at least 130 to 132, provoked the Bar Kokhba revolt with the proscription of circumcision, the construction of a new city, Aelia Capitolina, over the ruins of Jerusalem, and the erection of a temple to Jupiter on the Temple Mount. 
The Bar Kokhba revolt resulted in the extensive depopulation of Judean communities, more so than the First Jewish–Roman War of 70 CE. According to Cassius Dio, 580,000 Jews perished in the war and many more died of hunger and disease. In addition, Many Judean war captives were sold into slavery. The Jewish communities of Judea were devastated to an extent, which some scholars describe as a genocide. Due to the severity of the Pyrrhic victory that was inflicted upon the Romans Emperor Hadrian ordered that any memory of Judea or Ancient Israel be wiped off the map and replaced with Syria Palaestina.

The area in what is today Ma'alot in 1880 contained some sixty villages. It was almost equally divided between the two Ottoman Turkish districts of Jebel Safed and the Belad Beshara governed by a Mudir living in Tibnin and he ruled under the authority of the Caimacam of Tyre who was under the Musterrif of Beyrout. The Jebel Safed is governed by a Caimacam who lives in Safed and rules under the Musterrif of Akka. -taken from page 196 The Survey for Western Palestine 
To the southeast of Maalot is the village of Peki'in known in Arabic as El Buke'ia-Little Valley is thought to be a Jewish community known as Baca, as mentioned in Josephus' "The Jewish War" From historical references we know that a Jewish Community maintained a continuous presence in Peki'in since the time of the Second Temple, when three families from the ranks of the Cohanim, the priestly caste that served in the Temple, moved there. According to tradition the descendants of the Zinati family are the last remnant of great Galilean Jewish population. "The Jews of Peki'in tilled their land and olive groves and guarded the secret of the silk trade."

According to the Survey for Western Palestine page 197;

"Every year in the summer several hundreds of Jews come here from Tiberius to pass the hot season. Most of these Jews came originally from Europe and are happy in finding here the last indigenous scions of the ancient national stock...at Bukeiah, thanks to the two springs which issue from the hillside, they cultivate on the slopes and almost to the bottom of the valley delicious gardens, watered by numerous streams. Here grown on different terraces, kept up by great walls, probably ancient, fruit-trees of all kinds, such as citrons, oranges, pomegranates, figs, quinces and mulberries. The vine flourishes marvelously, as is shown in the enormous trunks. The Jews worship in a synagogue of "modern date'- Guerin" (which had been recently restored then)

When the town's Jews fled the Arab riots of 1936-39, most of them went to what they called the Hadera Diaspora. But one family, Zinati's, returned home in 1940. They were forced to flee to other parts of the country during the War of Independence but when it ended they returned home. In the village is an ancient Synagogue that was restored in 1873 according to the Hebrew inscription above the entrance. In the wall are two carved stones that were quarried near Jerusalem. Legend says that when the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed the stones fell on their side as a sign of mourning.

According to a legend in the Babylonian Talmud, Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai criticized the Roman government and was forced to go into hiding with his son Rabbi Eleazar b. Simeon for thirteen years in a cave in Peki'in. Rabban Shimon bar Yochai, also known by his acronym Rashbi, was a 2nd-century Tanitic sage in ancient Israel, was said to be active after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. According to popular legend, he and his son, Rabbi Eleazar b. Simeon, were noted Kabbalists. Both figures are held in unique reverence by Kabbalistic tradition and they were buried in the same tomb in Meron, Israel, which is visited by thousands year-round.

Next to the mouth of the cave in Bukeiah a spring flowed with water and a carob tree grew which provided them against hunger and thirst. It is said that they cast off their clothing except during prayers to keep them from wearing out, embedded themselves in the sand up to their necks, and studied the Torah all day long. He and his son left the cave when they received a bat qol (divine revelation) saying that the Roman emperor had died and consequently all his decrees were abolished.

With regards to Suhmata- "Foundations and ruins, some drafted stone, one rock-cut tomb filled with rubbish; probably a Crusading Village This village divided into two distinct quarters occupies two hills near each other, between which is a great birket, partly cut in the rock and partly built. on of these hills is crowned by the remains of a fortress flanked by towers and built with simple rubble; it contained several subterranean magazines, a mosque and various chambers. The foundation is attributed to Dhaher sl Amer It is now three parts demolished and on the place where it stood grow vines and tobacco."- Guerin 1870 page 192 The Survey for Western Palestine

To the West of Ma'alot is the village of Ma'alia with it's ancient Chateau du Roi. 

"It was a walled village with many drafted stones used in the wall and laying about a large number of rock-cut cisterns and a ruined Mosque. The position is strong rising steeply from the plain on the east and south. The ancient name of the site is unknown. In the Crusading period it was clled Castellum Regium or Chateu de Roi. Buchard (1285) says of it: "Inde" - that is from the "Castellum Judin"- leucis III. est Castellum Regium in valle, quondum domus ejusdem - ie of the Teutonic Order -habundans omnibus bonis et fructibus qui eciam in terra illa rari sunt nisi ibi. Nunc Saraceni tenent illud". (The village of Judin (?) is in the valley of the castle of the king, too, of the house of the same that it abounds in all the good and a few of its fruits, which are also on the earth, but only there. Muslims now hold it) Buchard is in error, first by putting it three leagues from the Kulat Jiddin and secondly, in placing it in a valley and not on a hill. But there is no doubt that M'alia is the place he speaks of. It was bought on the 31st of May 1220, by the Teutonic Knights, from Otho Count of Hennebuk, for the sum of 7000 marks of silver. The purchase included M'alia with it's dependencies, and a third of the fief of St. George. Guerin says: "On the highest part of the hill we remark the remains of an ancient fortress, flanked by four square towers; considerable portions remain, showing it was built of regular blocks, some leveled plain and some embossed; the latter were reserved for angles. The ruins and interior of this fortress are now inhabited by about twenty families, which have built their little habitations in the midst of the debris." page 191 The Survey for Western Palestine

Kulat el Kurein -the Crusading castle of Montfort was situated on the southern side of the Wadi el-Kurn. In reading the text from page 199 of The Survey for Western Palestine I thought this to be an interesting observation regarding Montfort:

"The top of the ridge was widened by a wall built up from below, as was done by Solomon on mount Moriah, to enlarge the platform of the Temple. This basement work is very solid and exhibits very fine specimens of the old Jewish or Phoenician bevel."

The northern Israeli city of Ma'alot is located in the Western Galilee, 18 km east of Nahariyah, and some 50km north northeast from Haifa.

For those Jewish immigrants, refugees who had been released from Nazi Concentration Camps and confinement in Ghettos after the Holocaust they had no homes to return too.  

Many who had tried to return home found that their homes had been taken and those who wanted to stay were murdered in Pogroms.

So the Jews fled Europe in mass to other countries that would accept them. For many there was no place to turn to only “Eretz Yisrael” but until the creation of the state the doors were closed.

In the first months and years after the foundation of the State of Israel and the War of Independence, housing as well as money for the construction of housing for all of the Jewish refugees from the displacement camps in Europe was in short supply.

 In the first years of the State factories for the production of building materials had to be either created or worked overtime to produce concrete, metal for building, ceramics for flooring and sanitary facilities.

Due to the severity of the housing shortage and the urge need to settle the peripheral areas of the young country immigrants were settled in the abandoned homes and villages like Tarshicha. Whose residents had fled out of fear inspired by the atrocities carried out by Fawzi al-Qawuqji and his Arab Liberation Army (ALA) who had massacred the convoy to Kibbutz Yehi'am.

A newspaper in Scotland published an account of the convoy ambush:

"The second ambush occurred at Kabri, near Nahariyah, seven miles north of Acre. Here the bodies of 42 Jews were found near five burnt out lorries. It is stated that in this action a column of six Jewish lorries were ambushed by 250 Arabs who were armed with rifles, two inch mortars, and light machine guns. The column, escorted by an armoured car, was attacked an hour before sunset on Saturday night. A British flying column was sent to relieve the Jews but failed to reach them, it is reported. British artillery then opened fire with 12-lb and 25-lb high-explosive shells, and the Arabs withdrew."

In the ambush 47 Haganah members were killed and 6 Arabs. During the second phase of Operation Ben Ami the Arab siege of Yehi'am was lifted and the first retaliatory attack in a direct response to the butchery of the remains of the fallen was carried out against al-Kabri, Umm al-Faraj and al-Nahr, where the commander gave orders

“To attack with the aim of capturing the villages of al-Kabri, Umm al-Faraj and al-Nahr, [and] to destroy and set fire to the villages.”

With the abject defeat of the Arab armies of the Arab League, during the foundation of Israel in 1948, the level of animosity and hatred towards Jews in their homes in Arab lands life became intolerable. Jews who had lived in relative peace for generations, many as Dhimmis from North Africa and the entire Middle East were no longer safe in the countries where they lived.

Over nine hundred thousand of these Jews from "Arab lands" became refugees from hostile Arab nations and they too had nowhere to go but to Israel as new immigrants. At that time due to the severe housing shortage in all the country, especially in the major cities, there arose a dire need to populate and secure the peripheral areas of the new state.

The new development town Ma'alot was founded in 1957 as part of this plan near the Arab village of Tarshicha by the Israeli Government for the absorption of Jewish refugees, new immigrants primarily from Morocco and Tunisia.

In May of 1974 there was a terrible atrocity of the cold-blooded murder of the 22 High School students from Tsfat - Safed. Three members of the Cohen family and Sylvian Zerach, a 27 year old soldier from Akko who was married to a resident of Ma’a lot and the father of a one month old baby girl was also murdered in cold blood.

As I point out in my thoroughly researched Blog entry, few realize that in the blind hatred inherent on the Palestinian side of this long conflict the first casualty of the "Freedom Fighters" was a young Arab Christian woman Hasibah Shalala from the village of Fassuta. Seven of her fellow workers from Fassuta were also wounded After the terrible incident in 1974 Ma’alot began to develop slowly.

Since 1974 the citizens of the Galilee attempted to live normal lives under the daily threats of terrorism from the PLO until the first war in Lebanon in June 1982. From 1982 until July of 2006 we lived in relative peace.

It is also ironic that The Second Lebanon War in 2006, which began on the 12th of July 2006, started with a cross border ambush by the Hezbollah on Israeli patrol vehicles in the same area where the three Terrorists crossed in May of 1974 under the supposed watchful eyes of the UNFIL forces. The immediate result was the kidnapping by the Hezbollah murderers of the two Israel soldiers; First Sergeant Ehud Goldwasser and Sergeant First Class Eldad Regev.

For 34 long hot summer days during that summer of 2006, the immediate vicinity of the Ma'alot was bombarded by more than 1,600 Katyusha rockets. The civilian population of Ma'alot and Tarshicha were exposed to daily rockets attacks. Many of those who could fled to safer parts of Israel with their families. Many had nowhere to go but there crowded dark and dank bomb shelters.

The only casualties that occurred on the 3rd of August 200 when one of the Katyusha rockets launched by the Hezbollah in Lebanon landed near three young Bedouin and murdering them; Shanati Shanati, 18; Amir Naeem, 18; and Muhammad Fa'ur, 17, all of Tarshiha. Altogether there were 43 Israeli civilians casualties. Most were in their homes and nowhere near military bases or facilities. 15 out of a total of 43 Israeli civilians (including four who died of heart attacks during rocket barrages) were Arab-Israelis.

Land Ownership in "Palestine"

‎

It is historical and documented fact that most of those Arab inhabitants (the New Palestinians) of the area that composed the area of the "1922 Mandate For Palestine" -which includes ALL of today's Israel, Judaea and Shomron (aka the West Bank) and Jordan) do not have legal ownership / ‎title to the land they claim is theirs. 

The Turks and later the Mandate Authority attempted ‎to register land ownership -by census - but only those who paid taxes could get ownership (Taboo).

In 1858 the Ottoman Empire introduced The Ottoman Land Code of 1858, requiring land owners to register ownership. The reasons behind the law were twofold. (1) to increase tax revenue, and (2) to exercise greater state control over the area. Peasants, however, saw no need to register claims, for several reasons:

 Land owners were subject to military service in the Ottoman Army

• General opposition to official regulations from the Ottoman Empire
• Evasion of taxes and registration fees to the Ottoman Empire
• The registration process itself was open to manipulation.

Therefore many Arab inhabitants hid or lied to not have to pay taxes and thereby did not admit to ‎ownership.

Land collectively owned by village residents was registered in the name of a single landowner, with merchants and local Ottoman administrators registering large stretches of land in their own name. The result was land that became the legal property of people who may have never lived there, while peasants, even those who had lived on the land for generations, became tenants of absentee owners.

“Many -whole, primarily Moslem -villages were virtual "serfs" or indentured servants ‎to wealthy absentee land owners residing in Beirut or Damascus, and this was well known to us. ‎

"We have found that a large number of stateless Arabs migrated to the Mandatory Areas after the ‎Liberation in 1918 and establishment of the Mandate in search of gainful employment. So in ‎essence they are squatters and as in most civilized countries of the world you cannot stay on land ‎that is not legally yours.” World War I left Palestine, especially the countryside, deeply impoverished. Palestine's fellahin, the country's tenant peasant farmers, who did not hold ownership of their land or homes but were servants of absentee landlords who resided in Beirut and Damascus, comprised over two-thirds of the indigenous Arab population.” Sir Ronald Henry Amherst Storrs, the first British military governor of Jerusalem.‎

Michael Fischbach  a professor of history at Randolph-Macon College, offers a detailed study in his book "Records of Dispossession" and what is the conclusion? That;

 "...though some middle class refugees were able to flee with liquid capital, the majority were small-scale farmers whose worldly fortunes were the land, livestock, and crops they left behind." 

The Ottoman land law classifies land under five kinds or categories. These, with suggested approximate counterparts in English, are as follows:

• Mulk = private or allodial land (held in absolute ownership).
• Miri = feudal or State land, but can also specifically refer to vacant State land, private usufruct State land. A sub-category of the same is mahlul, or what is defined as escheated State land.[8] Most Ottoman registrations of miri (usufruct) titles existing in Palestine are based on a presumed or lost grant.[9]
• Waqf = allodial land in mortmain tenure, being land assured to pious foundations or revenue from land assured to pious foundations; also usufruct State land of which the State revenues are assured to pious foundations.
• Matruka = communal profits-à-prendre land, being land subject to public easements in common, or servitude State land.
• Mewat = dead and undeveloped land.

‎When the British assumed control over the Sanjak of Jerusalem at the end of 1917 under the OETA -Occupied Enemy Territory Administration with the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, they applied the Ottoman laws of the Ottoman Land Code of 1858 to all inhabitants. Much of the agricultural land in Palestine (about one third of the whole territory) was still owned by the same landowners as under Ottoman rule, mostly powerful Arab clans and local Muslim sheikhs. Other lands had been held by foreign Christian organizations (most notably the Greek Orthodox Church), as well as Jewish private and Zionist organizations, and to lesser degree by small minorities of Bahai's, Samaritans and Circassians.

The amount of land owned by Jews was easier to calculate than that owned by Arabs because the Jews requested Land Title-Deeds or “Taboo”. It is difficult to reckon the total amount of land owned by Arabs (Muslim, Christian and Druze) in Mandatory Palestine since most were owned by absentee landlords who had received or claimed ownership from the Ottoman Empire.

It was widely known fact that throughout the pre-1947 "Mandated Areas" that Jewish buyers preferred land free of tenant farmers.These absentee Arab land owners"effendis" would go so far as to actively expel tenant farmers off the plot he wished to sell without paying their "Fellachim\serfs" any compensation beforehand as to make it a more attractive purchase.
Conversely, "The Jews ... have in many cases paid displaced cultivators generous pecuniary compensation ..."

"They [Jews] paid high prices for the land, and in addition they paid to certain of the occupants of those lands a considerable amount of money which they were not legally bound to pay." a quote from the "The Report on Immigration, Land Settlement and Development, commonly referred to as the Hope Simpson Enquiry or the Hope Simpson Report" dated October 1, 1930, but was released on October 21, 1930

"In those instances where as a result of such transactions Arab tenant-farmers were displaced (on one year's notice), compensation in cash or other land was paid, as required by the 1922 Protection of Cultivators Ordinance; the Jewish land-buying associations often paid more than the law required" (Pollack and Boehm, The Keren Kayemeth Le-Israel). Of 688 such tenants between 1920 and 1930, 526 remained in agricultural occupations, some 400 of them finding other land (Palestine Royal Commission Report, 1937, Chapter 9, para. 61).

The 1945 UN estimate shows that Arab ownership of arable land was on average 68% of a district, ranging from 15% ownership in the Beer-Sheba district to 99% ownership in the Ramallah district. This data cannot be fully understood without comparing them to those of neighboring countries: in Iraq, for instance, still in 1951 only 0.3 per cent of registered land (or 50 per cent of the total amount) was categorized as ‘private property’.

The extent of mulk or allodial lands (privately owned property) in the area was limited, and was usually only found in the old cities or in garden areas. Rural land in this category was rare. In nearly all cases (excluding only “Waqf” lands, and communal profits-à-prendre land, or dead and undeveloped land), lands were either mulk or miri tenures.

From the 1920s onwards many Arab peasants left the land in increasingly large numbers into urban environments where they often encountered only poverty and social marginalization. Many were crowded into shanty towns in Jaffa and Haifa where they found succor and encouragement in the teachings of the charismatic preacher Izz ad-Din al-Qassam who worked among the poor in Haifa.

The Ottoman and then the Mandate authorities levied high taxes on farming and agricultural produce and during the 1920s and 1930s this together with a fall in prices, cheap imports, natural disasters and paltry harvests all contributed to the increasing indebtedness of the fellahin. The rents paid by tenant fellah increased sharply, owing to increased population density, increased the number of fellahin evicted. The problem of 'landless' Arabs grew particularly grave after 1931, causing High Commissioner Wauchope to warn that this 'social peril ... would serve as a focus of discontent and might even result in serious disorders." The ongoing disruption of agrarian life in Palestine, which had been continuing since Ottoman times, thus created a large population of landless peasant farmers who subsequently became mobile wage workers who were increasingly marginalized and impoverished; these became willing participants in nationalist rebellion.

"The total area of land in Jewish possession at the end of June 1947, amounted to 1,850,000Dunams, of these 181,100 Dunams had been obtained through concessions from the Palestinian Government, and about 120,000 Dunams had been acquired from Churches, from foreign companies, from the Government otherwise than by concessions, and so-forth. It was estimated that 1,000,000 Dunams and more, or 57 per cent, had been acquired from large Arab landowners, and if to this we add the lands acquired from the Government, Churches, and foreign companies, the percentage will amount to seventy-three. From the “Fellachim” (peasants\serfs) there had been purchased about 500,000 Dunams, or 27 per cent, of the total acquired. The result of Jewish land acquisitions, at least to a considerable part, was that properties which had been in the hands of large and medium owners were converted into holding of small peasants."  A. Granott in The Land System in Palestine (Eyre and Spottiswoode, London, 1952, p. 278),

When Palestinians claim we "stole lands" I say,”Okay let me see your "Taboo" / the Ottoman Turkish pre-Mandate land license. And you know what? Surprise, surprise they bring out a rusted key. Okay what did the key go to? “My family home!” “Yes, but where are your Land title papers?” In some 70 to 85% of the cases they either do not have one or they are forgeries.

The Israeli lands Authority were passed down ALL the British Mandatory licenses - thanks to the efforts of hundreds of Pre Mandate British bureaucrats who with “Kafkaistic” Austria thoroughness made copious notes of forgeries that abounded under the Mandate.

Many Arab inhabitants during the Ottoman Turkish Empire and Mandate hid or lied to not have to pay taxes and thereby did not admit to ownership. Many -whole, primarily Moslem -villages were virtual "serfs" or indentured servants to wealthy absentee land owners residing in Beirut or Damascus. And even during British Rule there were countess court cases and arguments of "Land Confiscation" by the Mandatory Government. Read more here:

Since much of the collectively owned Jewish land; Kibbutzim and Moshavim, was purchased through the Keren Kayemt Fund from the Turkish Government, or the absentee land lords.  And privately owned lands –like in Hebron, the Jewish Quarters of Safed and Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Rishon L’Zion, Gush Etzion , Zichron Yakov, Gedera, Rosh Pnina, Natanyah, Nahariyah ALL Jewish land purchases from 1865 until know were all Legally purchased with entitlement –“Taboo”  (As also mentioned by Sir Ronald Henry Amherst Storrs)

Regarding the area of Judaea and Shomron (aka the "West Bank) it most be noted that this area  was illegally occupied by the Kingdom of TransJordan (later shortened to the Hashmite kingdom of Jordan) after the 1947 Israeli War of Independence. During his illegal OCCUPATION King Abdullah attempted to illegally annex the area and to acquire the "Good wishes" of the "Arabs of the Mandated Area"(today's Palestinians) from whom he had taken the land he offered to give land ownership to those who resided in the territory. The majority of the wealthy and educated realized a "good thing" when they saw it and grabbed the "Taboo or Land Deeds" while many villagers and peasants ("Fellachim") who were poor and saw no reason for it.

Self-Hatred A Jewish Quandary

The origin of the term "Jewish self-hatred" begins in the mid-nineteenth century feuding between German Orthodox Jews of the Breslau seminary and Reform Jews, secular and atheist. Each side accused the other of betraying Jewish identity, the Orthodox Jews accusing the Reform Jews of identifying more closely with German Protestantism and German nationalism than with Judaism.

Theodor Herzl appears to have introduced the phrase "anti-Semite of Jewish origin" in his 1896 book, Der Judenstaat (The Jews' State), which launched political Nationalistic Zionism and his vision to create a secular and socialist Jewish state in the Ottoman Turkish Empire in the area referred to in the modern Christian context as "Palestine".
Herzl's phrase "anti-Semite of Jewish origin" was referring to "philanthropic Zionists" Jewish "parvenu" who did not support Herzl's political project for a Jewish state.

The majority of Reform Jews of Central Europe came to be "anti-Zionists" mainly because these thoroughly assimilated wealthy Jews desired to remain in their home countries and had no desire to leave. They felt "safe" because they were not living in fear, discomfort and misery from pogroms and acts of violence as the Jews of the "Pale of Settlement" in the Russian Empire were.

Most Jews who wished to escape the anti-Jewish measures instituted in Russia after the assassination of Alexander the Second, on the 13th of March 1881, there existed the question where to emigrate to?

In the first half of the 19th century, no foreigners were allowed to purchase land in Palestine. This was official Ottoman policy until 1856 and in practice until 1867.
However, in 1881 the Ottoman governmental administration (the Sublime Porte) decreed that foreign Jews could immigrate to and settle anywhere within the Ottoman Empire, except in Palestine and from 1882 until their defeat in 1918, the Ottomans continuously restricted Jewish immigration and land purchases in Palestine. 
In 1882, Jews were banned from their Four Holy Cities and in 1891, after briefly allowing some Jewish immigration three years earlier, the Turkish rulers tried to again close the empire to Russian Jews.
In 1892, the Ottoman government decided to prohibit the sale of land in Palestine to Jews, even if they were Ottoman citizens.
Nevertheless, during the late 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, many successful land purchases were made through organizations such as the Palestine Jewish Colonization Association (PJCA), Palestine Land Development Company and the Jewish National Fund.Jewish acquisition of land in Palestine from the 1880s until the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 by Jews. Because of this, nearly 25,000 Jews did manage to immigrate to Eretz Yisrael between 1882 and l903. This was the largest single steady influx of Jews since the Expulsion decree from Spain.

This wave of immigration is usually described as the First Aliyah but in fact it consisted of two main waves: l882-84 and l890-9l.
Many of the immigrants were conspicuously Zionistic and they had come under the influence or auspices of the Bilu and the Chovevei Zion and were workers of the land. The great majority, however were simply refugees from Czarist oppression and where from religious backgrounds that were intent upon spending their years in yeshivot studying and praying. All but five percent of the new immigrants settled in the five major towns of Yerushalim (Jerusalem), Tzfat (Safed), Hebron, Tiberius and Haifa. A few opened stores or workshops. Others subsisted on "Chalukka" or stipends.

The Central European and German Reform Jews felt that the Jewish "mission" had evolved to become universalistic and identified themselves as citizens of their country who happened to practice the Jewish faith.

Most Jews of Western and Central Europe had gained immensely from the largest of Napoleon Bonaparte during the First French Empire in 1806. It was Napoleon who had enacted laws that emancipated European Jews from old laws restricting them to ghettos, as well as the many laws that limited Jews' rights to property, worship, and careers.
Napoleon even convened a council, which he termed with biblical grandeur the Sanhedrin. Two famous Rabbis admired him; Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav and Rabbi Menahem Mendel of Rymanov.

In France, Jews wrote Hebrew prayers to praise Napoleon during services and called him “Helek Tov” in Hebrew or “good portion” (bona-parte), as Ronald Schechter discussed in “Obstinate Hebrews: Representations of Jews in France, 1715-1815.”

In contrast to the Jews of Western and Central Europe, those Jews of the Russian Empire were confined to old backward Orthodox Judaism. They were brutally oppressed and were at the mercy of their non Jewish neighbors who fell upon them at the slightest whim.

So when there was a slight relaxing of restrictions many who came from poor impoverished backgrounds took the opportunity to seek "Enlightenment". These Jews of the "Haschlah" movement of the 19th Century adopted the communal values expressed by Karl Marx and Fredric Engels to build a more Utopian society with Socialistic values. It was these young Zionist Jews who because of their poverty found sustenance in the development of communal farms or Kibbutzim like Kibbutz Degania in Ottoman Turkish Palestine in the beginning of the 20th century.

The Western European Jews, specifically those of the new Germanic Empire were totally confident of their assimilation acceptance into mainstream society that they did not fear the ancient anti-Semitism that lay dormant in the New German Empire.

The Reformed and "Enlightened" Jews of Europe prior to the rise of Hitler and the Holocaust, clung to the false belief that they would eventually be accepted de facto and not only de jure. Many went out of their way to appease their “fellow countrymen” by fully assimilating by converting to Christianity and marrying Christians. They raised their children as Catholics or Lutherans and they served in the  German and Austrian armies  in disproportionate numbers during World War I. Tens of thousands had died in that conflict, laying down their lives for the Kaiser and the Emperor. A large number of Jews rose to officer ranks, especially in the Austrian army. Thousands of Jews, in both armies, were decorated for bravery with the highest honors. Service in the armed forces, during World War I, had been a way for the Jew to gain access to greater acceptance, opportunity and to prove their loyalty to everything Germanic. None of this helped them or their offspring when the Nazis took full control over Germany and enacted the Nuremberg Laws.

In 1935, the Nuremberg Laws created two new "racial" categories: the half-Jew (Jewish Mischling first degree), and the quarter –Jew (Jewish Mischling second degree)."The word Mischling means ‘half-caste, mongrel or hybrid"

 A half-Jew had two Jewish grandparents; a quarter –Jew had one. Since Nazi racial policy declared anyone of the Jewish religion a full Jew regardless of ancestry, most were by definition Christians."

In 1940, Unteroffizier Dieter Bergmann wrote to his Jewish grandmother, Elly Landesberg nee Moackrauer:

"Don’t you realize how much I’m with my whole being rooted in Germany. My life would be very sad without my homeland, without the wonderful German art, without the belief in Germany’s powerful past and the powerful future that awaits Germany. Do you think that I can tear that all out of my heart?...Don’t I also have an obligation to my parents, to my brother who showed his love to our Fatherland by dying a hero’s death on the battlefield….Someday, I want to be a German amongst Germans and no longer a second-class citizen only because my wonderful mother is Jewish."

"Under traditional Jewish law, a child born to a Jewish mother, no matter whom the father may have been, is Jewish…. I am confused…. Who is a Jew? What is a Jew? When are you a Jew? What if you do not want to be a Jew? Can we choose?" William Rabinowitz

It was the reality of vile anti-Semitism in 19th Century Europe that was revealed during the trial of Louis Dreyfus and the vicious outburst of French anti-Jewish hatred that gave birth to Theodore Herzl's  Jewish Nationalistic movement -Zionism.

It was a German Jew named Theodore Lessing, who in his 1930 book entitled Juedischer Selbsthass “Jewish self-hatred”, who coined the term to identify hedonistic assimilated anti-Zionist Jewish academics who had wished to curry favor with their non-Jewish friends.

"A Jew who expresses self-hatred will dislike everything specifically Jewish, for he will see in it that which keeps him away from the majority for which he is longing. He will show dislike for those Jews who are outspokenly so, and will frequently indulge in self-hatred" (Kurt Lewin, Resolving Social Conflicts. p. 164).

Regarding the Phenomenon of Jewish Self-Hatred Albert Einstein is alleged to have once stated; “The reason we Jews survive is that the cowards leave us.”

Prior to the Holocaust many Orthodox Jews of that time objected to any creation of a Jewish state in Palestine before the arrival of the Jewish messiah. Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, a leader of the Satmar Hasidism, continue to oppose Zionism and the State of Israel on religious grounds. In his book book, VaYoel Moshe,an exposition of one Orthodox position on Zionism, based on a literal form of midrash (biblical interpretation)  God and the Jewish people exchanged three oaths at the time of the Jews' exile from ancient Israel:

• That the Jewish people would not rebel against the non-Jews that ruled over them;
• That the Jewish people would not return to Israel (although individual Jews could do so);
• That God would not allow the non-Jewish world to persecute the Jews excessively.

This was the position of mainstream Orthodox Jewry until the Holocaust. However as a result of the "facts on the ground", with the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 as an existing entity many Orthodox Jews, including those identified with the Agudat Israel party, accept the validity of these oaths, but have reached a modus vivendi with the State of Israel.

Today's "ethnical Liberal Jews" of JStreet and Code Pink are American Jewish pro assimilationists and anti-Zionists who accuse Israeli "Zionist Settlers" of being "Occupiers" and followers of an "Apartheid Regime", for promoting the idea of the strong Jew using rhetoric close to that of the Anarchist anti-Semites and their pro-Palestinian Minions.

Alvin H. Rosenfeld took "a hard look at Jewish authors" in his 2006 essay "Progressive Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism". He noted that their statements have now moved on to be well beyond "legitimate criticism of Israel". The New York Times reported that the essay spotlighted the issue of when "legitimate criticism of Israel ends and antisemitic statements begin." Rosenfeld's essay considered the rhetoric that called into question Israel's "right to continued existence" to be anti-Semitic in context and its use in debates about Israel has grown more frequent and more intense in the US and the UK.

On the other-hand "Israelis" and "Right-wing Zionists / Settlers" -  accused their opponents of being "self-haters", for promoting retreat from the Ancestral homelands of Judaea and Shomron as well as the image of the Jew that would perpetuate his inferior position in the modern world.

These "Left-wing Liberals" of today's political spectrum, members of the so called Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Code Pink  are today's version of the Jewish "apostates" whose hatred of Jews and loathing of Judaism is even more fanatical than that of their fellow "Liberal" supporters of the pro-Palestinian movement. They express virulent anti-Zionistic opposition to the existence of the State of Israel as they attempt to marginalize and demonize it in any means possible.
Some of them argue that the Jewish settlement of "Palestine" should be reversed or that Israel should be destroyed by force.
Many of these "Enlightened Liberals" of JStreet argue that Israel as a specifically Jewish state should be replaced by a secular state in which Jews and Arabs live together.
This "Kumbaya" vision of naivete is prominent in Israel among the "Shenkin Street Losers" society in the "Greater Tel Aviv" area, many, descendants of Central European 2nd Aliyah inherited the Stalinistic Communist Style self hating "Non" Zionistic Jew view point of assimilation. These "Left-wing Liberals" of today's political spectrum, inherited the DNA of their parents who were members of the Israeli Communist "Workers" Party (MAPAM) of the 1950's.

This collective Jewish Self-hate and loathing for Israel and Zionism can be seen in such groups as the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) or Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) who constantly organize; pro-Palestinian gatherings, BDS activities, anti-Israel speakers on College campuses, marches or staging anti-Israel public street performances in front of businesses or offices associated with Israel and Jews.

These bamboozled members of the IDS- Israel Dementia Syndrome vent their anger at Israel whose mere existence prevents their total assimilation by making demands that Israel lift the so called ‘siege’ on Gaza, make outspoken accusations alluding to Israel as an "Apartheid Regime", accuse Israel of "Occupation" and "Genocide" while totally refusing to condemn Palestinian terror.
They attempt to enforce their beliefs with lies, distortions of truth and false accusations.They vocalize their drivel at every opportunity by whiny incoherent verbiage and pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel antics, the JVP and CP Women (Witches) in Pink epitomize Jewish self-loathing and hatred.

This is a common occurrence among those self-hating Jews who suffer from  IDS -Israel Dementia Syndrome. These fools continue to share their frustrations with deniers of Israel those Tragedy Tourists of Nacbahland Losers and their world wide web of bamboozled and brainwashed minions.

The Al -Quds Hate Fest

This is yet another example of the failure of the Palestinians to ever reach a State. 

They cannot stop their preaching of violence and destruction. In contrast to the Israeli side with our Liberal left wing we call for nonviolence Peace and reconciliation. And ad nauseum all the world leaders and the UN consistently call on Israel to concede and to give where “Gott Im Himmel” they should demand that the “Palestinians” cease ALL violence and to NOT ONLY negotiate but accept WHAT THERE IS! And NOT what there was in 1948. The Nacbah is over you lost, GET OVER IT!

And as always the bamboozled fools of the world, who blindly never ever stop putting pressure on Israel to concede, notice where the real problem is. The problem is the distortion of truth and the vile blind hatred which has been used by the Palestine Ministry of Propaganda and Nachbah Fantasies to bamboozle the world.

Here is the perfect example of where to begin dealing with hate.

I just recently read some postings on Facebook regarding Nadia Shoufani a graduate of the American University of Beirut and a former employee at UNRWA, Shoufani is a teacher for Special Education, ESL, Literacy and Science at Dufferin-Peel District School Board. “Ms. Shoufani” is mentioned as a SERT/ESL teacher at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic School in Mississauga. Nadia Shoufani is also affiliated with the Palestine Solidarity Movement and Actions4Palestine and is a director at the Arab Canadian Cultural Association.

As a "teacher" listen how in her speech on "Al-Quds Day" how Nadia Shoufani describes a Palestinian woman, Sarah Tarairah who was shot dead while attempting to murder an 18 year old Israeli woman soldier in a stabbing attack:

“Yesterday [July 1, 2016] the Israeli occupation forces shot dead, executed a 27 year old woman, a "pregnant woman", killing her." She goes on to emphasize;"That means killing two, two people, the woman and her baby."

Now doesn't this sound horrific to you? Ask yourselves just "What” would motive a "pregnant" woman to sacrifice her life let alone that of her unborn child?"

Nothing but absolute blind hatred like that being expressed by Nadia Shoufani could influence her to commit such a terrible act!

Nadia Shoufani in her speech failed to mention that the "pregnant" crazed woman with the butcher knife who attempted to stab two young 18 year old Israeli women soldiers - Sarah Tarairah-  was driven by the same deep hatred of Israeli Jews that drove her 17 year old cousin Mohammad Tarairah, to take a knife and brutally butcher the innocent 13 year old Hallel Yafa Ariel in her bedroom as she slept. 

Now I ask you. What could possibly justify the murder of an innocent child sleeping in her bedroom holding her Teddy Bear?

As she so poignantly condemns the death of the "pregnant" stabber. Nadia Shoufani fails to show any humanity whatsoever towards the victim of  Tarairah’s “cousin Mohammad” who was killed by Jewish security forces as he attempted to stab more residents of Kiryat Arba.

The abject hatred that Nadia Shoufani cherishes and espouses is expressed daily in the Palestinian social media. The Jews are being called “Usurpers”,” Colonialists”, “settlers” and we are being accused of stealing water, poisoning wells and committing “Genocide”.

Murder of Jews is glorified and those killed as Martyrs! Oh and suddenly the Al-Aksha Mosque which for nearly 67 years was never mentioned in discussions suddenly has come to be la cause de la guerre of the entire conflict.

 As an educator in Canadian schools does Nadia Shoufani urge others to follow the path of peace and urge an end to death and violence? Absolutely NOT she actually fans the flames of hatred and bias: “I urge you not to be silent. I urge you to speak up, to resist this occupation and support the steadfastness of Palestinians. Support the resistance in any form that is possible. I urge you to support the BDS, the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions against Israel…”

Why as an educator does she not follow the ways of the Israeli "Peace Now" in their approach for a “Peaceful” nonviolent solution?

I ask as an "Educator" where are Nadia Shoufani's calls to the Palestinian Leadership to accept compromises and negotiate an end to this tragic cycle of violence and death called the Palestinian al-Quds Intifada, or the "Knife Intifada"?
Surely as an "Educator" she can see the endless suffering of the "Third Generation" of UNWRA recipients who until today remain classless, homeless, stateless and oppressed by their fellow Arab League brethren in "refugee camps"? How in Gaza these refugees are mere pawns of the Hamas who steal the needed building materials to build tunnels instead off rebuilding destroyed homes and infrastructure?
She speaks of "Martyrdom" yet the leaders of the "People" steal millions from the coffers that are replenished annually by European, American and Canadian Tax Payers. Yet according to the UNWRA page children cannot get the medical treatment they need:

"Years of socioeconomic decline, conflict and closure have left the health sector across the Gaza Strip lacking in adequate physical infrastructure and sufficient medical training opportunities for health staff. Facilities are overstretched, and service is frequently interrupted by power cuts. These challenges further threaten the health of the population, which is already at increasing risk."

Has anyone ever dare ask just "Why"it is that "Palestinians" and "Gazans" do not have proper Hospitals to treat their own people? Oh yes we all hear those claims and see the "Tweets" of Israeli denial of "Medical Treatment.

Yet why is it that there is ABSOLUTELY NO criticism of the Hamas and the Palestinian Authority for NOT building and providing the proper Medical care for their people!
Yet;

• the 60-year-old sister of Hamas senior official Moussa Abu Marzouk had been treated in Israeli hospital for advanced-stage cancer. 
• Ismail Haniyeh’s daughter was hospitalized at Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital for “a number of days,” Reuters had reported the treatment followed complications during a standard medical procedure the woman had undergone in Gaza.
• Ismaill Haniyeh’s 68-year-old mother-in-law was treated in Augusta Victoria Hospital, near Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives in June of 2014. And in November 2013, Haniyeh’s one-year-old granddaughter received treatment in Israel for an infection in her digestive tract. She was evacuated to an Israeli hospital in critical condition, but was returned to her family in Gaza after her condition was deemed incurable, an Israeli military spokesman said. The girl later died of her condition.

Ahmed Yousef, a senior Hamas official in Gaza, said at the time that Haniyeh was left with little choice. He said the girl’s case was life-threatening, and used the excuse that Gaza’s borders were virtually sealed by both Israel and Egypt. No where does he put the blame on the Hamas led government for the lack of construction of new advanced hospitals and medical treatment centers with the millions in AID money poured into Gaza. Instead of pouring funds and building materials to save their own populace the Hamas regime uses them to build terror tunnels and produce a stockpile of rockets. according to Ahmed Yousef, "there was no other place to go".

This cycle of violence encouraged by hate filled Facebook postings and the postings of the Palestinian official government media, has claimed the lives of over 155 Palestinians from September 13, 2015 until July 3, 2016. These young hate filled terrorists were killed in 155 stabbing attacks (including 76 attempted attacks), 96 shootings, 45 vehicular (ramming) attacks and one vehicle (bus) bombing.  Not to mention the damage from riots where there have been thousands incidents of Molotov cocktails and stone/rock throwing.

The abject seething hatred of the Arabs in Judaea and Shomron has to be seen and heard to believe. Here is a video from Hebron News YouTube channel, June 30, 2016 of the mother of the 7 year old terrorist Muhammad Taraireh:

 “My son is a hero. He made me proud. My son died as a Martyr defending Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa [Mosque]. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, he [my son] has joined the Martyrs before him, and he is not better than them. Allah willing, all of them will follow this path, all the youth of Palestine. Allah be praised.” 

Nadia Shoufani continued her encouragement of the hate fest by stating: “Palestine will be liberated with your efforts”. “Glory to the martyrs”. “Victory, freedom to the prisoners and liberation for the Palestinians, all Palestinians”.

And of course she concludes her discourse on hatred with that famous line:

“From the river [Jordan River] to the sea [Mediterranean Sea] Palestine will be free.” This chant of course means NO negotiations, NO "Two States" and to erase the Jewish state.

So exactly "Who are the “Palestinian prisoners” that she glorifies?

Most of the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails were convicted of involvement in terrorist activities. This group includes among others; suicide bombers who were captured before blowing themselves up or their charges failed to explode, the dispatchers of suicide bombers, whose charges committed atrocities of mass murderers, leaders of terrorist organizations, terrorists who killed civilians and those who attempted or planned to kill civilians.

Now ask yourselves would you want Nadia Shoufani as a teacher in your child’s school using her hate filled agenda to brainwash children to her misguided beliefs?

Ma'alot - A Smart City

Our city of "Ma'alot-Tarshiha is a beautiful joint Jewish and Arab community of 27,000 people in northern Israel, located in the Western Galilee, about 600 meters (1,969 feet) above sea level. What is special about us is that our Municipality has become energy independent by the introduction of energy efficiency measures that have created economic benefits to the city budget.

In an article published online in the Jerusalem Post in 2013, the Municipality of Ma’alot announced to the world that it was instigating a new project, called “Going into the Light,” administered by the Israeli start-up Juganu Systems.

Juganu Systems won a grant from the chief scientist of Israel to install its innovative energy saving JLED luminaries and wireless management control system throughout the city's buildings and streets. In total, over 13,000 new and retrofit luminaries were installed replacing all of the old street lights. 

The implementation of this initial step has placed Ma’alot firmly on the national as well as international map as a future “Smart City”. We have not only reduced our “Carbon Footprint "but we have induced other towns and villages in our area to join us.

Today, Ma’alot is the first Israeli city to have entirely switched to LEDs. Now Ma'alot enjoys brighter lighting while saving about US$90,000 each year in electricity operating costs, as well by saving capital improvement and maintenance costs on all lighting elements.

According to independent testing performed by the IEC (Israel Electrical Corporation), "Ma’alot reduced energy consumption by 75% while delivering even more light throughout the city’s streets and buildings." 

At the time of the instigation of the program it was also announced that some of the money saved via the LED lighting program would be invested into a research team that would be used to analyze city wide data and recommend additional programs to implement and integrate to increase energy efficiency, learn how to better manage waste and to improve the infrastructure and water programs under the auspices of the Park Koren Industrial Management in Ma'alot. These steps are being done to complete the change for a better and “Smarter” Ma’alot as a energy independent city.

Through the success of our “Going into the Light Project” we have led the way for other municipalities to follow our example and install similar energy saving LED light programs. Two nearby communities have consulted with us and used our expertise to refitted their street lights thereby reducing the “Carbon Footprint” overall in our area. Our success and experience in our money saving LED program is gaining not only National recognition but recognition from other cities.

Economical and Energy Independent

In our research, we have seen on the Internet how other cities throughout the world like Ma’alot have gained economical and energy savings through leasing underutilized public spaces for photo-voltaic (PV) Solar Roof systems to produce renewable source of electricity.

In Ma’alot several Municipal buildings, mainly the city's schools and our Community Center, pictured on the left, have been leased to solar companies for solar collection.
Through the installation of the solar energy collection roofs, the municipality has realized economical and energy savings gained from leasing the underutilized public spaces for community solar farms.

We have recently instigated a program to lease underutilized parking areas to Solar Energy companies. This will benefit the community, by not just producing clean energy by harnessing the power of the sun, but the Municipality will gain income derived from the rent.
Additionally, by installing solar canopies over parking areas it will also contribute to the welfare of the residents. The installation of solar collection units over parking areas will provide shaded areas from the sun and protection from inclement winter weather for the residents and their vehicles.
Parking in a covered facility contributes substantially to increased vehicle fuel efficiency, because it saves; having to cool cars in the summer and heating cars in the winter during inclement weather. All of this will energy saving will mark Ma’alot as a “Smart City” and as a major contributor to the reduction of the “Carbon Footprint”.  

We have also taken strides in further reducing our “Carbon Footprint” and increase economic savings and energy reduction to the Municipality by instigating a “cogeneration program” for the reduction in city bio-mass in our waste management.

With a cogeneration furnace, the municipality can improve the efficiency in waste reduction, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, promote economic growth, and maintain a robust energy infrastructure.

With CHP- Combined heat and power system we can reduce the cost of:

•          the Municipality's waste disposal: transportation and landfill fees.
•          the extensive fleet of vehicles: Maintenance and fuel
•          "turnaround" in waste disposal by eliminating bio waste on the premises,
•          Reduce CO2 emissions,
•          the environmental impact of waste on the municipality and the surrounding area.

By using a CHP /Cogeneration system we can produce electricity and heated water –which can be converted to heat in buildings, as well as syngas for further energy needs.

So why should Ma’alot take further steps to become a Smart city?

The term “Smart City” in of itself has become one of the biggest buzzwords around right now as more and more city leaders begin to realize the tremendous advantages in accepting the new technological advantages. A "Smart City" process is dynamic as cities exchange information and learn from one another.We should continue our stride into becoming a smart city because urban challenges are growing steadily and are more complex. 

We can see from worldwide statistics that the world is rapidly urbanizing and Cities face considerable challenges. However, we in Ma’alot-Tarshiha have shown that we can meet these challenges successfully and succeed.

Existing services, infrastructures and amenities are under pressure, due to their age, or simply as a result of growing demand. The existing infrastructures on which cities are so heavily dependent are overburdened.

Our knowledge and experience in Smart City technologies will help us to become more economically efficient as well as much more energy efficient.

As we have seen in several cities throughout the world: Barcelona in Spain, Delft in Holland, Winnipeg, Canada Boston, Massachusetts and Vienna Austria among many others. The definition of what a “Smart City” means is different for every city, depending on that specific city’s priorities and goals. These cities have embraced technological changes and programs to improve the city’s functions which in turn have improved the lives of the residents who actively participate in their city’s development.

It is said that the transforming into a smart city is a marathon, not a sprint. Without a well-structured strategic plan, you can’t prioritize nor make informed decisions nor can you track milestones or measure success.

The Smart City concept has brought the physical as well as the digital together. We have seen how Israel has become a “Start Up” nation as it is becoming more digitized daily.

Israeli accelerators are full of ‘Smart’ solutions which are being devised and developed in - healthcare, water management, energy supply and transport, for example. More and more of these Israeli designed technologies (apps) are becoming part of everyday life, and increasingly we live in an (IOT) Internet of Things network society, where (almost) everything is connected to (almost) everyone.

Clean and Efficient living

A smart city is all about efficiency and maximizing the quality of life, of and for its citizens, by utilizing the most appropriate resources to drive progress. Cities need to be prepared for future developments and city councils can achieve this by sharing civic responsibility with residents, companies and others through IOT apps that allow for the ready exchange of data, ideas as well as provide economical solutions for a brighter future.

Central to the theme of building a smart city is to improve the quality of life by using technology to improve the efficiency of services and meet residents’ needs. We can achieve this by integrating multiple Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions derived from the previously accumulated municipal data which will need to be analyzed for programming purposes.

ICT as in the City of Boston "CityScore" will allow city officials and departmental heads to interact in real time directly with their workforce and to manage city assets better. Through a ICT platform they will be able to monitor what is happening in the city, the city infrastructure and how to enable a better quality of life.

These new “SMART City” applications rely on a modern networking infrastructure platform that enables continuous connections with new classes of intelligent devices for improved decision making. Through the use of sensors integrated with real-time monitoring systems, data is collected from citizens and objects - then processed and analyzed. The information and knowledge gathered are keys to tackling inefficiency.

 Citizen Participation

Smart city "wannabees" need to create a Vision with Citizen Engagement activity like; kitchen table discussions at private homes, online discussion forums and workshops at community centers to communicate and engage citizens in a dialog about city projects.

In other Smart Cities, we have seen how Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is used to enhance quality, performance and interactivity of urban services, to reduce costs and resource consumption and to improve contact between citizens and government.

Through the ICT program municipal manpower and vehicles can be diverted in real time to those places were their work is needed thereby saving money

A smart city integrates multiple Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions in a secure fashion to manage a city’s assets. The management is achieved through the assessment and compilation of previously accumulated data from a city’s assets. This includes all of its corresponding local departments that manage the main branches of municipal services in the fields of:

•         Waste Management Sanitation Department (both sewer and refuse),
•         Water Department,
•         City Streets Maintenance, Education Department -the public library, schools,
•         Health Department - food and restaurant inspection,
•         Emergency Services - fire department, police, ambulance,
•         Transportation
•          Information systems and other community services.

Smart city phone applications are developed with the goal of improving the management of the daily routine of urban necessities while allowing for real time responses to challenges. They also use the resource and involvement of the constituents in making the community better.

A smart city therefore is more prepared to respond to challenges than one with a simple ' transactional ' relationship with its citizens.  Cities need to substantially increase the efficiency in which they operate and use their resources. This can be achieved by the use of the "Smart Media" and its multiple platforms for involvement.

By exposing the archived city information through a policy of "open data" for; citizens, developers and businesses, cities can unleash innovation and efficiency as well as new entrepreneurial opportunities.

Since it isn’t cost-efficient or practical to do everything at once, it has been shown that cities should start with those greatest pain points for citizens, which is also a good way of getting their support and participation in finding the solution. Therefore, it is imperative for municipalities must search for what their constituents need, then implement new technologies to do it.

Surveys have consistently shown that the value of smart cities is how they impact citizens. This is why many cities are crowd-sourcing and floating ideas trough social media to learn on how to prioritize smart city strategy.

Conclusion:

Our goal is to implement "Smart City" solutions, with the objective of speeding up the transition to a low carbon, resource-efficient resilient city.

There are other detriments besides our geographical position and the impact of climate change for the Municipality of Ma’alot to overcome. Regretfully as we have experienced in the past our area is prone to adversity and to strife. These effects could cause an untenable situation that would force us to shift to an essentially sustainable form of urban development. For us it is not just a matter of environmental survival but survival as a whole.