Daliyat al-Karmel

In the 17th century, during the Ottoman period, Druze came from the hill country near Aleppo, Syria to Daliyat al-Karmel (lit. “Vine of the Carmel"),[10] and in 1859 they were numbered by the English Consul Rogers to be 300 souls, who tilled twenty feddans.[11]

In 1870, the French explorer Victor Guérin visited the village. He found four hundred inhabitants, all Druze. The houses were mostly built of adobe, with only a few stone houses. The locals worshipped inside a cave, where the explorer was not allowed.[12]

In 1881, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described the village as a "stone village of moderate size on a knoll of one of the spurs running out of the main watershed of Carmel. On the south there is a well, and fine springs on the west, near Umm esh Shukf. On the north is a little plain or open valley cultivated with corn (Merjat ed Dalieh). The inhabitants are all Druses."[11] A population list from about 1887 showed that Daliyat al-Karmel had about 620 inhabitants; all Druze.[13]

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Daliyat al-Karmel had a population of 993; 921 Druse and 21 Christians,[14] increasing in the 1931 census when Daliyat al-Karmel, together Deir el Muhraqa and Khirbat el Mansura had a total population of 1173; 1154 Druse, 11 Christians and 8 Muslims, in a total of 236 houses.[15]

In the 1945 statistics the population of Daliyat al-Karmel consisted of 2,060 Arabs,[16] (20 Christians and 2,040 classified as "Others", that is: Druze)[17] and the land area was 31,730 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[16] Of this, 1,506 dunams were designated for plantations and irrigable land, 18,174 for cereals,[18] while 60 dunams were built-up (urban) areas.[19]

Main street of Daliyat al-Karmel

An Israeli census conducted in November 1948 found 2,932 residents. At the end of 1951 the figure dropped to 2,769.[20] The town was granted local council status in 1951. In 2003, Dalyat was merged with nearby Isfiya to create Carmel City.[21] In 2008, the communities became separate once again. The town is famous for its colorful market.[22]

In 2010, El Al, Israel's national airline, named one of its Boeing 767 airplanes Daliyat al-Karmel. Sheikh Muafak Tarif, leader of the Druze community, was presented with a miniature model of the plane at a special ceremony.[23]

According to Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, in 2016 Daliyat al-Karmel population was 17,000. The majority of residents are Druze (97.2%), with Muslim (2.7%) and Arab Christians (0.1%) minorities.[24]

Abu Ibrahim shrine

The shrine of Abu Ibrahim, whom the Druze consider a prophet, is in the oldest part of the town.[25]

Close by the Abu Ibrahim shrine is the home of Sir Laurence Oliphant, who spent his summers there in the 1880s with his wife Alice, and his secretary Naftali Herz Imber.[25] The building functions as a museum, the Druze Memorial Center, commemorating the 505 Druze IDF soldiers who have died in the line of duty since 1948.[26][27]

The Muhraqa Monastery is located 2 kilometres southeast of Dalyat al-Karmel and marks the contest between prophet Elijah and the priests of Ba'al. It belongs to the Carmelite Order.

The Carmel Center for Druze Heritage is a hands-on museum of the history, religion and culture of the Druze.[3][22]

In 2011, the Garden of the Mothers was inaugurated in Daliyat al-Karmel, symbolizing the sisterhood of Christian, Druze, Jewish, and Muslim women who work together in northern Israel. Forty-four trees were planted in memory of the 44 Israel Prison Services personnel who died in the Mount Carmel forest fire in 2010.[28]