Maarakah or Maarakeh (Arabic: معركة) is a town in Tyre District, in Lebanon.

Maarakah
معركة
Town
Maarakah is located in Lebanon
Maarakah
Maarakah
Coordinates: 33°16′22″N 35°18′35″E / 33.27278°N 35.30972°E / 33.27278; 35.30972
Grid position179/297 PAL
CountryLebanon
GovernorateSouth Governorate
DistrictTyre
Elevation
270 m (890 ft)
Time zone+2
 • Summer (DST)+3

Geography

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The Municipality of Maarakah is located in the Kaza of Tyre (sour) one of Mohafazah of South Lebanon kazas (districts). Mohafazah of South Lebanon is one of the eight mohafazats (governorates) of Lebanon. It is 90 kilometers (55.9 mi) away from Beyrouth (Beirut) the capital of Lebanon. Its elevation is 270 meters (1) (886 ft - 295 yd) above sea level. Maarakeh surface stretches for 2000 hectares (20 km² - 7.7 mi²)(2).

Name

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E. H. Palmer wrote that the name Mảrakeh meant "The battle field".[1]

History

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In 1596, it was named as a village, al-Ma'raka, in the Ottoman nahiya (subdistrict) of Tibnin under the liwa' (district) of Safad, with a population of 119 households and 3 bachelors, all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, olive trees, fruit trees, cotton, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues; a total of 13,350 akçe.[2][3]

In 1875 Victor Guérin found that it had 700 Metawileh inhabitants.[4] He further noted: "Here are uprights and lintels of door with cut stones, apparently ancient; and in a small mosque, built of regular blocks probably taken from an old church, are several fragments of monolithic columns.'"[5]

In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it as: "A village, built of stone, containing about 400 Metawileh, on flat top of high ground, surrounded by gardens, olives, figs, palms, and arable land. There is a spring and five cisterns."[6]

On 28 June 1984 the Israeli army surrounded the town and began house to house searches. 119 men, aged between 13 and 60, were taken away as prisoners for further interrogation. At the time it was estimated that Maarakah had a population of 13,000.[7]

On 4 March 1985, during the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon, an explosion destroyed a mosque killing local resistance leader, Mohammed Saad.[8] At least 15 people were killed in the explosion.[9]

Demographics

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In 2014 Muslims made up 99,71% of registered voters in Maarakah. 99,17% of the voters were Shiite Muslims.[10]

Education

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Educational establishments Maarakeh (2005-2006) Lebanon (2005–2006)
Number of Schools 5 2,788
Public School 3 1,763
Private School 2 1,025
Students schooled in the public schools 1,596 439,905
Students schooled in the private schools 271 471,409

Notable people

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References

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  1. ^ Palmer, 1881, p. 29
  2. ^ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 180
  3. ^ Note that Rhode, 1979, p. 6 Archived 2016-10-10 at the Wayback Machine writes that the register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9
  4. ^ Guérin, 1880, p. 262
  5. ^ Guérin, 1880, p. 262; as cited in Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 136
  6. ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 93
  7. ^ Tveit, Odd Karsten (2010) Goodbye Lebanon. Israel's First Defeat. Rimal Publication. Translated by Peter Scott-Hansen. ISBN 978-9963-715-03-9 p.95
  8. ^ Middle East International No 265, 20 December 1985, Publishers: Lord Mayhew, Dennis Walters MP; Jim Muir p. 16
  9. ^ Ihsan A. Hijazi, 'Blast in Lebanon kills 15 in mosque,' The New York Times 5 March 5, 1985.
  10. ^ https://lub-anan.com/المحافظات/الجنوب/صور/معركة/المذاهب/
  11. ^ "Kassem El Zein - Soccer player profile & career statistics - Global Sports Archive". globalsportsarchive.com. Retrieved 2020-11-23.

Bibliography

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