Haifa's Last Stand

A year after the Crusaders captured Jerusalem, they turned to conquer Israel's coastal cities. 

Haifa's Jewish community is mentioned in the Genizah documents.  The city was one of three forts (מבצר) that we know of - Haifa, Dan (Banias) and Rafah (Rafiah).  Each had a major Jewish community.  Haifa was probably mostly Jewish, if not exclusively so, with a small Muslim military presence.

In the mid-11th century, Haifa was visited by the Persian Nasir Khusraw.  He described the town's shipbuilders who built a local brand of boat named 'Judi'.

In the 1070s, following years of internal Muslim battles, Jerusalem was conquered by the Seljuq Turks.  The security situation turned dire and the Israeli Yeshivah moved to Tyre.  In 1082/4, the Israeli Gaon came back to the Land of Israel and conducted the Hoshana Raba ceremony in Haifa.

The story of Haifa's conquest, in the summer of 1100, is reported by Christian chroniclers.

An anonymous Venetian monk writing in the early 12th century tells us that Haifa stood in 'God's way' and that the pagans (ie, Muslims) trusted its fortifications and its 'important residents' to withstand the Crusader assault.  So who were those residents?

The Crusaders first proposed the residents convert.  They promised them they wouldn't pay more to the Christian kings than they're currently paying the pagans.  Haifa's residents refused.

The Crusaders attacked the "City of Satan".  The "Enemies of God" bravely defended the city, withstanding the sword, fire and heavy stones.  Night and day they cursed Jesus saying: 

Your crucified God, in which you believe, never entered this city, and neither did his students.  You stupid cowards will never conquer it bravely!  The kings of Persia and Babylon [meaning Egypt] put this city under siege, with armies far greater than yours, and could never conquer it, and how will you do so, when you are so few and so foreign in your religion?  Neither your God nor any other can submit us to their faith; we do not worship a God worshiped by others, and we do not submit to a prince of flesh and blood, and we only keep the faith we choose.

The monk's description of the city's residents ("enemies of the Cross", the "Anti-Christian city") is similar to that used for Jews in that era.

A more direct reference is found in the account of historian Albert of Aachen.  He writes how Tancred, the Norman leader of the Crusades, together with Venetian forces, surrounded Haifa from sea and land and put the town under siege.  But when the Norman knights approached the walls with their heavy siege machine, the Jewish residents stood armed on the walls.  For fifteen days they fought against the attackers, leaving the Crusaders with heavy casualties, until the Christians withdrew. 

Patriarch Daimbert came to console Tancred, who was jealous that Haifa was already promised to a different knight.  Daimbert told him that it would be a disgrace to the Crusader efforts if the city, defended so valiantly by the Jews, will not be conquered.  He promised Tancred that the city will be given to whomever conquers it. 

Tancred charged the city again.  The Jewish defenders, together with the Muslim troops, stood bravely against them.  They hurled boiling oil and tar down on the Christian attackers.  But as the battle progressed, the defenders suffered fatalities and those remaining realized they couldn't win.  They defenders fled and with them the rest of the city's residents.  Whoever was caught by the Christians was killed.

After a month-long battle, the Jews of Haifa lost the battle and the city was conquered by the Crusaders.  As the anonymous monk puts it: Haifa was conquered, and for the first time ever, submitted to the rule of Christ.

Under Crusader rule, the city became a Christian-Muslim town.  The shipyards were never rebuilt.

See here for an archive of articles about our history in Israel. 

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NIF-Funded Organization Ejects IDF Radio Reporters from "Co-existance Concert"

The well-funded tentacles of the New Israel Fund continue to challenge the legitimacy of the State of Israel.

IDF Radio reports:

The invitation to the event promised an extraordinary demonstration of co-existence. Musicians from the Palestinian National Orchestra came to Haifa to appear before an Israeli crowd, but instead of music bridging their positions and differences of opinion, the concert only managed to sharpen and divide when the Palestinian musicians refused to answer questions from the IDF-radio reporters. The IDF radio reporters were later forced to leave the concert hall because they were dressed in IDF uniforms.

The cultural event was held last night (Sunday) and was intended to put differences aside -- 40 Palestinian National Orchestra musicians arrived at the Kreiger Hall in Haifa before an Israeli audience, but when posed questions by the IDF Radio reporters, they refused the uniformed IDF soldiers, even though they were simply reporters for IDF radio.

The uncomfortable situation continued after the interview session, when the concert's organizers announced that recordings could only be made during the general rehearsal, and that the IDF radio reporters would not be allowed to stay for the concert because they were wearing IDF uniforms. The musicians felt uncomfortable performing before uniformed IDF soldiers, yet the primary question is, how can IDF soldiers be prevented from attending a concert which is held in a concert hall that belongs to the Israeli city of Haifa?

The only response to the question came from Jafar Perach, the director of the Mossawa Center for Arab Civil Rights in Israel, that tried to explain the incident in the name of the orchestra. "The musicians are used to IDF uniforms interrogating them at checkpoints, but it was strange for them at a cultural event. You [IDF Radio] arrived to interview them wearing the uniforms of the occupying army."

The Haifa crowd that came to hear the concert was also at unease and offered creative solutions; including that the IDF soldiers "dress up" [not in uniform]. The Haifa City spokesman, Tzachi Terno said "this behavior is unacceptable. We denounce any boycott based on nationality race, dress or anything. Specifically in Haifa, there is no place for such behavior, and we will be very careful in the future about letting activities into Haifa that boycott others." (translated by the Muqata Newswire)

The Mossawa Center for Arab Civil Rights in Israel is another proud New Israel Fund project. You can see them listed on the NIF website, listed under "Palestinian Israeli" organizations funded by NIF.

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