Lod
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2008-06-28T23:36:22Z
Pahari Sahib
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/* Terrorism */ "in behalf" > "on behalf"
{{otheruses}}
{{Infobox Israel muni
|name=Lod
|image=DSC00262.JPG
|imgsize=200
|caption=Lod's city centre
|hebname={{Hebrew|לוֹד}}
|arname=اَلْلُدّْ
|meaning=
|founded=
|type=city
|typefrom=
|stdHeb=
|altOffSp=
|altUnoSp=
|district=center
|population=67,200 <ref name="population">{{Cite web|url=http://www.cbs.gov.il/population/new_2009/table3.pdf|title=Israel Central Bureau of Statistics population data for December 31, 2007|accessyear=2008|accessmonthday=May 24|publisher=The State of Israel|year=2007|author=The State of Israel}}</ref>
|popyear=2007
|area_dunam=12226
|mayor= Ilan Harari
}}
'''Lod''' ({{lang-he-n|לוֹד}}, {{lang-ar|اَلْلُدّْ}}, pronounced ''al-Ludd'', Greco-Latin ''Lydda'') is a mixed [[Arab]]-[[Jew]]ish city ten miles southeast of [[Tel Aviv]]
in the [[Center District (Israel)|Center District]] of [[Israel]]. In 2007, its population was 67,200.
A historic city dating from the [[Greece|Greek]] and [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] eras, Lod is the home of Israel's main international airport, [[Ben Gurion International Airport]], previously known as Lod Airport. The airport and related industries are a major source of employment for the residents of Lod. The [[Jewish Agency for Israel|Jewish Agency]] Absorption Centre, the main facility for handling [[Aliyah|olim]] arriving in Israel, is also located in Lod.
== History==
[[Image:La tomba di San Giorgio (Lod, Israele) 02.JPG|thumb|200px| [[Saint George]]'s tomb in Lod]]
===Antiquity===
Lod is situated on the site of the ancient settlement of ''Lydda.'' It appears on a list of Canaanite cities drawn up by [[Thutmose III]] at [[Karnak]] in the [[2nd millennium BC]].<ref name="Franciscan">{{cite news|title=Excursions in Terra Santa|url=http://198.62.75.1/www1/ofm/sbf/escurs/TS/02_TSen.html |date=|publisher=Franciscan Cyberspot|first=|last=|accessdate=2007-02-22}}</ref> According to the Bible, Lod was founded by Shemed, a member of the [[Tribe of Benjamin]].<ref>{{sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=1 Chronicles|chapter=8|verse=12|range=}}</ref> It was abandoned during the [[Babylonian captivity]] and resettled upon the return of the [[Jews]] from exile.<ref>{{sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Ezra|chapter=2|verse=33}}</ref><ref>{{sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Nehemiah|chapter=11|verse=35}}</ref> In the Hellenistic period, it was outside the boundaries of Judea, but under the Maccabees, it became a Jewish town. In 43 CE, Cassius, the governor of Syria, sold its inhabitants into slavery. The Roman proconsul of Syria, Cestius Gallus, razed the town on his way to Jerusalem in 66 CE. It was occupied by Vespasian in 68 CE.<ref name=JAFI>[http://www.jafi.org.il/education/100/places/lod.html Lydda (Lod)] Jewish Agency for Israel</ref>
===Byzantine period===
By the Byzantine era, the town was predominantly Christian.<ref name=JAFI/> It was one of the legendary birthplace of St. George, patron saint of England, and was known as Georgiopolis. The [[Church of Saint George|shrine of St. George]] was built there.<ref name="Franciscan">{{cite news|title=Excursions in Terra Santa|url=http://198.62.75.1/www1/ofm/sbf/escurs/TS/02_TSen.html |date=|publisher=Franciscan Cyberspot|first=|last=|accessdate=2007-02-22}}</ref> In the New Testament, Lod is the site of [[Saint Peter|Peter]]'s healing of a paralytic man in {{sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Acts|chapter=9|verse=32|range=-38}}.
===Muslim period===
Captured by the Muslims in 636, Lod served as the headquarters of the province of Filastin. The capital later moved to [[Ramla]].<ref name=JAFI/>
===Crusader period===
The [[Crusaders]] occupied Lod in 1099. It was briefly taken by [[Saladin]] but retaken by the Crusaders in [[1191]]. For the [[England|English]] [[Crusader]]s, such as King [[Richard I of England|Richard the Lionheart]], Lod was a place of great significance, since it was believed to be the birthplace of England's [[patron saint]], [[Saint George]]. The Crusaders made it the seat of a [[Latin]] rite diocese,<ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle=Lydda}}</ref> and it is still a [[titular see]].<ref>[http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/d2l61.html Lydda] Catholic-hierarchy.org</ref> According to the Jewish traveler [[Benjamin of Tudela]], in 1170 there was only one Jewish family living in the town.<ref name=JAFI/>
===Ottoman period===
During the early Ottoman period, there were no Jews in Lod, but a small Jewish community developed in the 19th century. The Jewish inhabitants were driven out in the 1921 Arab riots. In 1944, Lydda had a population of 17,000, one-fifth of them Christian Arabs.
===British Mandate===
Under the 1947 UN Partition Plan, Lydda was included in the territory slated to became an Arab state, a plan that the Arabs rejected.
===Modern history===
During the [[1948 Arab-Israeli War]] the [[Haganah]] and [[Irgun]] captured Lydda in July 1948 in [[Operation Danny]]. Arab inhabitants were expelled, along with those of the nearby town of [[Ramla]], numbering about 50,000 in all,<ref>Spiro Munayyer, The Fall of Lydda, ''[[Journal of Palestine Studies]]'', Vol. 27, No. 4 (Summer, 1998), pp. 80-98. See also [[Yitzhak Rabin]]'s diaries, quoted [http://www.palestineremembered.com/Acre/Famous-Zionist-Quotes/Story739.html here].</ref> in order to secure the strategically important road connecting [[Tel Aviv]] and [[Jerusalem]]. Israeli historian Benny Morris writes: "All the Israelis who witnessed the events agreed that the exodus, under a hot July sun, was an extended episode of suffering for the refugees, especially from Lydda...Some were stripped by soldiers of their valuables as they left town or at checkpoints along the way. Hundreds of civilians died in the scorching heat, from exhaustion, dehydration and disease.<ref> {{cite book
| author = Benny Morris
| title = The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947-1949
| publisher = Cambridge University Press
| date = 1989
| pages = pg. 204-11
| id = ISBN 0-521-33889-1}}</ref><ref>[http://www.ameu.org/summary1.asp?iid=64 The Lydda Death March] Americans for Middle East Understanding</ref> On the other hand, Morris states that the expulsion was justified: "...in certain conditions, expulsion is not a war crime. I don’t think that the expulsions of 1948 were war crimes. You can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs.... There was no choice but to expel that population."<ref>[http://www.logosjournal.com/morris.htm Survival of the Fittest? An Interview with Benny Morris] Haaretz</ref>
===Terrorism===
In 1972, 28 passengers were gunned down at Ben Gurion International Airport by members of the [[Japanese Red Army]], who were acting on behalf of the [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine|PFLP]] in what became known as the [[Lod Airport massacre]]. The founder of PFLP, [[George Habash]], had been visiting Lod in July 1948 when the population was driven out by Israeli troops.{{Fact|date=May 2008}}{{Dubious|date=May 2008}}
==Demographics==
According to CBS, in 2001 the ethnic and religious makeup of the city was 80.3% [[Jew]]ish and other non-Arab, and 19.7% [[Arab]] (18.6% [[Muslim]] and 1.1% [[Christian]]). There are 561 "olim", or new immigrants to Israel, included in these figures. See [[Population groups in Israel]].
According to CBS, in 2001 there were 32,400 males and 33,700 females. The population of the city was spread out with 36.7% 19 years of age or younger, 16.4% between 20 and 29, 19.2% between 30 and 44, 14.5% from 45 to 59, 3.7% from 60 to 64, and 9.5% 65 years of age or older. The population growth rate in 2001 was 1.7%.
==Income==
According to CBS figures for 2000, there were 23,032 salaried workers and 1,405 self-employed. The mean monthly wage for a salaried worker was [[New Israeli Shekel|NIS]] 4,754, a real change of 2.9% over the course of 2000. Salaried men had a mean monthly wage of NIS 5,821 (a real change of 1.4%) versus NIS 3,547 for women (a real change of 4.6%). The mean income for the self-employed was NIS 4,991. There were 1,275 people receiving unemployment benefits and 7,145 receiving an income supplement.
==Education==
According to CBS, there are 38 schools and 13,188 pupils in the city. They are spread out as 26 elementary schools and 8,325 elementary school pupils, and 13 high schools and 4,863 high school pupils. 52.5% of 12th grade pupils were entitled to a matriculation certificate in 2001.
==New neighborhoods==
Plagued by a poor image for decades, projects are under way to improve services in Lod. New upscale neighborhoods are expanding the city to the east, among them Ganei Ya'ar and Ahisemah.<ref name=JPOST>[http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1202246338741 Ganei Ya'ar in Lod] The Jerusalem Post, 7 February 2008</ref>
==Notable residents==
*[[DAM (band)|DAM]], rap group
*[[Tamer Nafar]], rapper
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.lod.muni.il City council] {{he icon}}
*[http://www.palestineremembered.com/al-Ramla/al-Lydd/ al-Lydd] Palestine Remembered
{{Center District (Israel)}}
{{coord|31|56|54.59|N|34|53|20.4|E|type:city|display=title}}
[[Category:Cities in Israel]]
[[Category:Villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war]]
[[Category:Titular sees in Asia]]
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