Basma (, ) is an

Israeli Arab The Arab citizens of Israel form the country's largest ethnic minority. Their community mainly consists of former Palestinian Citizenship Order 1925, Mandatory Palestine citizens (and their descendants) who continued to inhabit the territory ...

local council in the

Wadi Ara Wadi Ara (, ) or Nahal 'Iron (), is a valley and its surrounding area in Israel populated mainly by Arab citizens of Israel, Arab Israelis. The area is also known as the "Triangle (Israel), Northern Triangle". Wadi Ara is located northwest of t ...

area of

Haifa District Haifa District () is an administrative district surrounding the city of Haifa in Israel. The district is one of the seven administrative districts of Israel, and its capital is Haifa. The district land area is 864 km2 (299.3 mi2). D ...

. The local council was formed in 1995 through the consolidation of the villages of Barta'a West,

Ein as-Sahala Ein as-Sahla (, ) is an Arab village in Haifa District, Israel. The village is located in the Wadi Ara area of the northern Triangle. The village has about 2,000 residents. Since 1996, it has been under the jurisdiction of the Basma local coun ...

, and

Muawiya Mu'awiya I (–April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and immediately after the four Rashi ...

; Basma is an

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

of the villages' names. In it had a population of . Basma's jurisdiction area covers 3,956

dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; ; ; ), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area analogous in role (but not equal) to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amo ...

History

Each of Basma's villages were under the administration of a ''

Mukhtar A mukhtar (; ) is a village chief in the Levant: "an old institution that goes back to the time of the Ottoman rule". According to Amir S. Cheshin, Bill Hutman and Avi Melamed, the mukhtar "for centuries were the central figures". They "were ...

'' (village headman), who was appointed by the Interior Ministry until 1992, when the Interior Ministry established the

Nahal Iron Wadi Ara (, ) or Nahal 'Iron (), is a valley and its surrounding area in Israel populated mainly by Arab Israelis. The area is also known as the "Northern Triangle". Wadi Ara is located northwest of the Green Line, in the Haifa District. High ...

regional council, including Basma's villages and five others. The locals objected to the administrative arrangement, claiming that the council was established without consulting the locals and their wishes were not considered. Some of the villages had already sought an independent municipal status but were rejected. Most of the agricultural land was not included in the council's jurisdiction area, all of the council members were Jewish and it was given a Hebrew name. Following an appeal to the

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cour ...

, the state promised to dismantle the council and establish a regular regional council, where each village had an elected local committee. The appeal was cancelled but the locals appealed again, demanding an independent status for each village. The

Ministry of Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, th ...

declared that the local concerns had been considered, but were not consistent with the ministry's policy of not creating local councils for small villages in fear of spending public money, and the High Court of Justice rejected the appeal. Eventually, in order to allay local concerns, the Interior Ministry established an investigative committee to examine other options, and in 1996, decided to split the regional council into two local councils:

Ma'ale Iron Ma'ale Iron (, ''lit.'' Iron Heights; ) is an Arab citizens of Israel, Arab Local council (Israel), local council in Israel's Haifa District and is a part of the Wadi Ara region in the Triangle (Israel), Triangle. The town consists of the five vill ...

, and Basma. In 2003, Basma was included in a wide plan of the Interior Ministry to merge local and regional councils in the region of

Hadera Hadera (, ) is a city located in the Haifa District of Israel, in the northern Sharon plain, Sharon region, approximately 45 kilometers (28 miles) from the major cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. The city is located along 7 km (5 mi) of ...

. According to the plan, Basma was to be united with Arara and

Kfar Qara Kafr Qara (, ; also spelled ''Kafr Qari'') is an Arab city in Israel southeast of Haifa. In its population was . Kafr Qara holds the record for doctors relative to population size in the country with around 14.8 doctors per 1,000 citizens (2007 ...

, while Mu'awiya will be moved to

. The plan was rejected by all councils.

Education

Basma has three elementary schools for each village and two middle schools and high schools in

Barta'a Barta'a (Hebrew: בַּרְטַּעָה) is an Arab village located in the northern triangle area and Nahal Iron, which is split by the Green Line separating Israel from the West Bank. This division resulted in the separation of the village int ...

and

Mu'awiya Mu'awiya I (–April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and immediately after the four Rashid ...

. There are 23 kindergartens in the council: 10 in Barta'a, 8 in Mu'awiya and 5 in Ein a-Sahala.

References

External links

* Survey of Western Palestine, Map 8:
IAAWikimedia commons

{{Authority control 1995 establishments in Israel Arab localities in Israel Local councils in Haifa District Populated places established in 1995

History

Education

See also

References

External links