WĀDI AL-NISNĀS, HAIFA CITY – HAIFA DISTRICT
32°48′41″N / 35°0′8″E
1948: Population 138,300 (Haifa city, mixed population: 62,510 Arab, 75,500 Jewish); Houses 12,364 (1931)
Occupation date: April 21–22, 1948
Occupying forces: Haganah forces (Carmeli Brigade and Irgun
troops)
Occupying operation: Operation Bi‛ur Ḥametz (“Passover Cleaning”)
Post 1948: The Arab sections of the city were subsumed within the larger sprawl of Haifa city and many of the houses in the historic section were demolished or used to absorb the thousands of Jewish immigrants from around the world. In 1951 the municipal administration set to renaming approximately 40 streets in the Arab quarters of the city. Many streets in the neighborhood of Wādi al-Nisnās retained names of Arab personalities.15 In the years that followed, a small minority of Haifa’s Arab population either remained, or was allowed to return.
Today: The ruined remains of many of the old homes, the majority of which have been repurposed, lie in the heart of Haifa City. The Wādi al-Nisnās neighborhood, still Arab in its makeup, has many of the structures remaining, with a flea market as a tourist attraction.
Official Israeli name: Haifa