Maarakeh (), or Maarakah, is a municipality in Tyre District, in Lebanon.
Geography The Municipality of Maarakeh 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).
Etymology E. H. Palmer wrote that the name Mảrakeh meant "The battle field".Palmer, 1881, p. 29
History 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.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 180Note that Rhode, 1979, p. 6 writes that the register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9
In 1875 Victor Guérin found that it had 700 Metawileh inhabitants.Guérin, 1880, p. 262 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.'"Guérin, 1880, p. 262; as cited in Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 136
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."Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 93
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.Tveit, Odd Karsten (2010) Goodbye Lebanon. Israel's First Defeat. Rimal Publication. Translated by Peter Scott-Hansen. p.95
On 4 March 1985, during the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon, an explosion destroyed a mosque killing local resistance leader, Mohammed Saad.Middle East International No 265, 20 December 1985, Publishers: Lord Mayhew, Dennis Walters MP; Jim Muir p. 16 At least 15 people were killed in the explosion.Ihsan A. Hijazi, 'Blast in Lebanon kills 15 in mosque,' The New York Times 5 March 5, 1985.
Demographics In 2014 Muslims made up 99.71% of registered voters in Maarakah. 99.17% of the voters were Shiite Muslims.
Education 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
Kassem El Zein (born 1990), Lebanese footballer
References
Bibliography
External links Survey of Western Palestine, Map 2: IAA, Wikimedia commons Localliban: Centre de resource sur le developpement local: www.localiban.org