LOD

'Lod' ( {{اَلْلُدّْ ''al-Ludd'', Greco-Latin 'Lydda', Tiberian Hebrew לֹד Lōḏ) is a city in the Central District of Israel. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, at the end of 2004 the city had a total population of 66,600. A historic city dating from the Greek and Roman eras, Lod is now located close to Israel's main international airport, Ben Gurion International Airport, previously known as Lod Airport. This provides a source of employment for much of the population of Lod, both directly and indirectly through support industries. Lod is also seat of the Jewish Agency Absorption Center, Israel's main institution dealing with Jews from around the world who make aliyah.

Contents

Ancient History

Modern History

Demographics

Income

Education

Famous Residents

External links

References

Ancient History

Present day Lod is situated at the site of the ancient Greek colony of ''Lydda'', and the pre-1948 Arab town of ''al-Lud''. The city of Lod appears mentioned on the list of Thutmose III at Karnak the 2nd millennium BC. ^[1] According to the Bible, it was abandoned during the Babylonian captivity and resettled upon the return of the Jews from their exile in Babylon.^[2][2] The place is mentioned as the scene of Peter's healing of a paralytic man in .
As a city of the Roman Empire, Lod was named Diospolis (''Colonia Lucia Septimia Severia Diospolis'') ^[1] During the Kitos War, the Roman commander Lusius Quietus besieged the city, where the Jewish rebels were led by Pappus and Julian; most of the rebels were executed after the city's conquest. After destruction of the Temple, it became a major centre of Jewish learning, where according to the Talmud, Rabbi Akiva founded his yeshiva with 24,000 students (Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Gamliel were also active in the city).
During the Byzantine Empire, it took the name of Georgiopolis because of the famous shrine of St. George built there. ^[1] During the earliest period of Arab rule, Lydda served as the capital of the region of Palestine, after which the capital moved to Ramle. The city came under Crusader control in 1099, was briefly taken by Saladin and taken again by the Crusaders in 1191. For the English Crusaders, such as King Richard I (Richard the Lionheart), Lydda was a place of great significance, since it was believed to be the birthplace of England's patron saint, Saint George.

Modern History

When Zionist immigrants began settling in Palestine at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, they often avoided the area of Lod and Ramlah because of its considerable Arab population. When the United Nations voted for the partition of Palestine, Lydda was allocated to the future Arab State.
During the Israeli War of Independence the Haganah and Irgun conquered Lydda in July 1948. After the town leaders surrendered to the Israelis, a brief firefight broke out between Israeli soldiers and a Jordanian reconnaissance team unaware of the city's surrender. During this confrontation, two Israeli soldiers were killed.
Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion ordered all the Palestinians expelled from Lydda and next door Ramlah. The order said: "The residents must be expelled quickly without attention to age." It was signed by Lieutenant Colonel Yitzhak Rabin. Reasons given were to secure the strategically important road connecting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and to avoid what Zionist leaders feared would be a fifth column if the civilians were allowed to remain.
While the residents of Ramlah were allowed to leave in busses, residents of Lydda were forced to walk to the Arab front lines, which took three days.
Israeli historian Benny Morris reported: "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 .... One Israeli soldier ... recorded vivid impressions of the thirst and hunger of the refugees on the roads, and of how 'children got lost' and of how a child fell into a well and drowned, ignored, as his fellow refugees fought each other to draw water. Hundreds of civilians died in the scorching heat, from exhaustion, dehydration and disease. ^{[6] [7]}
In 1972, 28 passengers were gunned down at its Ben Gurion International Airport by members of the Japanese Red Army, who were acting in behalf of the PFLP. The founder of PFLP, George Habash, had been visiting Lydda in July 1948 when its entire civilian population was expelled by Israeli troops in what became known as the Lydda Death March.

Demographics

According to CBS, in 2001 the ethnic and religious makeup of the city was 80.3% Jewish 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, as of 2000, in the city there were 23,032 salaried workers and 1,405 are self-employed. The mean monthly wage in 2000 for a salaried worker in the city is ILS 4,754, a real change of 2.9% over the course of 2000. Salaried males have a mean monthly wage of ILS 5,821 (a real change of 1.4%) versus ILS 3,547 for females (a real change of 4.6%). The mean income for the self-employed is 4,991. There are 1,275 people who receive unemployment benefits and 7,145 people who receive an income guarantee.

Education

According to CBS, there are 38 schools and 13,188 students in the city. They are spread out as 26 elementary schools and 8,325 elementary school students, and 13 high schools and 4,863 high school students. 52.5% of 12th grade students were entitled to a matriculation certificate in 2001.

Famous Residents

★ Saint George

★ Tamer Nafar

★ George Habash

External links

★ http://www.lod.muni.il

References

1. Excursions in Terra Santa
2.
3.
4. Excursions in Terra Santa
5. Excursions in Terra Santa
6.
The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947-1949, Benny Morris, , , Cambridge University Press, , ISBN 0-521-33889-1
7. http://www.ameu.org/summary1.asp?iid=64