Mashhad, Israel

Mashhad (, 'martyrium', also known as Es-Mesched in another latinized transliteration) is an Arab town located northeast of Nazareth in Israel's Northern District. In it had a population of , most of whom were Muslims.Mashhed (Israel): Description Gutterman, Dov. FOTW.

History Remains from the Early Bronze Age, Persian, Roman and Byzantine eras have been found.Porat, 2006, Tel Gat Hefer"This place is probably the Gittah-Hepher or (Gath ha Hepher of (Joshua 19:13), and (2 Kings 14:25). Jerome says that the prophet Jonah was buried at Gath, about two miles from Sepphoris. Benjamin of Tudela says that the prophet's tomb was on a hill near Sepphoris. Conder and Kitchener, 1881, p. 413

Mashhad is located on the site of Gath-hepher, an ancient Israelite town mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as the home of Jonah; his supposed tomb is still pointed out by locals.

Archaeological findings in Mashad include a third-century Aramaic gravestone, indicating Jewish settlement at the site during the Late Roman period, and a stone inscribed with Greek letters now reused in Mashad's mosque.

Ottoman Empire In 1517, the village was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire with the rest of Palestine, and in 1596 it appeared in the Ottoman tax registers under the name of Mashad Yunis, as being in the nahiya (subdistrict) of Tabariyya, part of Safad Sanjak. It had a population of 31 households and 6 bachelors, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax rate of 20% on agricultural products, which included wheat and barley, fruit trees, vegetable and fruit garden, orchard, as well as on goats and/or beehives; a total of 865 Akçe. All of the revenue went to a waqf.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 188Note that Rhode, 1979, p. 6 writes that the register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied from the Safad-district was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9

A map from Napoleon's invasion of 1799 by Pierre Jacotin showed the place, named as El Mecheb.Karmon, 1960, p. 166 .

In 1838 it was noted as a Muslim village in the Nazareth district.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. 132Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, p. 209

In 1875, the French explorer Victor Guérin visited the village, which he estimated had at most 300 inhabitants.Guérin, 1880, p. 165 ff In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Meshed as "A small village, built of stone, surrounding the traditional tomb of Jonah -a low building surmounted by two white-washed domes. It contains about 300 Moslems, and is situated on the top of a hill, without gardens. The water supply is from cisterns."Conder and Kitchener, 1881, p. 363.

A population list from about 1887 showed that el Meshed had about 450 inhabitants; all Muslims.Schumacher, 1888, p. 182

British Mandate In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Mashad had a total population of 356, all Muslim,Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Nazareth, p. 38 which had increased in the 1931 census to 487; 486 Muslims and 1 Christian, in a total of 111 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 74

In the 1945 statistics the population was 660, all Muslims,Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 8 with 11,067 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 62 Of this, 378 dunams were for plantations and irrigable land, 4,663 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 109 while 24 dunams were built-up land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 159

Israel Mashhad became a local council in 1960.

Demographics

In 2022, 100% of the population was Muslim

Voting Patterns In the 2022 election, 96 percent of voters in Mashhad voted for the Arab parties, while 2 percent voted for the parties of the center-left coalition led by Yair Lapid and 1 percent voted for the parties of the right-wing coalition led by Benjamin Netanyahu. Among the voters for the Arab parties, 44 percent voted for Ra'am, while 30 percent voted for Balad and 27 percent voted for the Hadash–Ta'al list.

Mashhad, Israel

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