Lod (Hebrew לוֹד; Arabic اَلْلُدّْ al-Ludd, Greco-Latin Lydda, Tiberian Hebrew לֹד Lōḏ) is a city in the Center District of Israel. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), at the end of 2001 the city had a total population of 66,100.

Nearby Lod is Ben Gurion International Airport, which serves Tel Aviv.

Lod is the seat of the Jewish Agency Absorption Center (9 David Hamelech St.), Israel's main institution dealing with Jews who make aliyah.

History

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The present-day Lod was the location of the ancient Greek colony of Lydda, and the pre-1948 Arab town of al-Lud. The place is mentioned in the Book of Acts as the scene of Peter's healing of a paralytic man (Acts 9:32). 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. During the Middle Ages 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. It also served as the capital of the region of Palestine during Arab rule..

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 Lydda 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. Nevertheless, following the invasion by five Arab armies into the nascent State of Israel in May 1948, the Jewish Army occupied Lydda and Ramlah in July 1948 and the place was the site of one of the darkest episodes of the War: scores of civilians were killed in the assault, 28 villages destroyed and at least 40,000 people evicted from their homes after an order issued personally by David Ben-Gurion and signed by the field commander in the area, the future prime minister Yitzhak Rabin (who would later express some regret about this episode in his memoirs). The "Lydda-Ramlah massacre" received extensive news coverage in the international press at the time, with at least two American reporters (from the Chicago Sun and the New York Herald Tribune) bearing witness to the facts. The name al-Lud was changed to Lod, and a number Jewish families moved into the vacated houses.

Lod was again the site of a massacre in 1972, when 28 passengers were gunned down at the airport by members of the Japanese Red Army. They were acting in behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, whose leader, George Habash, happened to be a child refugee who had survived the Lydda massacre.

Demographics

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According to CBS, in 2001 the ethnic and religious makeup of the city was 80.3% Jewish and other non-Arab, and 20.0% 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

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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

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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 People from Lod

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• Saint George
• Tamer Nafar
• George Habash
• DAM, Da Arabic MCs

External links

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• http://www.lod.muni.il
• Welcome to al-Lydd on PalestineRemembered.com.

Cities in Israel

Lod | Lod (Israel) | Lod | Lod | לוד | Lod | Lod | Lida | Лод