Haifaim move to Usafia and Dalit El Carmel
Over the years, residents rent apartments in the two Druze settlements and live there. There are those who come for a short period, and there are residents who permanently moved their place of residence to one of the Druze settlements. There are young couples, who live in one of the settlements for years, but when they think of children, they return to Haifa, in order to have kindergartens and then schools.
Those who move to Isfayah or Dalit El Carmel usually do so mainly for economic reasons, the rent and property taxes are significantly lower compared to Haifa. The advantage of both settlements is the great proximity to Haifa - you can go without and feel with people. On the one hand you don't have to pay the high costs of the city and on the other hand you can enjoy all the services that Haifa offers.
About 13,000 residents live in Usafia, of which 75% are Druze. In addition to the Druze, there are also Christians (15%) and Muslims (10%) and some Jewish families and students, who rent apartments in the settlement. It is difficult to estimate how many families are involved since the Jewish residents rent apartments and do not own property in the settlement.
Jewish residents, who go to live in a Druze settlement, as well as an Arab population in Haifa who buy apartments in Jewish neighborhoods, usually do not mix with the local population.
For the most part, parents continue to send their children to state schools designed for children or do not go through the period when the children are small and need a nearby elementary school. In Isfaya, for example, you can find students from the university, who are comfortable living in the settlement because of the proximity to the university and the cheap cost, and couples without children or with older children.
Irit Shan: 3 years in Usafia and we have no intention of returning to Haifa
"I was born in Haifa and lived here all these years. Almost 3 years ago we decided to move into a rented house in Isfayya. I had to move to a ground floor apartment without stairs, and the prices in Haifa were very high, so we decided to come to Isfayya and check out the apartments here," says Irit Shan.
"For a 4-room apartment we pay only 2,200 NIS and the property tax is not high either. We also have a large balcony and a huge yard. An Arab couple lives next to us, who also rents an apartment, and the owners of the apartment live above us. There are other Jews around us, not all of them came from Haifa. I have a friend who lives near me, and she came here from the central region."
Is it possible to live in Usafia and not own a car?
My son lives with us, and he doesn't have a car. He works at the university and gets by very well with public transport. We occasionally come to Haifa, I have an elderly mother, who lives in Haifa and I come to her. We have a great bus service every day of the week except Saturdays and I really have no idea why on Saturdays there are no buses as they should be.
Are you considering moving back to Haifa?
The truth is that right now this is really not an option. We are very happy here with all the spaces that are here. I only come to Haifa when I shop here and I'm missing something, and I go to complete the shopping in Haifa. When we want to go to the cinema, we come to Haifa or to take a walk with our grandson. Haifa is very close, so if you want to spend time in the city, there is no difficulty.
The only thing I'm missing here is a Hebrew speaking neighbor that I can make friends with. Beyond that, I don't feel like I'm missing anything here. I would really like to know how to speak Arabic better, to be able to have a conversation with those who live here and understand what they are saying. Most of the residents here speak Hebrew at a high level.
Irit also mentions that young girls came to live in Isfaia, who opened a local WhatsApp group in order to exchange information between them. They organized yoga and other classes, and little by little a community is formed there.
It should be noted that, aside from the fact that the Jewish residents of Isfaya form relationships with each other and help each other, there are also relationships between the Jewish population and the Arab neighbors. The local population invites the Jewish neighbors to ceremonies, for example Christian residents invite to the baptism ceremony, which begins in the church and continues in the family home.
Living in Usafia - not possible with small children
"My wife and I lived for several years in Usafia," he says Asaf, who was born and raised in Haifa, moved for a few years to Usafia and returned to live in Haifa.
"When we lived in Isfayah we had a lot of fun, but we were clear that it was temporary, and that when we got married and wanted to have children, we would do it in Haifa. I am self-employed, and I come to clients' homes for my work, and even when I lived in Isfayah, I had a car and there was no problem. What's more, Compared to today when the costs of the apartment and everything around it are so high, I can only miss the days when I lived in Usafia and paid much, much less. Today we have 3 children, of course we could not live there, each child has friends, a school, classes, of course we could be In Isfaya, when it was just the two of us."
Mina Ben Nun: I have everything I need in Isfaya
Mina Ben Nun has been living in Isfaya for almost two years, and she does not see herself leaving it.
"I really like living in Usafia, she says, "and I have everything here. There is no doubt that there is good public transportation here and you can rely on it, but I would not give up my car, it gives me freedom. I don't come to Haifa to shop, there really is everything here and I love to shop here. The rent and property tax are not high here, but a few years ago it was really cheap to own an apartment in Isfaya, and that is no longer the case. I don't know if I would recommend anyone to move here, I'm not sure that it suits everyone. What is certain is that I am very satisfied with my choice to live here."
It's a lot of fun to live with the Druze, hospitable and quality people with experience.
It is clear that there is no construction in the Haifa municipality, it is not possible to rehabilitate this city with such a city engineer who does nothing and only plugs projects!!
The city engineer and also the mayor of this city must be fired.
Most of the time there is really everything you need, and there is also what you don't need, like the dirt you see in the streets. The houses may be clean, but the streets and public space are repulsive
Kudos to the Druze who, as claimed in the responses, do not allow Jews to buy apartments from them but only by renting them temporarily. This is also the case in Arab cities and towns, they do not sell to Jews, and kudos to them too. So why only in our cities like Haifa do they sell to Arabs? The peace and mutual respect is that each sector lives in its own city/town. And every year we see more and more Arabs from the north buying in Haifa, this is a takeover and occupation in my opinion and above all a lack of respect and disdain for the Jews
When I was a girl, in the 1980s, my family and two other Jewish families bought lots and built houses in Isfaya. The prices were low, the views were like in Shutzaria, the air was clear and the neighbors were great. My family lived there for about a decade, the other families for about two decades.
As far as I am concerned in Dalit El Carmel, anyone who is not a Druze is not allowed to live that way throughout the years. Usafia is a mixed village and has always been inhabited by Druzes, Muslims, Christians and Jews mainly because of the proximity to the university
The Jews have enough places to live, please deport them and don't sell or rent to the Jews, in the end they will take over your village and that's it, Jews are a tick
Is it true that you wrote that we read about it that Jewish soldiers who were released from military service got nothing and the Druze and Arab soldiers get a plot to build a cheap villa almost for free where is their settlement and how is it possible that such racism of the state to the Jews is disgusting or they will give it to everyone or nobody and I'm just interested to know if they don't distribute plots And how many benefits would they enlist in the army at all? Maybe it's all just interests, but they're not to blame, it's the state's fault and the racist laws that Jewish soldiers are disadvantaged
Very interesting. Good luck to you.
You keep licking the ass of the Druze, you don't need them, Jews, stop it
Welcome to those who come to live in Dalit El Carmel and Usafia on Mount Carmel. Ahlan and Sahlan. Time for joy. Happy Sukkot.
Shame and shame on the leftist state
that with the help of God will transfer the malicious government of the land
Jews will not be sold properties in Druze or Arab settlements.
But the opposite is demanded to happen in the name of equality.
You understand - a Jewish state that discriminates against Jews.
Muslims and Christians are allowed, Jews are not allowed to own property - why?
1) Yes, the Druze are nice and invite guests, but as Jews, will they sell us properties or lots in an Arab/Druze settlement? Yes in renting and temporarily and temporarily yes, but as the owners of the apartments?? Probably only here in the Jewish cities, people both rent and sell properties to every sector, which is without a national distinction, therefore our living spaces in the cities are getting smaller and smaller. Jews usually want to live in a Jewish environment, of course when they have children, and the exceptional ones, in my opinion, do not represent even a drop in the sea 2) Haifa is a huge city and there are hundreds of apartments for rent in nice and cheap areas, in Neve Yosef, Yad Labanim, Yizrelia, Neve Paz, the beach neighborhoods and more can be rented at the same prices and even Cheaper than the prices given in the article as an example 3) A large part of the Druze/Bedouin soldiers receive upon their release a plot of land for construction at the price of the development cost usually, in contrast, Jewish discharged soldiers have been discriminated against and disadvantaged by Israeli governments for generations and do not currently receive this benefit, therefore their starting point for life is very low
Is it possible to buy a house in Usafia. Are the residents open to such a move?
OK..really sounds real harte barte..
Who wants to live in an Arab or Druze village..
Harta..even though Haifa is becoming more than one big Arab village..disgusting..
Better than living near a beast like you
You would die to live in a Druze village
The article is pompous and deals with individual cases as if they were a phenomenon.
As a rule, immigration in Haifa is divided into 2 external and internal.
Both types result from a significant increase in the concentration of Arab residents in certain neighborhoods, which raises the level of violence and noise.
Of course, the media, mainly in Haifa, does not deal with all this because it is "racism" to present true data.
Beyond that, whoever moves to Usafiya or Dalia should not be surprised if he does not wake up in the morning or wake up from the noise of the bullets passing over his head or hitting him...
Not surprised at all. Both Dalia and Usafiya are in a development boom. For their nation, Haifa Bardot Klish in the swing of sunset. ?
Very interesting