Rmaish

Ottoman period

Rmaish was under Ottoman rule until 1920.^{[citation needed]} The town was involved in many wars and battles through the history. The most important ones are:

• In 1797, the viceroy of Acre Jazzar Pasha demolished and destroyed the village including the only church that was there. His reasons for that were that Rmaish supported Prince Bashir El Chahabi against him, they helped Napoleon in his battle against Acre and that he was afraid, that Rmaish being the only Christian village in the area, might encourage other Christian villages to rebel against him.^{[citation needed]}

Ahmad Basha burned down the church including all the records that were kept inside. The people of Rmaish refused to go back to their village until Ahmad Basha died in 1804 when they went back and rebuilt their church and village.^{[citation needed]}

• In 1824, the leader of Rmaish Youssef Daher El Choufani led the village to a victory over the viceroy of Acre, Abdallah El Darnadli.^{[citation needed]}
• In 1829, Rmaish supported Prince Bashir El Chahabi in his battle against Sanour.^{[citation needed]}
• Rmaish was hit by an earthquake in January 1837, which devastated the South all the way to Safad and Tiberias.^[7] William McClure Thomson traveled in the region three weeks afterwards, and described how Rumaish was mostly destroyed, with thirty deaths occurring as people were crushed in their homes. Many more would have suffered the same had they not been at evening prayers at the church there, which was a small building that was not seriously damaged.^[8][9]
• In 1838; the population of Rmaish was described as being Greek Orthodox Christians and
• In 1839, Rmaish fought side by side with the Shiite of the neighbouring villages against the Egyptian army which ended by the withdrawal of the Egyptian army after suffering heavy losses.^{[citation needed]}
• In 1840, Daher El Choufani led Rmaish in another battle against the Egyptian army.^{[citation needed]}

When the Ottoman Empire entered the war, they forced everyone between 18 and 60 years to fight in the Turkish army. People from Rmeish were forced to fight in Bulgaria, Istanbul and the Suez Canal in Egypt.^{[citation needed]} Between 20 and 30 never came back from the war and no one knew anything about them till today.^{[citation needed]}

In 1875 Victor Guérin found Rmaish to be inhabited by 500 Maronites, all impoverished. He observed that although the village appears to be relatively new—and according to its elders, it hasn't reached its hundred-year and five mark yet—it is located on the site of an earlier settlement.^[10]

In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Rumeish: "A stone and mud village, containing about 500 Christians; there is a Christian church; it is situated in the plain, with two large birkets and cisterns, surrounded by arable land and having some vineyards."^[11]

Rmaish suffered from many natural disasters, the most significant one was the earthquake of 1837 when an earthquake hit the village killing 35. The rest of the people were praying in the church that day and therefore were protected by the strong building of the church.^{[citation needed]} Rmeich was hit by few other earthquakes in 1887, 1888 and 1927 which caused the destruction of many houses without any casualties.^{[citation needed]}

At the start of the 20th century, Rmaish saw emigration on a large scale to South America, especially to Argentina and Brazil, due to the high taxes imposed by the Ottoman Empire.^{[citation needed]} It is believed that around 100 left to Argentina between 1905 and 1914.^{[citation needed]}

French Mandate

A petition was sent by all villages in south Lebanon to the Reconciliation Conference in Paris in 1919 asking for Rmaish and other villages to be included within Lebanon. The following is the petition:^{[citation needed]}

"We call on the agreement and unanimity we, the residents of Tyre district of Shiites and Christians of forty thousands to be included in the State of Greater Lebanon for the following reasons: First, the Shiites of us are people form Sidon, Tyre, Marjayoun, El Rihan, Eklim El Kharoub and Hermel who truly want to join their nation. Second, Christians of us are of Lebanese origin and their ancestors came from the north to south. To the day they are relatives and want to join them."^{[citation needed]}

Independence period

The Arab Liberation Army’s Second Yarmouk Battalion, numbering just over 300 troops, crossed from Rmaich on January 9–10, 1948, and advanced toward Tarshiha in the Galilee.^[20]

During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Rmaish received hundreds of Palestinian refugees,^[21] including from the village of Sha'ab.^[22] By late October and early November of the same year, refugees from other Palestinian villages, such as Al-Mansura^[23] and Kfar Bir'im sought refuge in Rmaish and Ain Ebel.^[24]

In mid-July 1976, Israel launched the Good Fence policy, opening boarder gates in Rmaish and Kfar Kila the following month.^[25] The Palestine Liberation Organization largely overlooked Israel’s shift to overt intervention in South Lebanon, remaining indifferent to its activities while focusing instead on political influence and rivalries over controlling food and aid distribution, ultimately imposing a total blockade on Rmaish, Debel, and Ain Ebel that forced residents to rely on the Good Fence policy for essential supplies.^[25]

In 1985, the residents of east Sidon were deported toward the south. 120 families were deported to Rmaish. Half of these families were to leave Rmaish within the next 2 months and the others stayed and lived in Rmeish until this day.^{[citation needed]}

Red Cross

The red cross centre opened in 1968 to provide medical assistance to the people of the area. The centre was built in Rmaish because of its position halfway between the other 2 hospitals in the region. All the members in this centre are volunteers.

Education

The first school was opened in 1870 by The Jesuits but was closed in 1900 to reopen in 1920 to close again 1949.^{[citation needed]}

From 1949 till 1955, the Pontifical mission opened a school for the Palestinians refugees.^{[citation needed]}

From 1945, Rmaish Supplementary School was opened which closed down in 1992.^{[citation needed]}

Our Lady of Lebanon School was opened in 1959.^{[citation needed]}

In 1974 Rmaish high school was opened.^{[citation needed]}

Religion

The streets and intersections of Rmaish, along with its home gardens and stone fences, are lined with statues and reliefs of St. Mary, Saint Charbel, St. George—the patron saint—and other saints, reinforcing the village’s deeply rooted spiritual character.^[1]

Saint George church^{[citation needed]}

Was originally built around 1700, to later destroyed in 1787 and then to be rebuilt in 1806. The church was Cohesive and strong therefore it survived the 1837 earthquake that destroyed the village. Between 1925 and 1929 it was knocked down and then rebuilt on a larger land.^{[citation needed]}

Church of Transfiguration

In the 1970s, because of the rapid grow of the number of people living in Rmaish, and the impossible mission of expanding the saint George church, the people of Rmaish decided to build a new church. The work did not start until 1982 to finish only at the start of 2000.^{[citation needed]}

Lady of the Annunciation Monastery

The building of the monastery was approved in 1983. By 1986 it was finished to be the first maronite monastery in south Lebanon.^{[citation needed]} In August 2001, Father Choufani was appointed abbot of the Our Lady of the Annunciation Monastery.^[37] Following his appointment, he promptly initiated two major projects for the monastery.^[37]

Geology

Rmaish has two sinkholes, Smokhaya and Katmeen, which are considered ecologically significant and in need of protection.^[43]