Majd al-Krum

Majd al-Krum (Arabic: مَجْدُ الْكُرُوم, romanized: Majd al-Kurūm; Hebrew: מג'ד אל-כרום) is an Arab town located in the Galilee in Israel's Northern District about 16 kilometers (10 miles) east of Acre. Its inhabitants are primarily Muslim. In 2023 it had a population of 15,144.

The town was a fief called Mergelcolon under the Crusaders in the 12th and 13th centuries and was recorded as a sizable village under Ottoman rule in the 16th century. In the late 18th century, the inhabitants were allied with local sheikh Daher al-Umar and his family, under whom Majd al-Krum was a locally-garrisoned and fortified village with towers. Its walls were demolished by the Ottoman governor Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar after he captured the village in 1776.

By the late 19th century, the village consisted of three quarters, each with its own sheikh. Majd al-Krum surrendered to Israel during the 1948 war, not long after which several of its residents were executed. Many of its inhabitants became refugees in Lebanon, while most remained and joined by refugees from the nearby villages of Sha'ab and Birwa. It became a local council in 1964. Over two-thirds of its lands were expropriated by the state between 1949 and 1976. Its main economic activities are agriculture, quarrying, food processing and workshops.