| Nahal Alexander | |
|---|---|
 Nahal Alexander flowing into the Mediterranean | |
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| Physical characteristics | |
| Length | 28 mi (45 km) |
Nahal Alexander andWadi Zeimar are the names of ariver inIsrael that flows from the western side of theSamaria mountain belt in theWest Bank[1][2] to theMediterranean Sea north ofNetanya, mostly through theHefer Valley.Nahal Alexander (Hebrew:נחל אלכסנדר,romanized: Alexander Stream,Arabic: Nahr Iskanderuneh) is the name of the lower 32 km section of the 44 km long river, whileWadi Zeimar is theArabic name of its upper, 32 km long section.[1] The river starts southeast ofKafr Abbush, and its drainage basin drains the Nablus and central Samaria areas, as well as part of thecoastal plain.[1] It is the habitat ofsoft-shell turtles that can reach a size of 1.20 meters, and its lower course with its surroundings is declared anational park.
The stream receives water fromNahal Shechem,Wadi et-Tin/Nahal Te'enim [he], Nahal Ometz, Nahal Behan and Nahal Avichail (named afterthe moshav).
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The old Arabic name of the stream is "Nahr Iskanderuneh",nahr being the Arabic term for a perennial stream.[3] The IsraeliGovernment Naming Committee connected it toAlexander Jannaeus, aHasmonean king who conquered the area of the stream in the 1st-century BCE.[3] The truth, however, is that the name comes from an Arab merchant, Iskander Abu Zabura, a resourceful watermelon merchant who lived in the 19th century.[3] He exported his ware, which was produced in Wadi al-Hawarith - the Hefer Valley -, to Egypt, shipping it on boats from an ancient anchorage in what is known today as theMikhmoret bay, and which back then became named after him, "Minet Abu Zabura" ('Abu Zabura Port'), as reported by Judith Montefiore in 1839.[3] The Ottoman officials even established a customs house on a hill on the north bank of the stream near the anchorage to collect taxes from the watermelon trade.[3] The anchorage is marked on the 1880PEF Survey of Western Palestine map at a location near today'sMoshavMikhmoret.
Nahal Alexander is the habitat ofsoft-shell turtles that can reach a size of 1.20 meters and weigh up to 50 kilograms. In addition to giant turtles, there arecoots and other waterfowl,nutrias and swamp cats. Indigenous fish includecatfish,tilapia, river eels andmullet.[4] On the southern bank there are shifting sand dunes and on the northern bank, a eucalyptus grove.[5]
Hurvat Samra (Khirbet Samra), an old ruin on a hill overlooking Nahal Alexander, may have been a customs station for goods transported down the river to the port near the estuary[5] (see#Etymology).
Beit Yanai beach, named by the Names Committee after Alexander Yannaeus,[3] is located where the river flows into the Mediterranean.[6] North of the beach are remnants of a quay built in 1938, during theBritish Mandate. It was used for clandestine Jewish immigration toMandatory Palestine when British authorities turned away ships of European Jews fleeing theNazis.[5]
In the winter of 1991, Nahal Alexander overflowed and most of its soft-shelled turtle population drifted into the Mediterranean. When the remaining eggs failed to hatch, theIsrael Nature and Parks Authority launched a project to collect the eggs, incubate them, and return the turtles to the water.[7]
In 2003, Nahal Alexander was part of a cleanup project that won first prize in the Riverprize environmental rehabilitation competition in Australia after being one of the most polluted rivers in Israel.[7]
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32°23′46.08″N34°51′56.53″E / 32.3961333°N 34.8657028°E /32.3961333; 34.8657028
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