Islamic Emirate of Acre

Islamic Emirate of Acre אמירות האסלאם של עכו إمارة أكر الإسلامية
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: من خلال الإيمان والوحدة، سوف ننتصر Through faith and unity, we shall prevail
Anthem: Adhan
Northern Israel, the Levant
Capital	Acre
Largest city	Haifa
Official languages	Arabic, Hebrew, English
Demonym(s)	Akkan
Government	Unitary parliamentary emirate
• Emir	Hafez I
• Prime Minister	Ben Adelman
Legislature	Parliament
Establishment	25/01/20
Currency	Israeli new shekel
Time zone	UTC+02:00
Website Map of Acre
Preceded by w:Israel

Acre, officially the Islamic Emirate of Acre, and also informally known as Akko or Akka is a micronation located within contemporary Israel in the Levant. Acre declared independence from Israel in early 2020 and announced the creation of a new emirate. The entirety of Acre's claim resides within northern Israel, and includes important and historic settlements such as Acre, Haifa and Nahariya.

Acre is governed as a unitary parliamentary emirate. The head of state - the Emir - is responsible for most issues of foreign policy, while the Parliament, headed by a Prime Minister, handles most domestic affairs. Possessing an uncodified constitution however, Acre witnesses great fluidity in the affairs handled by particular government entities.

Acre is notable for its multi-ethnic, multi-religious nature. Israeli Jews constitute a majority of the population, and live alongside Arab Muslims, Arab Christians and smaller communities like the Druze. As such, Acre has developed a pan-religious national identity; unlike most countries, it possesses two national religions - Islam and Judaism - and even possesses an alternative flag which includes the Star of David.

Etymology

The Emirate is named after the historic city of Acre, the etymology of which is unclear. The earliest record is believed to be Egyptian, and dates back to 1800 BC, in which it is referred to as Akka; Greeks referred to it as Ákē. Its formulation as Acre dates back to medieval Crusader times.

A number of folk etymologies exist - in Hebrew, it is believed that when the ocean was created, it expanded until it reached Acre, at which point it stopped (ad koh meaning up to here in Hebrew). Among Greeks, it was said that Hercules found curative herbs at the city's site (Ἄκη meaning cure in Greek). To this day, Acre is commonly referred to as Akkō among Hebrew speakers, and Akkā among Arabic speakers. People from Acre are commonly referred to as Akkans.

Flag and Emblem

The alternative flag of Acre, commonly used by Jewish inhabitants

The flag of Acre includes a green background with a strip of white on the right side. It also includes a star and crescent overlaid on the green.

Both the green colouring and the star and crescent are indicative of Acre's Islamic ethos, with the former first associated with Islam through its use as the colour of the Fatimids, and the latter used by Muslims since at least the 13th century.

Despite a certain similarity with the flag of Pakistan, Acre's flag is in fact modelled on the flag of Algeria.

Alongside Acre's main flag, a second flag is also formally recognised. This alternative uses a blue background, a colour often associated with Judaism, as well as the Jewish Star of David.

Acre's national emblem is a star perched atop a bell within a Rub el Hizb, an octagram resembling an eight-pointed star. Above it is the Shahada, the Islamic profession of faith. Much of the Parliament's first government had suggested only adding the first half of the Shahada (lā ʾilāha ʾillā -llāhu meaning there is no deity but God) so as to be inclusive towards non-Muslim monotheists; this was fiercely rejected by the People's Democratic Union, and with the involvement of the Emir, the Liberal Union and the PDU narrowly passed a bill creating the national emblem, with the full declaration; the Labor Zionist Party had to be granted a free vote on the matter, as they threatened to bring down the government if they were compelled to vote in favour of the bill.

Administrative Divisions

Acre is divided into a total of seven districts - Haifa, Hof HaCarmel, Nahariya, Nesher, New Acre, Old Acre and Kiryat Bialik.

Haifa is by far the largest city in Acre, with a population of 260,000. Is is a mostly Jewish city, which includes a large number of Russian-speaking Jews and non-Jews. Haifa also has a large Christian population, comprising about 14% of the city. Smaller populations of Muslims, Druze and Baháʼí also live within the city. As with the rest of Acre, Haifa only has a small Haredi community (3% of the city compared to the Israeli average of 7.5%).

Haifa also makes up much of Acre's economy - it has a large port and industrial sector, including an oil refinery, multiple business parks, R&D facilities and international technology companies. Due to the city's size and its religious sites, Haifa also has a large tourism industry.

Nahariya is the second largest district, and includes other nearby settlements such as Shavei Zion and Rosh HaNikra. The city itself is overwhelmingly Jewish (97%), with only a very small Arab population. Nahariya also has an economy based on industry and tourism - the Rosh HaNikra grottoes, located on the border with Lebanon, attract tens of thousands of visitors a year. Coincidentally, the far older micronation of Akhzivland is found within Nahariya.

The city of Acre is divided into old and new, delineated by the medieval walls of the former, wherein the Emir's Palace and the Parliament are located. Acre is one of the most Arab regions of the micronation, with an Arab population of 32%. Its medieval and crusader architecture attracts many tourists every year.

Finally, the district of Kiryat Bialik is made up of many equitably sized cities located between Haifa and Acre. Most of these cities are overwhelmingly Jewish, and are part of Haifa's large suburban diaspora.

Name	Members of Parliament	Population	Area (km2)
				Haifa	Liberal Union (7)   People's Democratic Union (5)   Labor Zionist (1)   Conservative (1)   Movement for the Homeland (1)   Peace & Equality Party (1)   Communist Party (1)	254,000	43.4
Hof HaCarmel	Movement for the Homeland (1)	13,000	5.6
Nahariya	Conservative (2)   Labor Zionist (1)   People's Democratic Union (1)	60,000	32.7
Nesher	Communist Party (1)	24,000	2.9
New Acre	People's Democratic Union (1)   Peace & Equality Party (1)	45,000	10
Old Acre	People's Democratic Union (1)	4000	0.3
Kiryat Bialik	Conservative (5)   Labor Zionist (2)   Liberal Union (2)   Movement for the Homeland (2)	182,000	100

Government & Politics

Government

Acre is a unitary parliamentary emirate. Most political decisions are made by the Parliament, with candidates elected through a party list ballot.

Parliament is responsible for most domestic matters. Traditionally, the Emir's consent is sought before the passing of a bill, though no law requires this. Acre's political system is marked by a high degree of fluidity, wherein the power of the Emir and the Parliament ebbs and flows based on the partisan makeup of Parliament, the Emir's interest in exerting his will at any given time, and the level of support for each institution from the general public.

The Emir's power is most apparent in matters of foreign policy. Communication with other states often goes through the Emir, who also possesses the capacity to establish (and terminate) diplomatic communications. As the head of the military, the Emir also has the capacity to begin a war, though this has never happened.

Much of Acre's civil law is handled by religious courts, with Sharia courts available for Muslims and Rabbinical courts available for Jews; secular arbitration courts also exist for other communities, and can be used by Jews and Muslims who prefer them to a religious court. Only high arbitration courts are able to handle criminal matters.

The Shura Council (Shura meaning consultation) is the only court in Acre capable of ruling on matters of constitutional law, though the principle of parliamentary supremacy allows the legislature to overrule decisions made by the Shura Council. Alongside their constitutional role, the Shura Council also often releases advisory notes for legislators, though members of parliament are free to ignore them if they wish.

Political Parties

Political parties in Acre are generally confessionalist in that they source most of their support from a particular ethnic and/or religious community, and promote their particular community's interests. Confessional parties have entrenched themselves within Akkan politics, despite no laws requiring a proportional distribution of seats among confessional communities.

Confessionalist parties include the Conservative Party, the Labor Zionist Party, and the Movement for the Homeland, each of which represent Israeli communities; the People's Democratic Union, which represents Arab (Muslim) communities; and the Peace & Equality Party, which represents Acre's minorities (such as Arab Christians and Druze).

Two parties - the Liberal Union and the Communist Party - are explicitly non-confessional and do not promote a particular community's interests; the Liberal Union however does source most of its support from Israeli communities.

The number of parties represented in Parliament necessitates coalition government. Due to the number of confessional and ideological linkages present between parties, many different combinations of parties creating a coalition government are possible. Often, the Conservative Party will head a coalition of Israeli parties, while the Liberal Union will head a coalition of left-leaning parties.

Geography

Climate

Acre has a Mediterranean climate, marked by hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. Temperatures begin to increase in March with the arrival of Spring, with peak Summer temperatures arriving by late May. The average temperature in Summer is 26 °C, and 12 °C in Winter. Snow is very rare, and if seen is limited to the peaks of Mount Carmel. The wettest months are between December and February, with an average of 11.8 and 11.7 rainy days respectively.

Demographics

Acre is a diverse micronation, with many different religious, ethnic and linguistic communities present. Though the royal family is Muslim, most Akkans are Israeli Jews, many of whom are located in Acre's largest city, Haifa. Arabs are the second largest ethnic community, most of whom live in the northern part of Acre, in cities such as the country's namesake.

Most Arabs in Acre are Sunni Muslims, though a large Ahmadiyya population is also present, constituting 20% of Haifa's Muslim population. Around 12% of Acre's Arab population are Christian.

Acre is also home to a sizeable Druze community who make up about 7% of Haifa's population. Although only a small number of Bahá’ís live in Acre, it is home to two of their holiest sites - the Shrine of the Báb (and its gardens); and the Shrine of Baháʼu'lláh. The Baháʼí gardens dominate the Haifa landscape, and are a key aspect of the city's identity.

The Israeli community of Acre has a large number of Russian speaking Jews, many of whom were either Soviet immigrants or their descendants. Many Russian speakers however lack official religious-ethnic classification or are non-Jews, as their mothers are not Jewish. Acre is also home to Haredi Jews, though the population is smaller than in other parts of Israel, such as Jerusalem.

Foreign relations

Akkan government officials have described the nation's foreign policy as "reclusive, but not isolationist". The Akkan government does not send out requests for recognition, and strictly bans any formal alliance or membership in intermicronational organisations. Dual micronational citizenship is also prohibited. Micronations are free however to request a treaty of recognition, which is handled personally by the Emir. Treaties of recognition with states who have declared war within a year are also banned, with most Akkan politicians considering it to be a childish practice; a recognised state which declares war immediately has its recognition revoked.

Acre has a policy of not recognising any macronational state which is not a member of the United Nations; the sole exception being the Vatican State. Arab and liberal politicians generally support an exception for the State of Palestine.

Nations with which Acre has signed a treaty of mutual recognition

• Kingdom of Northumbria

Recognised, no relations

• All member states of the United Nations
• Vatican City

Transportation

The Carmelit's sloped station floors make it a rather unique transportation experience

The map of the proposed Acre Metro system

Acre is littered with railway stations - Haifa alone has six. The major cities of Haifa, Acre and Nahariya are all located on the busy Nahariya-Tel Aviv Coastal Railway main line. A Haifa-Krayot Parvarit suburban line also exists, connecting the Haifa Hof HaCarmel railway station in south-west Haifa to Kiryat Motzkin railway station in central Acre. Direct trains connect most major settlements within Acre, and larger settlements like Haifa enjoy direct connections to Ben Gurion airport, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other major Israeli locations.

The Rosh HaNikra Crossing connects northern Acre to southern Lebanon, however tourists and visitors are not allowed to use the crossing, preventing Akkan-Lebanese travel.

Acre's bus networks are mostly ran by the Israeli Egged company, who also run coaches linking cities like Haifa to more distant locations such as Tiberias.

The 'jewel' of Acre's public transport network is the Carmelit funicular in the city of Haifa. Created in 1959, the railway runs from Paris Square to the Carmel Center with a total of six stops. It runs up a steep slope of Mount Carmel connecting what were the largest residential parts of Haifa to its business center. Until the Tel Aviv Light Rail is completed, it remains Israel's only light rail service, and with just six stops and two trains it is one of the smallest light rail services in the world. With the explosion of Haifa's population in the past several decades, it now services an increasingly smaller section of the city's population, with only 2000 passengers a day using it.

Consecutive Akkan governments have worked on a hypothesised metro system which would cover all of Acre. During the second session of Parliament, a plan was passed, which included a large inter-city line running from Hof Carmel to the Rosh HaNikra Grottoes. This line would in turn be linked up to two Mount Carmel lines through a series of funicular lines, approaching locations such as Carmel Center from a number of directions. To the north, two lines - from Nahariya to Old Acre and Sderot Yerushalayim to Haifa Airport - would connect smaller settlements to the main line. This system would allow for easy access throughout the country, especially aiding those living on Mount Carmel who must currently rely on slow bus networks to traverse the steep slopes of the mountain. It would also give Akkans easy access to a number of train stations and an airport, from which they could access Israel and beyond. It's also hypothesised that such a program could lead to a renaissance in Acre's high streets, with locations like Carmel Centre acting as hubs for large numbers of tourists and travellers.