Arab al-Safa
Arab al-Safa
عرب الصفا | |
|---|---|
Village | |
.jpg) 1870s map .jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map .jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Arab al-Safa (click the buttons) | |
  Arab al-Safa Location within Mandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates: 32°26′27″N 35°32′16″E / 32.44083°N 35.53778°E | |
| Palestine grid | 200/205 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Baysan |
| Date of depopulation | 20 May 1948[3] |
| Area | |
| • Total | 12,518 dunams (12.518 km2 or 4.833 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
| • Total | 650[1][2] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Influence of nearby town's fall |
Arab al-Safa (Arabic: عرب الصفا), was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Baysan . It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It was located 7.5 km south of Baysan.
The village was destroyed on May 20, 1948, by the Israeli Golani Brigade under Operation Gideon.
History[edit]
British Mandate era[edit]
In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the Mandatory Palestine authorities, Saffa had a population of 255 Muslims,[4] increasing in the 1931 census to 540; 4 Christians and the rest Muslims, in 108 houses.[5]
In the 1945 statistics, the population consisted of 650 Muslims,[1] and the total land area was 12,518 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[2] The land ownership in the village (in dunams) was as follows:[1][2][6]
| Owner | Dunams |
|---|---|
| Arab | 7,549 |
| Jewish | 2,523 |
| Public | 2,446 |
| Total | 12,518 |
By 1945, the Arab population were occupied mainly in cereal farming. The use of village land in that year:[7][8]
| Land Usage | Arab | Jewish | Public |
|---|---|---|---|
| Citrus and bananas | - | 49 | - |
| Irrigated and plantation | - | 14 | - |
| Cereal | 7,449 | 2,460 | 922 |
| Urban | - | - | - |
| Cultivable | 7,449 | 2,523 | 922 |
| Non-cultivable | 100 | - | 1,524 |
The population had grown to 754 by 1948 with 150 houses.
1948 and aftermath[edit]
The village became depopulated on 20 May 1948, a week after the fall of Baysan[3][6] Following the war the area was incorporated into the State of Israel, with the village's land left undeveloped; the closest villages are the kibbutzim of Tirat Zvi (established 1937) to the south-west and Sde Eliyahu (established 1939) to the west.[6]
In 1992 the village site was described: "Three palm trees stand on the village site. The surrounding lands are used for growing wheat."[6]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 7
- ^ a b c d Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 44
- ^ a b Morris, 2004, p. xvii, village #132. Also gives cause of depopulation
- ^ Barron, 1923, Table IX, p. 31
- ^ Mills, 1932, p. 77
- ^ a b c d Khalidi, 1992, p. 43
- ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 85
- ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 135
Bibliography[edit]
- Barron, J.B., ed. (1923). Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922. Government of Palestine.
- Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945.
- Hadawi, S. (1970). Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine. Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center.
- Khalidi, W. (1992). All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948. Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies. ISBN 0-88728-224-5.
- Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
- Morris, B. (2004). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-00967-6.
External links[edit]
- Welcome To 'Arab al-Safa
- 'Arab al-Safa, Zochrot
- Survey of Western Palestine Map 9: IAA, Wikimedia commons
- 'Arab al-Safa from Khalil Sakakini Cultural Centre
