Safsaf
Safsaf
صفصاف Safsofa | ||
---|---|---|
Village | ||
Etymology: "the Osier willow"[1] | ||
Geopolitical entity Mandatory Palestine | | |
Subdistrict | Safad | |
Date of depopulation | 29 October 1948[4] | |
Area | ||
• Total | 7,391 dunams (7.391 km2 or 2.854 sq mi) | |
Population (1945) | ||
• Total | 910[2][3] | |
Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault by Yishuv forces | |
Secondary cause | Fear of being caught up in the fighting | |
Current Localities | Kfar Hoshen,[5][6] Bar Yohai[7] |
Safsaf (
History
The village was called Safsofa in Roman times.[8]
According to Yaqut, it was harried in 950 CE by the Hamdanid ruler of Aleppo, Sayf al-Dawla.[9]
Ottoman era
In the early sixteenth century CE, Safsaf was incorporated into the
In 1838 Safsaf was noted as a village in the Safad district,[12] while in 1875 Victor Guérin described it as a village with fifteen Muslim families.[13] At this time it was part of Eyalet Sidon.
In 1881 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Safsaf as a small village situated on a plain, with a population of about 100. They also noted that "ornamented stones of a preexisting public building" had been built into the doorway of the village mosque.[14] The villagers cultivated olive and fig trees and vineyards.[15]
A population list from about 1887 showed Safsaf to have about 740 inhabitants, all Muslim.[16] At this time it was part of Beirut vilayet.
British Mandate era
Safsaf became a part of the
In the 1922 census of Palestine Safsaf had a population of 521 Muslims,[17] increasing in the 1931 census to 662, still all Muslims, in a total of 124 houses.[18]
In the 1945 statistics the population was 910 Muslims,[2] with a total of 7,391 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[3] Of this, a total of 2,586 dunums were allotted to cereals; 769 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards,[6][19] while a 72 dunams was built-up (urban) area.[20]
1948, and aftermath
On October 29, 1948, Israeli forces assaulted the village as part of Operation Hiram.[21] After the villagers surrendered, some 50-70 men were massacred while bound and four women reported being raped.[6][22][23][24] The IDF records for this massacre remain classified.
In 1949 Kfar Hoshen was established on village land, followed by Bar Yohai in 1979, also on village land.[6]
In 1992 the village site was described: "The site is overgrown with grass and scattered trees among which can be seen a few terraces and piles of stones from destroyed houses. A few houses are inhabited by Israelis. A fraction of surrounding land is cultivated by the settlements, and the rest is forested."[6]
See also
- Killings and massacres during the 1948 Palestine War
- Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel
References
- ^ Palmer, 1881, p. 95
- ^ a b Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 11
- ^ a b c Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 71
- ^ Morris, 2004, p. xvi, village #45. Also gives causes of depopulation.
- ^ Morris, 2004, p. xxi, Settlement #49, established January 1949.
- ^ a b c d e f Khalidi, 1992, p. 491
- ^ Established in 1979. Khalidi, 1992, p. 491
- ^ Khalidi, 1992, p. 490
- ^ Le Strange, 1890, p. 526
- ^ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p.177, quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 490
- ^ Note that Rhode, 1979, p. 6 Archived 2019-04-20 at the Wayback Machine writes that the register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9
- ^ Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. 134
- ^ Guérin, 1880, pp. 418-419
- ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 257. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 491
- ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p.200. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 491
- ^ Schumacher, 1888, p. 190
- ^ Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Safad, p. 41
- ^ Mills, 1932, p. 110
- ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 121
- ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 171
- ^ Welcome to Safsaf, Palestine Remembered, retrieved 2007-12-12
- ^ Benvenisti, 2000, p. 153
- ^ Nazzal, 1978, pp. 93-96
- ^ Morris, 2004, p. 481
Bibliography
- Barron, J. B., ed. (1923). Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922. Government of Palestine.
- ISBN 0-520-21154-5.
- Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. Vol. 1. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
- Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945.
- Guérin, V. (1880). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine (in French). Vol. 3: Galilee, pt. 2. Paris: L'Imprimerie Nationale.
- Hadawi, S. (1970). Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine. Palestine Liberation Organization Research Centre.
- Hütteroth, Wolf-Dieter; Abdulfattah, Kamal (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. ISBN 3-920405-41-2.
- ISBN 0-88728-224-5.
- Le Strange, G. (1890). Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
- Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
- ISBN 978-0-521-00967-6.
- Nazzal, Nafez (1978). The Palestinian Exodus from Galilee 1948. Beirut: The Institute for Palestine Studies. ISBN 9780887281280. (Safsaf, p. 93-96, 107)
- Palmer, E.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
- Rhode, H. (1979). Administration and Population of the Sancak of Safed in the Sixteenth Century (PhD). Columbia University. Archived from the original on 2020-03-01. Retrieved 2018-11-13.
- Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. Vol. 3. Boston: Crocker & Brewster.
- Schumacher, G. (1888). "Population list of the Liwa of Akka". Quarterly Statement - Palestine Exploration Fund. 20: 169–191.
External links
- welcome to safsaf - Nidal Hamad Archived 2020-06-21 at the Wayback Machine
- Welcome to Safsaf
- Safsaf, Zochrot
- Survey of Western Palestine, Map 4: IAA, Wikimedia commons
- Safsaf, from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
- Safsaf photos, Dr. Moslih Kanaaneh
- Safsaf, Dr. Khalil Rizk.