Al-Kabri
| al-Kabri | |
|
|
 al-Kabri
|
|
| Arabic | الكابري |
| Name Meaning | "Great or Wealthy" |
| Also Spelled | Kabira Cabra (Crusader name) |
| Sub-district | Acre |
| Coordinates | 33°00′55.72″N 35°09′03.17″E / 33.0154778°N 35.1508806°ECoordinates: 33°00′55.72″N 35°09′03.17″E / 33.0154778°N 35.1508806°E |
| Population | 1,520 (1945) |
| Area | 28,729 dunums
28.7 km² |
| Date of depopulation | 5, 21 May 1948[2] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Fear of being caught up in the fighting |
| Secondary cause | Military assault by Yishuv forces |
| Current localities | Kabri, Ga'aton, Me'ona, Ein Ya'akov, Ma'alot |
Al-Kabri (Arabic: الكابري) was a Palestinian Arab town in the Galilee located 12.5 kilometers (7.8 mi) northeast of Acre. It was captured by the Israel Defence Forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. In 1945, it had a population of 1,520 and a total land area of 28,729 dunams. It is near the site of Tel Kabri.
Contents |
[edit] History
Al-Kabri was known as "Cabra" under Crusader rule in the twelfth century. It is mentioned by Arab geographer al-Maqrizi as "al-Kabira" in the early fifteenth century, by now under Mamluk rule. Under the name Al-Kabrah, it was mentioned as part of the domain of the Crusaders during the hudna between the Crusaders based in Acre and the Mamluk sultan al-Mansur (Qalawun) in 1283.[3] In 1291, Mamluk sultan al-Ashraf Khalil allocated the town's income to a charitable organization in Cairo.[4]
In the late nineteenth century, al-Kabri was a mid-sized village built of stone. They cultivated the surrounding fields, planting them with fig, olive, pomegranate, mulberry, and apple orchards.[5] It was well known for its springs, including Ayn Mafshuh, Ayn Fawwar, Ayn al-'Asal, and Ayn Kabri. The number of springs made al-Kabri the main supplier of water in the District of Acre. Ancient aquifers supplied water from the springs to Acre, and two additional canals were built by Jezzar Pasha in 1800, and Sulayman Pasha in 1814.[6]
Under the British Mandate in Palestine, al-Kabri's houses were built of stone, mud, and reinforced concrete. The village contained a mosque and a boys' elementary school. Agriculture was the base of the economy with villagers cultivating olives, citrus, and bananas and engaged in animal husbandry, including raising cattle.[6]
[edit] 1948, and after
Kabri was first badly shaken by the Palmah raid on the village on the night 31 January/1 February 1948, in which the house of the main al-Husayni-affiliated notable, Fares Sirhan, was demolished. After this, Siran and his family fled to Lebanon.[7]
On the 27 March 1948 a convoy with reliefs for Kibbutz Yehiam was attacked while passing by Al-Kabri and all 74 Haganah members were killed.[8][9]
In April 1948, the Haganah prepared an initial blueprint for an operation called "Ehud", which provided for attacks on Kabri, al Nahar, al-Bassa and Zib for "the destruction of the gangs [and] the menfolk, [and] the destruction of property.[7]
The village was probably occupied on the night of 20–21 May during the second stage of Operation Ben-Ami, by which time most of the inhabitants had fled.[6]
During their dispersal in Galilee some of the villagers were killed when it was discovered that they came from Al-Kabri, in retaliation for the convoy ambush.[10]
According to Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, the remaining structures on the village land in 1992 were "crumbled walls and stone rubble, overgrown with thorns, weeds, and bushes. The settlement of Kabri uses the land adjacent to the site for agriculture and as a pasture."[6]
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Jacotin, 1826. See also Siege of Acre (1799)
- ^ Morris, 2004, p. xvii, village #81. Also gives causes of depopulation.
- ^ Dan Barag (1979). "A new source concerning the ultimate borders of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem". Israel Exploration Journal 29: pp. 197–217.
- ^ Khalidi, 1992, p.19.
- ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP, Vol. I, p.146. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 19-20
- ^ a b c d Khalidi, 1992, p.20.
- ^ a b Morris, 2004, p. 253
- ^ Benvenisti, 2000, p.138
- ^ Khalidi, 1992, p. 20. Gives the date as 28 March and that the New York Times reported 49 Jews dead and six Arabs, and that the convoy consisted of five trucks and an armored car
- ^ Khalidi, 1992, p. 20, quoting Nafez Nazal, 'The Palestinian Exodus from Galilee. 1948.' (1978), Beirut. pages 58-63.
[edit] Bibliography
- Conder, Claude Reignier and H.H. Kitchener (1881): The Survey of Western Palestine: memoirs of the topography, orography, hydrography, and archaeology. London:Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. vol 1
- Hadawi, Sami (1970), Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine, Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center, http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html
- Benvenisti, Meron (2000): Sacred Landscape: Buried History of the Holy Land Since 1948. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-21154-5,
- Khalidi, Walid (ed.) (1992): All that Remains. Institute for Palestine Studies. ISBN 0-88728-224-5.
- Morris, Benny (2004): The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-81120-1.
- Nazzal, Nafez (1974): The Zionist occupation of western Galilee, 1948, Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 3, No. 3, 58-76.
- Howard Smithline (2004): El-Kabri, Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel, No. 116.
- Porat, Leea (2006): Akko, the aqueduct, Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel, No. 118.
- Hanaa Abu-‘Uqsa (2007): El-Kabri Final Report, Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel, No. 119.
- Howard Smithline (2007): Tel Kabri Final Report, Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel, No. 119.
[edit] External links
- Welcome to al-Kabri Palestine Remembered.
- Al-Kabri at Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
- Al-Kabri photos, from Dr. Moslih Kanaaneh
