Al-Na'ima

Al-Na'ima
Al-Na'ima
Arabic الناعمة
Subdistrict Safad
Coordinates 33°11′17″N 35°35′42″E / 33.18806°N 35.59500°E / 33.18806; 35.59500Coordinates: 33°11′17″N 35°35′42″E / 33.18806°N 35.59500°E / 33.18806; 35.59500
Palestine grid 206/288
Population 1240 (1,340 Arabs and 210 Jews)[1][2] (1945)
Area 7155[2] dunams
Date of depopulation May 14, 1948[3]
Cause(s) of depopulation Influence of nearby town's fall
Current localities Neot Mordechai,[4] Kefar Blum,[4] and Beyt Hillel[4]

Al-Na'ima (Arabic: الناعمة‎) was a Palestinian Arab village in the Safad Subdistrict of Mandatory Palestine located 26 kilometres (16 mi) northeast of Safad. The settlement was depopulated during the 1947-1948 civil war on May 14, 1948 by the Israeli Palmach's First Battalion as part of Operation Yiftach.

In the 1945 statistics it had a population of 1,240 of whom 210 were Jews.[1]

History

Al-Na'ima was located on flat land to the north west of the al-Hula Plain. A road linked it to the village of al-Khalisa and to a highway leading to Safad and Tiberias. A road linked the village to a highway leading to Safad and Tiberias. A shrine dedicated to local sage al-Shaykh al-Wayzi lay about 0.5 kilometres (0.31 mi) from the site as did a stone quarry.[4] The village also had a boys’ elementary school.[4]

In the 1931 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, En Na'ima had a population of 858, all Muslims, in a total of 174 houses.[5]

Al-Naima, 1946

Types of land use in dunams in the village in the 1945 statistics:[6][7]

Land UsageArabJewish
Irrigated and plantation4,1222,197
Cereal156217
Cultivable4,2782,414
Urban1120
Non-cultivable600

The land ownership of the village before occupation in dunams:[2]

OwnerDunams
Arab4,450
Jewish2,414
Public291
Total7,155

1948, and aftermath

During the 1948 war, Al-Na’ima was depopulated during Operation Yiftach which targeted Safad and the surrounding district. When the city of Safad was finally attacked between the 10 and 11 May 1948, morale in the village was low; according to an Israeli intelligence report, many residents fled on 14 May shortly before advancing Israeli troops entered.[4]

The settlement of Neot Mordechai was built in 1946 to the south of the village while to the north is the settlement of Beyt Hillel, built in 1940. Kefar Blum, built in 1943 lies 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) to the southeast.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 10
  2. 1 2 3 Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 70
  3. ↑ Morris, 2004, p. xvi, village #19. Also gives cause of depopulation.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Khalidi, 1992, p. 482
  5. ↑ Mills, 1932, p. 109
  6. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 120
  7. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 170

Bibliography

  • Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945. Government of Palestine.
  • Esber, R.M. (2008). Under the Cover of War, The Zionist Expulsions of the Palestinians. Arabicus Books & Media. ISBN 0981513174.
  • 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.
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