Khiyam al-Walid

Khiyam al-Walid
Khiyam al-Walid was located on the eastern edge of the Hula Valley
Khiyam al-Walid
Arabic خيام الوليد
Name meaning "the tents of al-Walid"
Subdistrict Safad
Coordinates 33°08′39″N 35°39′14″E / 33.14417°N 35.65389°E / 33.14417; 35.65389Coordinates: 33°08′39″N 35°39′14″E / 33.14417°N 35.65389°E / 33.14417; 35.65389
Palestine grid 211/282
Population 280[1][2] (1945)
Area 4,215 dunams
4.2 km²
Date of depopulation May 1, 1948[3]
Cause(s) of depopulation Fear of being caught up in the fighting
Current localities Lehavot HaBashan[4]

Khiyam al-Walid (Arabic: خيام الوليد‎) was a Palestinian Arab village in the Safad Subdistrict located 25.5 kilometers (15.8 mi) northeast of Safad along the Syrian border. It was on situated on a hill 150 meters (490 ft) above sea level on the eastern edge of the Hula Valley. In 1945, there were 280 predominantly Muslim inhabitants. It was depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War.[4]

History

The name of the village in Arabic is translated as "the tents of al-Walid", believed to be a reference to the tents of Khaled ibn al-Walid's army which conquered the Levant from the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century.[4] According to local tradition, within the village was tomb for a Muslim sage, Shaykh ibn al-Walid. The tomb was enclosed by a shrine that formed part of Khiyam al-Walid's mosque.[4]

British Mandate era

In the 1931 census of Palestine the population of Khiyam al-Walid was 181, all Muslims, in a total of 42 houses.[5]

In modern times, Khiyam al Walid was classified as a hamlet by the Palestine Index Gazeteer. During the British Mandate period, it had rectangular layout with its houses lined up along the road leading to the nearby village of az-Zawiya. Khiyam al-Walid expanded to the east where spring water—which was preferred over the malaria-infested marshes of Lake Hula—was available. In a 1945 survey, the village was made up of a total 4,215 dunams. Despite its entire population being Arab, 92% of its land was Jewish-owned.[4]

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

Land UsageArabJewish
Irrigated and plantation1532,599
Cereal0502
Cultivable1533,101
Urban
Non-cultivable8800

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

OwnerDunams
Arab161
Jewish3,901
Public153
Total4,215

1948, aftermath

According to an Israeli military report in June 1948, Khiyam al-Walid's inhabitants had fled the village on May 1 due to fears of a military attack by Haganah or other Jewish forces. It was occupied in the same relative period during the last stages of Operation Yiftach.[8]

Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi wrote of the remains of the village in 1992, saying "The site is deserted and overgrown with grass and thorns. There are a few carob trees, piles of stones, and crumbled terraces."[4]

References

  1. ↑ Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 10
  2. 1 2 Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, Village Statistics, 1945. PLO Research Center, 1970, p.70
  3. ↑ Morris, 2004, p. xvi, village #22. Also gives cause of depopulation.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Khalidi, 1992, p.466.
  5. ↑ Mills, 1932, p. 107
  6. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 119
  7. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 169
  8. ↑ Morris, 2004, pp. 132 note #542 on 160; 249 note #686 on 302

Bibliography

  • Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945. Government of Palestine.
  • 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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