Nimrin

Nimrin was a Palestinian Arab town of 320 that was captured and depopulated by Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

For the biblical city of Nimrin in Transjordan, see Beth-nimrah.
Nimrin

نمرين
Village
Etymology: well-watered[1]
Nimrin
Coordinates: 32°48′15″N 35°25′24″E
Palestine grid190/245
Geopolitical entityMandatory Palestine
SubdistrictTiberias
Date of depopulation16-17 July 1948[2]
Area
 • Total12,019 dunams (12.019 km2 or 4.641 sq mi)
Population
 (1945)
 • Total320[4][3]
Cause(s) of depopulationFear of being caught up in the fighting
Secondary causeMilitary assault by Yishuv forces
Current LocalitiesAchuzzat Naftali, IDF ammunition depot

History

Nimrin stood on the site of Kfar Nimra when Palestine was ruled by the Roman Empire.[5] Its inhabitants were Jews when Saint Peter and Saint James visited the town in 30 CE.[6]

Ottoman era

Nimrin was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in the early sixteenth century CE, and by the 1596 tax records the village was under the administration of the nahiya ("subdistrict") of Tiberias, part of Safad Sanjak. It had a population of 20 households, an estimated 110 persons, all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on agricultural products, such as on wheat barley, wheat, olives, beehives, and goats; a total of 3,920 akçe. 1/3 of the revenue went to a waqf.[7][8]

A map from Napoleon's invasion of 1799 by Pierre Jacotin showed the place, named as Nemen.[9]

In the nineteenth century, Nimrin grew to become a stone-built village of 250 Muslim people. It was described as being built on the slope of a hill, surrounded by arable land.[10] The Ottomans founded an elementary school in the village.[5]

A population list from about 1887 showed Nimrin to have about 300 inhabitants; all Muslims.[11]

British Mandate era

In 1922, Nimrin became a part of the British Mandate of Palestine and in the 1922 census of Palestine, Nemrin had a population of 273; all Muslims,[12] increasing in the 1931 census to 316, still all Muslims, in a total of 71 houses.[13]

The main economic sectors were farming and livestock, with grain being the most important crop, followed by vegetables. The Ottoman school was closed down during this period.[5]

In the 1945 statistics the population consisted of 320 Muslims,[4] and the total land area was 12,019 dunams.[3] Of this, Arabs used 7,905 dunams for cereals, 335 for plantations and irrigable land,[14] while 64 dunams were classified as built-up (urban) area.[15]

1948 war, and aftermath

During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Nimrin fell into Israeli hands on July 17, 1948 after nearby Lubya was captured at the end of Operation Dekel. Its entire population of 320 (1945) fled for unclear reasons. According to Walid Khalidi, "the site and a major part of the lands are surrounded by a fence."[5]

See also
  • List of Arab towns and villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War

References
  1. Palmer, 1881, p. 132
  2. Morris, 2004, p. xvii, village #95, also causes of depopulation, with a "?"
  3. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 72
  4. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 12
  5. Khalidi, 1992, p.535
  6. Murray, 1997, p.165.
  7. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 189. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 535
  8. Note that Rhode, 1979, p. 6 writes that the register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9
  9. Karmon, 1960, p. 166.
  10. Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 361. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 535
  11. Schumacher, 1888, p. 185
  12. Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Tiberias, p. 39
  13. Mills, 1932, p. 84
  14. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 123
  15. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 173

Bibliography
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