Kirad al-Baqqara ( ar, كراد البقارة) was a

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

village in the Safad Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the

1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine The 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine was the first phase of the 1947–1949 Palestine war. It broke out after the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a resolution on 29 November 1947 recommending the adoption of the Pa ...

on April 22, 1948, by the Palmach's First Battalion of

Operation Yiftach Operation Yiftach ( he, מבצע יפתח, ''Mivtza Yiftah'') was a Palmach offensive carried out between 28 April and 23 May 1948. The objectives were to capture Safed and to secure the eastern Galilee before the British Mandate ended on 14 May ...

. It was located 11 km northwest of

Safad Safed (known in Hebrew as Tzfat; Sephardic Hebrew & Modern Hebrew: צְפַת ''Tsfat'', Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Tzfas'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Ṣǝp̄aṯ''; ar, صفد, ''Ṣafad''), is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevat ...

and Wadi Mushayrifa ran between the two Kirad villages (al-Ghannama and al-Baqqara).

History

British Mandate era

In the British Mandate period, in the 1931 census Arab al-Baqqara had a population of 245 Muslims, in 34 houses.Mills, 1932, p
105
/ref> By the 1945 statistics the population was 360 Muslims, with a total of 2,262 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, a total of 1,961 dunums were used for cereals; 60 dunums were irrigated or used for plantations, while a 120 dunams were non-cultivable area.

1948, aftermath

In April 1948, large part of the population left the village after full-scale hostilities broke out. After the

1948 Palestine war The 1948 Palestine war was fought in the territory of what had been, at the start of the war, British-ruled Mandatory Palestine. It is known in Israel as the War of Independence ( he, מלחמת העצמאות, ''Milkhemet Ha'Atzma'ut'') and ...

, according to the armistice agreements of 1949 Between Israel and Syria, it was determined that a string of villages, including

Al-Nuqayb Al-Nuqayb was a Palestinian Arab village in the Tiberias Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War on May 15, 1948. It was located 10 km east across the lake from Tiberias. bordering the Wadi al-Muzaffar and Wadi Sama ...

Al-Hamma,

Al-Samra Al-Samra ( ar, السمرا) was a Palestinian Arab village in the Tiberias Subdistrict. It was depopulated on April 21, 1948, during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine. It was located 10 km southeast of Tiberias. History The ...

in the Tiberias Subdistrict and Kirad al-Baqqara and

Kirad al-Ghannama Kirad al-Ghannama was a Palestinian Arab village in the Safad Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on April 22, 1948, by the Palmach's First Battalion of Operation Yiftach. It was located 11&nbs ...

further north in Safad Subdistrict, would be included the

demilitarized zone A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between nations, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or bounda ...

(DMZ) between Israel and

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. The villagers and their property were formally protected by Article V of the Israeli-Syrian agreement of 20 July that year. However, Israel thought the villagers could pose a security threat, and Israeli settlers and settlement agencies coveted the land. Israel therefore wanted the

inhabitants, a total of 2,200 villagers, moved to Syria.Morris, 2004, p.512 In the spring of 1951, Israel decided to assert its sovereignty over the DMZ, including "the transfer of Arab civilians from the area.." On the night of the 30 March they forcibly transferred all the 800 inhabitants of

and Kirad al-Baqqara to Sha'ab.Morris, 1993, p.362 A

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

decision allowed the villagers to return, however, Israel pressured them to remain in Sha'ab. In spite of this, many of the villagers returned to their homes in the DMZ. In 1956 Israel expelled the two Khirad-villages again, and this time the sites were physically destroyed and ploughed over. Most of the villagers went to Syria, a few went back to Sha'ab.Morris, 1993, p.362, citing Burns, E.L.M., pp.115-118, and Summary of meeting with Prime Minister (of Israel) 4 July 1951.

References

Bibliography

* (p.115-18. Cited in Morris, 1993, p. 362) * * * * * * (pp
132539

External links

Kirad al-Baqqara

Zochrot Zochrot ( he, זוכרות; "Remembering"; ar, ذاكرات; "Memories") is an Israeli nonprofit organization founded in 2002. Based in Tel Aviv, its aim is to promote awareness of the Palestinian ''Nakba'' ("Catastrophe"), including the 1948 Pa ...

Kirad al-Baqqara
at

Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center () is a leading Palestinian arts and culture organization that aims to create a pluralistic, critical liberating culture through research, query, and participation, and that provides an open space for the community ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirad Al-Baqqara Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War District of Safad