![SevenShiaVillages](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/SevenShiaVillages.png)
From 1923 to 1948, there were seven villages in
Mandatory Palestine
Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...
for which the population was predominantly
Shia Muslim
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...
(of
Metawali
Lebanese Shia Muslims ( ar, المسلمون الشيعة اللبنانيين), historically known as ''matāwila'' ( ar, متاولة, plural of ''mutawālin'' ebanese pronounced as ''metouali'' refers to Lebanese people who are adherents ...
creed). They were
Tarbikha
Tarbikha ( ar, تربيخا), was a Palestinian Arab village. It was located northeast of Acre in the British Mandate District of Acre that was captured and depopulated by the Israel Defense Forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The inha ...
,
Saliha
Saliha ( ar, صَلْحَة), sometimes transliterated Salha, meaning 'the good/healthy place', was a Palestinian Arab village located 12 kilometres northwest of Safed.
The Franco-British boundary agreement of 1920 placed Saliha within the Fr ...
,
Malkiyeh,
Nabi Yusha
Al-Nabi Yusha' ( ar, النبي يوشع was a small Palestinian village in the Galilee situated 17 kilometers to the northeast of Safad, with an elevation of 375 meters above sea level. It became part of the Palestine Mandate under British co ...
,
Qadas
Qadas (also Cadasa; ar, قدس) was a Palestinian village located 17 kilometers northeast of Safad that was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. One of seven Shia Muslim villages, called ''Metawalis'', that fell within the boundaries of ...
,
Hunin
Hunin ( ar, هونين) was a Palestinian Arab village in the Galilee Panhandle part of Mandatory Palestine close to the Lebanese border. It was the second largest village in the district of Safed, but was depopulated in 1948.Gelber, 2006, p. ...
, and
Abil al-Qamh. These villages were transferred from the French to the British sphere as a result of the border agreement of 1923. All of them were depopulated during the
1948 Arab-Israeli War
Events January
* January 1
** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated.
** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect.
** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...
and their former locations are now in northern
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
.
History
At the end of World War I, the British and French governments held most of the
Levant
The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is eq ...
under military occupation, with Britain controlling Palestine apart from the northernmost parts, and France controlling Syria and Lebanon. These were administered under the military
Occupied Enemy Territorial Administrations (OETA). After the 1919
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
prescribed the division of the region into
mandates, it was decided at the
San Remo conference
The San Remo conference was an international meeting of the post-World War I Allied Supreme Council as an outgrowth of the Paris Peace Conference, held at Villa Devachan in Sanremo, Italy, from 19 to 26 April 1920. The San Remo Resolution pas ...
of May 1920 that Britain would have the
Mandate for Palestine
The Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate for British administration of the territories of Palestine and Transjordan, both of which had been conceded by the Ottoman Empire following the end of World War I in 1918. The manda ...
while France would have the
Mandate for Syria and Lebanon
The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon (french: Mandat pour la Syrie et le Liban; ar, الانتداب الفرنسي على سوريا ولبنان, al-intidāb al-fransi 'ala suriya wa-lubnān) (1923−1946) was a League of Nations mandate foun ...
.
In September 1920, the first French high commissioner General
Henri Gouraud, announced the birth of the state of
Greater Lebanon
The State of Greater Lebanon ( ar, دولة لبنان الكبير, Dawlat Lubnān al-Kabīr; french: État du Grand Liban), informally known as French Lebanon, was a state declared on 1 September 1920, which became the Lebanese Republic ( ar, ...
. On 23 December, the British and French signed an
agreement Agreement may refer to:
Agreements between people and organizations
* Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law
* Trade agreement, between countries
* Consensus, a decision-making process
* Contract, enforceable in a court of law
** Meeting o ...
that broadly defined the boundary between their respective spheres.
[ The agreement also established the Paulet-Newcombe commission to determine the precise boundary, with wide powers to recommend adjustments.][ In 1921, before the commission had reported, France conducted a census which covered the seven villages and granted Lebanese citizenship to their residents.][ None of the villages were listed in the ]1922 census of Palestine
The 1922 census of Palestine was the first census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine, on 23 October 1922.
The reported population was 757,182, including the military and persons of foreign nationality. The divisi ...
. However, the commission decided on border adjustments which placed the villages on the Palestinian side of the border, along with more than a dozen other villages.[ The new boundary was agreed in a treaty of September 1923.][ The citizenship of the residents was not changed to Palestinian until 1926.]
The 1931 census counted 4,100 Metawalis in Palestine. Abil al-Qamh was about half Shia and half Greek Christian, while the other six were mostly Shia.[
During the ]1948 Arab-Israeli War
Events January
* January 1
** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated.
** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect.
** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...
, all of the villages were depopulated.[ Their residents mostly fled as refugees to Lebanon, though some remained in Israel as ]internally displaced persons
An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee.
...
.[ Israeli communities partly or completely on the lands of the former villages include Yuval, ]Shomera
Shomera ( he, שׁוֹמֵרָה, ''lit.'' Guard) is a moshav in northern Israel. Located near the Lebanese border, it falls under the jurisdiction of Ma'ale Yosef Regional Council. In it had a population of .
History
The moshav was established ...
, Zar'it, Shtula, Margaliot
Margaliot ( he, מַרְגָּלִיּוֹת; ar, هونين) is a moshav in northern Israel. Located along the border with Lebanon in the Upper Galilee, near the town of Kiryat Shmona, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mevo'ot HaHermon Regional ...
, Ramot Naftali
Ramot Naftali ( he, רָמוֹת נַפְתָּלִי) is a moshav in northern Israel. Located in the Upper Galilee near the Lebanese border, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mevo'ot HaHermon Regional Council. In it had a population of .
The ...
, Yir'on
Yir'on ( he, יִרְאוֹן) is a kibbutz in the Galilee Panhandle in northern Israel. Located adjacent to the Lebanese border, it falls under the jurisdiction of Upper Galilee Regional Council. In it had a population of .
History
The villa ...
, Yiftah
Yiftah ( he, יִפְתָּח, lit. ''He will open'') is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located near the Lebanese border and Kiryat Shmona, it falls under the jurisdiction of Upper Galilee Regional Council. In it had a population of .
Histor ...
, and Malkia
Malkia ( he, מַלְכִּיָּה) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located near the Lebanese border and Kiryat Shmona, it falls under the jurisdiction of Upper Galilee Regional Council. In it had a population of .
History
The village was es ...
.
In 1994, the refugees from the seven villages, who had been classified as Palestinian refugee
Palestinian refugees are citizens of Mandatory Palestine, and their descendants, who fled or were expelled from their country over the course of the 1947–49 Palestine war ( 1948 Palestinian exodus) and the Six-Day War ( 1967 Palestinian exo ...
s since 1948, were granted Lebanese citizenship. Some factions in the Lebanese government, Hezbollah
Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...
in particular, have called for the seven villages to be "returned to Lebanon".
See also
* Lebanese nationality law
Lebanese nationality law governs the acquisition, transmission and loss of Lebanese citizenship. Lebanese citizenship is the status of being a citizen of Lebanon and it can be obtained by birth or naturalisation. Lebanese nationality is transmitt ...
*Paulet–Newcombe Agreement
The Paulet–Newcombe Agreement or Paulet-Newcombe Line, was a 1923 agreement between the British and French governments regarding the position and nature of the boundary between the Mandates of Palestine and Iraq, attributed to Great Britain, a ...
*Shebaa farms
The Shebaa Farms, also spelled Sheba'a Farms ( ar, مزارع شبعا, '; he, חוות שבעא, ''Havot Sheba‘a'' or הר דוב, ''Har Dov''), are a small strip of land at the intersection of the Lebanese-Syrian border and the Israeli-oc ...
*Upper Galilee
The Upper Galilee ( he, הגליל העליון, ''HaGalil Ha'Elyon''; ar, الجليل الأعلى, ''Al Jaleel Al A'alaa'') is a geographical-political term in use since the end of the Second Temple period. It originally referred to a mountai ...
*Good Fence
The Good Fence (, romanized: ''HaGader HaTova,'' , romanized: ''Alsiyaj Aljayid'') was a term that referred to Israel's mountainous 80-mile northern border with Lebanon during the period following the 1978 South Lebanon conflict (during Lebanese ...
References
{{reflist
Geography of Northern District (Israel)
Shia Muslim communities
Israel–Lebanon border
Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War