Khirbat Zalafa ( ar, خربة زلفة) was a small

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

village in the

Tulkarm Subdistrict The Tulkarm Subdistrict was one of the subdistricts of Mandatory Palestine. It was located around the city of Tulkarm. After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the subdistrict disintegrated, the western part became part of the Central District of Israel ...

, located about northwest of

Tulkarm Tulkarm, Tulkarem or Tull Keram ( ar, طولكرم, ''Ṭūlkarm'') is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located in the Tulkarm Governorate of the State of Palestine. The Israeli city of Netanya is to the west, and the Palestinian cities o ...

. It was depopulated during the 1948 Palestine war. It was occupied by

Yishuv Yishuv ( he, ישוב, literally "settlement"), Ha-Yishuv ( he, הישוב, ''the Yishuv''), or Ha-Yishuv Ha-Ivri ( he, הישוב העברי, ''the Hebrew Yishuv''), is the body of Jewish residents in the Land of Israel (corresponding to the ...

forces on April 15, 1948 as a part of operation "Coastal Clearing."

History

Remains from a settlement dating to the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

era have been found here. In the modern era, the people of Khirbat Zalafa came from

Attil Attil ( ar, عتيل) is a Palestinian town in the Tulkarm Governorate in the eastern West Bank, northeast of Tulkarm. Attil is the connection point between the other villages and Tulkarm. It is bordered by Illar to the east; Baqa ash-Sharqiy ...

to farm the village land. Gradually they settled in the village so they could be closer to their land. In the late 19th century, Khirbat Zalafa was described as a small

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

with springs to the south.Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p
153
Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 568

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine there were 63 villagers, all Muslim. At the time of the 1931 census, the village was counted under

, together with Jalama and Al-Manshiyya.Mills, 1932, p
53
/ref> The village had a small core of houses, with many dwellings scattered throughout on the agricultural lands. The agriculture was based on watermelons, vegetables, grain and olives. By the 1944/45 statistics the village had 210 Muslims, while jurisdiction was 7,713 dunams, of which 6,865 was Arab owned, 617 was Jewish owned, while 231 was publicly owned. Of this, 6,798 dunums were allotted to cereals, 38 dunum was devoted to citrus and bananas ad 6 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards. while 3 dunams were classified as built-up, urban land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945''. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p.
176
/ref> Zalafa 1942

1948 and after

The Palestinian historian

Walid Khalidi Walid Khalidi ( ar, وليد خالدي, born 1925 in Jerusalem) is an Oxford University-educated Palestinian historian who has written extensively on the Palestinian exodus. He is a co-founder of the Institute for Palestine Studies, establish ...

described the village in 1992: "The village has been completely levelled. Both the original site and the surrounding lands are covered with Israeli citrus orchards."Khalidi, 1992, p. 568 There are no Israeli settlements on village land.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * (p
245
#635 on p.
298
an
The migratory movement...
pp. 21, 23) * *

External links and references

Khirbat Zalafa

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 ...

*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 11:
IAAWikimedia commons
from the

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 ...

{{Palestinian Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War Arab villages depopulated prior to the 1948 Arab–Israeli War District of Tulkarm