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Kafr Bir'im, also Kefr Berem (, ), was a former village in
Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...
, located in modern-day northern
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, south of the Lebanese border and northwest of
Safed Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. Safed has been identified with (), a fortif ...
. The village was situated above sea level. "The village stood on a rocky hill only a little higher than the surrounding area and faced north and west." In ancient times, it was a
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
village known as Kfar Bar'am. It became culturally Arabized during the Middle Ages. In the early Ottoman era it was wholly Muslim. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was noted as a predominantly Maronite Christian village. A church overlooking it at an elevation of was built on the ruins of an older church destroyed in the earthquake of 1837. In 1945, it had a population of 710 people, most of them Christians. The Palestinian Christian villagers were expelled by Zionist forces during 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. During the war, the British withdrew from Palestine, Zionist forces conquered territory and established the Stat ...
. A few years later, on September 16, 1953 the village was destroyed by the Israeli military in order to prevent the villagers' return and in defiance of an
Israeli Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Israel (, Hebrew acronym Bagatz; ) is the Supreme court, highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction. The Supreme Court consists of 15 jud ...
decision recognizing the villager's right to return to their homes. By 1992, the only standing structure was the church and belltower.


History


Antiquity

The village was originally Kfar Bar'am, a Jewish village which was established in ancient times. The remains of the 3rd-century Kfar Bar'am synagogue on the outskirts of the town are still visible, as is another ruined
synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
in the center of the village. Among the findings here is an
Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...
bronze
amulet An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word , which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects a perso ...
inscribed in Hebrew letters, believed to offer protection to "Yudan, son of Nonna". This artifact was unearthed during excavations led by Aviam in 1998 at the small synagogue near Bar'am.


Middle Ages

A visitor in the thirteenth century described an Arab village containing the remains of two ancient synagogues.


Ottoman period

In 1596, Kafr Bir'im appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the ''
Nahiya A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level divisi ...
'' of ''Jira'', part of Sanjak Safad. It had a population of 114 households and 22 bachelors; all noted as
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
. The villagers paid taxes on wheat, barley, goats and beehives, but most of the taxes were paid as a fixed sum; total revenue was 13,400
akçe The ''akçe'' or ''akça'' (anglicized as ''akche'', ''akcheh'' or ''aqcha''; ; , , in Europe known as '' asper'') was a silver coin mainly known for being the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire. It was also used in other states includi ...
. Kafr Bir'im was badly damaged in the Galilee earthquake of 1837. The local church and a row of columns from the ancient synagogue collapsed. In 1838 it was noted as a
Maronite Maronites (; ) are a Syriac Christianity, Syriac Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant (particularly Lebanon) whose members belong to the Maronite Church. The largest concentration has traditionally re ...
village in the Safad region. In 1852 it was estimated that the village had a population of 160 males, all Maronites and
Melkite The term Melkite (), also written Melchite, refers to various Eastern Christian churches of the Byzantine Rite and their members originating in West Asia. The term comes from the common Central Semitic root ''m-l-k'', meaning "royal", referrin ...
s.Robinson and Smith, 1856, pp
68
71
During the 1860 civil war in Lebanon,
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
s and
Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...
s attacked the Christian village. In 1881, the PEF's '' Survey of Western Palestine'' described the village as being built of stone, surrounded by gardens, olive trees and vineyards, with a population of between 300 and 500. A population list from about 1887 showed ''Kefr Bir’im'' to have about 1,285 inhabitants, all Christian.


British rule

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 divis ...
, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, ''Kufr Berim'' had a population of 469; all
Maronite Maronites (; ) are a Syriac Christianity, Syriac Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant (particularly Lebanon) whose members belong to the Maronite Church. The largest concentration has traditionally re ...
Christians.Barron, 1923, Table XI, p
41
/ref>Barron, 1923, Table XVI, Sub-district of Safad, p
51
/ref> By the 1931 census there were 554 people in the village; 547 Christians and 7 Muslims, in a total of 132 houses.Mills, 1932, p
105
/ref> In the 1945 statistics, Kafr Bir'im had a population of 710, consisting of 10 Muslims and 700 Christians, with 12,250
dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; ; ; ), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area analogous in role (but not equal) to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amo ...
s of land, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 1,101 dunams were irrigated or used for plantations, 3,718 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p
119
/ref> while 96 dunams were classified as urban land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p
169
/ref> The ''Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question'' describes the pre-1948 modern period in Kafr Bir'im thus: "Their houses, made of stone and mud, were built close together. Some of the land was forested. Agriculture, irrigated from the abundant springs, was the primary occupation of the villagers, who were especially active in olive and fruit cultivation." Some villagers assisted European Jews traveling to Palestine by way of Lebanon by distracting British police officers, who were restricting Jewish immigration. The village population in 1948 was estimated as 1,050 inhabitants.


Israeli rule

Kafr Bir'im was captured by the
Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...
on October 31, 1948 during Operation Hiram. In November 1948 most of the Palestinian inhabitants were expelled until the military operation was complete, and none were subsequently permitted to return. Families camped in the orchards outside the village until Bechor Sheetrit ordered them to relocate to nearby
Jish Jish (, ), also known by its Hebrew name of Gush Halab (, ), or by its classical name of Gischala, is a local council in Upper Galilee, located on the northeastern slopes of Mount Meron, north of Safed, in Israel's Northern District. In , it ...
in the homes emptied by the expelled Muslim villagers. Around 250 Bir'imites could not find homes in Jish, many of whom crossed the border to Lebanon. Today the villagers and their descendants number about 2,000 people in Israel. In addition, there are villagers and descendants in Lebanon and in western countries. The majority of the villagers remained in the territory that became the state of Israel. In 1949, with cross-border infiltration a frequent occurrence, Israel did not allow the villagers to return to Bir'im on the grounds that Jewish settlement at the place would deter infiltration. Kibbutz Bar'am was established by demobilized soldiers on the lands of the village. In 1953, the residents of former Kafr Bir'im appealed to the
Supreme Court of Israel The Supreme Court of Israel (, Hebrew acronym Bagatz; ) is the Supreme court, highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction. The Supreme Court consists of 15 jud ...
to return to their village. The court ruled that the authorities must answer to why they were not allowed to return. In September, the court ruled that the villagers should be allowed to return to their homes. However after the court ruling, an Israeli Air Force bombing on September 16, 1953 "levelled" the village and 1,170
hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...
s of land were expropriated by the state. Sabri Jiryis: "Kouetz 307 (27. Aug. 1953): 1419" Villagers recount watching the firebombing of the village from a hill in
Jish Jish (, ), also known by its Hebrew name of Gush Halab (, ), or by its classical name of Gischala, is a local council in Upper Galilee, located on the northeastern slopes of Mount Meron, north of Safed, in Israel's Northern District. In , it ...
they later called "Bir'imites wailing place." Ultimately, the court's decision to allow the Palestinian villagers to return was not enforced. In his book ''Blood Brothers'', Father Elias Chacour, who was a child away at school at the time, records the story of what happened, as told to him by his brothers: The leader of Melkite Greek Catholics in Israel, Archbishop Georgios Hakim, alerted the Vatican and other church authorities, and the Israeli government offered the villagers compensation. Archbishop Hakim accepted compensation for the land belonging to the village church. In the summer of 1972, the villagers of Kafr Bir'im and Iqrit went back to repair their churches and refused to leave. Their action was supported by archbishop Hakim's successor, Archbishop
Joseph Raya Joseph Raya () (15 August 1916 – 10 June 2005) was a Lebanese-born Melkite Catholic prelate who served as Archeparch of Akka from 1968 to 1974. He was also a theologian and civil rights advocate. Raya was particularly known for his commitme ...
. The police removed them by force. The government barred the return of the villagers so as not to create a precedent. In August 1972, a large group of Israeli Jews went to Kafr Bir'im and Iqrit to show solidarity with the villagers. Several thousand turned out for a demonstration in
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
. The Israeli authorities said most of the inhabitants of the village had received compensation for their losses, but the villagers said they had only been compensated for small portions of their holdings. In 1972, the government rescinded all "closed regions" laws in the country, but then reinstated these laws for the two villages Kafr Bir'im and Iqrit. This was met with criticism by the opposition parties. In the 1977 election campaign
Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'', ; (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of both Herut and Likud and the prime minister of Israel. Before the creation of the state of Isra ...
, then leader of the right-wing
Likud Likud (, ), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement (), is a major Right-wing politics, right-wing, political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon in an alliance with several right-wing par ...
party, promised the villagers that they could return home if he was elected. This promise became a great embarrassment to him after he had won, and a decision on the issue was postponed as long as possible. It was left to his agriculture minister to reveal to the public that a special cabinet committee had decided that the villagers of Kafr Bir'im and Iqrit would not be allowed to return. Families displaced from Bir'im to nearby areas return to the village ruins to celebrate holidays and special events at the village church, as well as pick fruit and forage from the remaining gardens. Summer camps (called "roots and belonging") for children of the displaced families began in the 1970's and were held annually from the mid-80's onward, and served as a model for other internally displaced Palestinian communities. On the occasion of official visits to Israel by popes
John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...
in 2000 and
Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, his resignation on 28 Februar ...
in 2009, the villagers made public appeals to the Vatican for help in their endeavour to return to Kafr Bir'im, but have so far remained unsuccessful.


Legacy

The operational name of the Munich massacre of Israeli athletes in 1972 was named after this village and Iqrit. The Palestinian artist Hanna Fuad Farah made memory of Kafr Bir'im a central theme of his work. Priest Elias Chacour, who was expelled from Kafr Bir'im at age 6, wrote of his return to the village ruins by way of Bar'am National Park in his autobiography. Kafr Bir'im is among the demolished Palestinian villages for which commemorative Marches of Return have taken place, such as those organized by the Association for the Defence of the Rights of the Internally Displaced.


See also

* Correcting a Mistake: Jews and Arabs in Palestine/Israel, 1936-1956 * Present absentee * Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel


References


Bibliography

* * * * Chacour, E.: "''Blood Brothers. A Palestinian Struggles for Reconciliation in the Middle East''" with Hazard, David, and Baker III, James A., Secretary (Foreword by) 2nd Expanded ed. 2003. * Dalrymple, W. (1997): '' From the Holy Mountain'', Harper Collins, p.&nbs
268
9
271 275
6
363 365
72. Dalrymple interviewed Sarah Daou from Kafr Bir'im and goes there to find her relatives. * * * pp. 102–103 * * * * Jiryis, S.: ''The Arabs in Israel'' 1st American edition 1976 (updated from the 1966 ed.) With a foreword by
Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a ...
. (First English edition; Beirut, Institute for Palestine Studies, 1968). Chapter 4. * * * Morris, B. and Black, I. (1991): '' Israel's Secret Wars: A History of Israel's Intelligence Services'' (Grove Press, 1991) * * * * * * * * *


External links


Welcome To Kafr Bir'im

Kafr Bir'im
Zochrot *Survey of Western Palestine, Map 4
IAAWikimedia commons
from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center *, from Dr. Moslih Kanaaneh
Kafr Bir’im
Dr. Khalil Rizk. * by Miki Levi (31/7/2004), from Zochrot * by Ronit Sela, Bir'im (6/8/2005) from Zochrot * by Eitan Bronstein, (9.8.2007) from Zochrot {{Authority control District of Safad Arab villages depopulated after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Maronite communities Ancient Jewish settlements of Galilee Forcibly depopulated communities of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict