Qabba'a

Qabba'a was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Safad. It was depopulated during the 1948 War on May 26, 1948, by the Palmach's First Battalion of Operation Yiftach. It was located 6 km northeast of Safad.

History

In 1596 the village appeared under the name of ''Qabba'a'' in the Ottoman tax registers as part of the ''nahiya'' (subdistrict) of ''Jira'', part of Safad Sanjak. It had an all Muslim population, consisting of 11 households and 2 bachelors, an estimated 99 persons. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 20 % on agricultural products, including as wheat, barley, olive trees, vineyards, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues; totalling 2,280 akçe.Khalidi, 1992, p. 483

The village appeared under the name of ''Koubaa'' on the map that Pierre Jacotin compiled during Napoleon's invasion of 1799.

In 1838 ''el-Kuba'ah'' was noted as a Muslim village, located in the ''el-Khait'' district.Robinson and Smith, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p
136
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In 1875 Victor Guérin found the village to have 120 Muslim inhabitants.

In 1881 the PEF's ''Survey of Western Palestine'' described as ''Kabbaah'': "A masonry village, with a few caves to the south contains about 150 Moslems; situated on a ridge, with olives and arable land. Water from ''birket'' and good springs".

A population list from about 1887 showed ''Kaba'ah'' to have about 385 Muslim inhabitants.

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, ''Qaba'a'' had a population of 179 Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Safad, p
41
/ref> increasing in the 1931 census when Kabba' had 256 Muslim inhabitants, in a total of 44 houses.Mills, 1932, p
107
/ref>

In the 1945 statistics it had a population of 460 Muslims with a total land area of 13,817 dunums. Of this, 379 dunums was plantations and irrigable land, 7,966 were for cereals, while 66 dunams were built-up (urban) land.

1948, aftermath

On 2 May 1948, Yigal Allon with Haganah launched an operation, conquering ‘Ein al Zeitun and Biriyya, and intimidating with mortar barrages the villages of Fir’im, Qabba‘a and Mughr al Kheit, leading to a mass evacuation. Qabba'a finally became depopulated on May 26, 1948, after a military assault by Israeli forces.Morris, 2004, p.
251
note # 711 on p
303
/ref>

In 1953, Hatzor HaGlilit was founded 3 km south of the village site, but not on village land.

In 1992 the village site was described: "The stone debris of destroyed houses covers the site, where shrubs, grass, cactuses, and fig and pine trees grow. Most of the surrounding land are cultivated by Israeli farmers, but some are wooded and others are used as pasture."

References

Bibliography

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External links

Welcome To Qabba'a Qabba'a
Zochrot
Qabba’a
Dr. Khalil Rizk
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 4
IAAWikimedia commons

{{Palestinian Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War

Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War
District of Safad