Product Code Database
Al-Khalisa was a Palestinian Arab village situated on a low hill on the northwestern edge of the Hula Valley of over 1,800 located north of Safad. It was depopulated in the 1948 Palestine war.
In 1875, Victor Guérin traveled in the region, and noted about Al-Khalisa (which he called Khalsah): "At the bottom and west of this tell, is a small village of very recent foundation, called Khalsah; it was built on the site and partly with the materials of another older one. The gardens that surround it are watered by the waters of l'A'ïn Dahab."Guérin, 1880, p. 353: "Au bas et à l'ouest de ce tell, est un petit village de fondation toute récente, appelé Khalsah; il a été bâti sur l'emplacement et en partie avec les matériaux d'un autre plus ancien. Les jardins qui l'entourent sont arrosés par les eaux de l'A'ïn Dahab." In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described al-Khalisa as a village built of stone, surrounded by streams, with a population of 50.Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 88; cited in Khalidi, 1992, p.463.
The leader of 'Arab al-Ghawarina clan was Sheikh Kamal Hussein al-Youssef, Jews and Arabs Together against the Nazis, Aish HaTorah resident of Al-Khalisa, his forefathers controlled the Hula Valley from the 17th century.Noa Shpigel:
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> The Screw-up That Led to Joseph Trumpeldor's Death, Haaretz, 30 May 2015 According to Meron Benvenisti, he led the raid on Tel Hai in 1920 while searching for Frenchmen. In the years preceding 1948, Sheikh Kamal established close relationships with the Jewish settlers, contributed to the establishment of Jewish settlements in the Hula Valley by helping them buy land, selling land to the Jewish National Fund,Amaya Galili: “And what would your grandfather say?”, Zochrot, April 2012 maintain peace and security, particularly during the 1936-9 revolt. He also joined the British during World War II to help defeat the Nazis from the French Vichy France in Syria. But, according to Benvenisti, the veterans of Kfar Giladi did not forget or forgive, and cultivated Sheikh Kamal's enemy Al-Khisas.Benvenisti, 2000, p. 127 In March 1949, after the Nakba, Sheikh Kamal reported on the Palestinians refugee’s state of mind: “All the refugees in Lebanon want to return. None of them have settled down; they’re not allowed to work, particularly not agricultural work. The Red Cross organization in Lebanon which is staffed entirely by Lebanese officials is stealing all it can; very little reaches the refugees.” Sheikh Kamal Hussein al-Youssef was murdered in 1949 by a Syrian intelligence agent.
In the 1931 census of Palestine, the population of El Khalisa was 1,369; 1,340 Muslims, 3 Jews and 26 Christians, in a total of 259 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 107
In the 1945 statistics, its population was 1,840, of which 20 were Christians, and the total land area were 11,280 dunams.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 70 Of this, 5,586 dunams were irrigated or used for plantations, 3,775 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 119 while 20 dunams were classified as urban land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 169
According to Walid Khalidi, 1992, "stone rubble from the houses markes the site. The school and the Mandate government´s office buildings stand abandoned, as does the village mosque and minaret. The level land surrounding the site is cultivated by settlement of Qirat Shemona, while the mountainous areas are either used as pastures or are wooded."
According to Meron Benvenisti, 2000, "the mosque of al-Khalsa, one of the few structures that remain of that Galilee Arab village, is situated in a municipal park in the older section of the Jewish town of Kiryat Shemona. It serves as the local museum dedicated to the memory of townspeople who have fallen in Israel's various wars."Benvenisti, 2000, p. 291
1948, and after
The residents of al-Khalisa fled their homes on 11 May 1948 following the rejection of approaches made by them to the Haganah asking for an "agreement".Morris, 2004, p. 251 According to Yigal Allon, the commander of Operation Yiftach, the villagers left following his Whispering Campaign. This involved instructing the leaders of Jewish villages in the area to warn their neighbours that "a great Jewish reinforcement has arrived in Galilee and that it is going to burn all the villages of the Huleh." Post-war IDF analysis seems to undermine this claim. Allon himself writes that the fall of Safad and the success of Operation Matateh were also reasons for the villagers departure. He describes them as some of "the tens of thousands of sulky Arabs who remained in Galilee." He also states that "The building of the police station at Halsa (al-Khalisa) fell into our hands without a shot."Chapman, 1983, p.73 quoting the "Book of the Palmach"Morris, 1987, p.123
The village's residents stated that after they fled, only the local militia remained, but withdrew after shelling from the town of Manara and after seeing an armored unit approaching al-Khalisa.Morris, 1987, pp. 120-124 and Nazzal, 1978, pp. 46-48; cited in Khalidi, 1992, p.463. Former villagers, interviewed in Tel al-Zaatar camp in Lebanon in 1973, recounted that when they returned to the village;
We found that the had burned and destroyed the houses belonging to Ali Zakayan, Abu Ali Muhammad Hamadih, Mustafa al-Haj Yusif, Issa Muhammad, Ali Salih Ahmad, Muhammad Arab al-Haj Mahmud, Salih Ismail, Sari al-Khadir, Dawud Hussein, Abdul-Raziq Hamid, Qassim Muhammead al-Salih and Ali Hussein Mahmud ... The village was in ruins.Nazzal, 1978, pp. 47-48.
See also
Bibliography
(1977). 9783920405414, Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. . ISBN 9783920405414
External links
|
|
