Al-Zuq al-Fawqani

Al-Zuq al-Fawqani was a Palestinian Arab village in the Safad Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War on May 21, 1948, by the Palmach's First Battalion of Operation Yiftach. It was located 32 km northeast of Safad.

Al-Zuq al-Fawqani

Zuq al-Hajj
Village
Etymology: Kh. Zûk el Hâj, the pilgrim’s town or village. Zak is a local Syriac word[1]
1870s map
1940s map
modern map
1940s with modern overlay map
A series of historical maps of the area around Al-Zuq al-Fawqani (click the buttons)
Al-Zuq al-Fawqani
Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 33°14′37″N 35°35′30″E
Palestine grid205/294
Geopolitical entityMandatory Palestine
SubdistrictSafad
Date of depopulationMay 21, 1948[2]
Area
 • Total1,832 dunams (1.832 km2 or 453 acres)
Population
 (1945)
 • Total160[3]
Cause(s) of depopulationWhispering campaign
Secondary causeMilitary assault by Yishuv forces
Current LocalitiesYuval

History

Archeological excavations has showed that Al-Zuq al-Fawqani was populated in the late Mamluk era.[4]

Ottoman era

Archeological excavations showed that a large hall, with several courtyards was constructed, probably a Khan. Damages indicate that it was destroyed in an earthquake.[4] Pottery from Rashaya el-Fukhar was also found.[4]

In 1875, Victor Guérin noted a large ruined village called Kharbet Khan ez-Zouk el-Fôkani. It was bordered in the west by Wadi Derdara, which was crossed on a small bridge, and had a water mill. There were many destroyed houses everywhere: they had been built with calcareous or basaltic stones, of different sizes and more or less well cut. Cisterns and presses attested an ancient origin. On the highest point of the village a house was still standing, which was of much more recent date.[5]

In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine noted at Kh. Zuk el Haj "Foundations of walls buit with basaltic masonry."[6]

British Mandate era

In the 1945 statistics it had a population of 160,[3] with a total of 1,832 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[7][8] Of this, 503 dunums were for used for plantations and irrigable land, 1,286 were used for cereals;[9] while a total of 43 dunams were classified as uncultivable.[10]

1948, and aftermath

Al-Zuq al-Fawqani first became depopulated on May 21, 1948, after a whispering campaign.[2][11] In late May, many villagers returned, mainly to harvest the crops. The Haganah then started to systematically burn the villages in the area.[12]

In 1992 the village site was described: "The stones of destroyed homes are strewn across the site, which is overgrown with grass, thorns, and a few cactus plants. The nearby settlement of Yuval cultivates part of the surrounding land, and uses the rest as forests and grazing grounds."[3]

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References
  1. Palmer, 1881, p. 28
  2. Morris, 2004, p. xvi, village #2. Also gives causes of depopulation.
  3. Khalidi, 1992, p. 509
  4. Hartal, 2008, Zuq el-Fauqani
  5. Guérin, 1880, pp. 351, 533
  6. Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 123
  7. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 11
  8. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 71 Archived 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine
  9. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 121 Archived 2018-09-26 at the Wayback Machine
  10. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 171 Archived 2018-09-26 at the Wayback Machine
  11. Morris, 2004, p. 251, notes #704-707, p. 303
  12. Morris, 2004, p. 252, notes #712-713, p. 303

Bibliography
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