Kabara, Haifa

Kabara was a Palestinian Arab village in the Haifa Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on April 30, 1948. It was located 30 km southeast of Haifa.

Kabara

كبارة
Village
Etymology: Kebârah, Kebâra, from personal name[1]
1870s map
1940s map
modern map
1940s with modern overlay map
A series of historical maps of the area around Kabara, Haifa (click the buttons)
Kabara
Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 32°32′56″N 34°55′14″E
Palestine grid144/217
Geopolitical entityMandatory Palestine
SubdistrictHaifa
Date of depopulationApril 30, 1948
Population
 (1945)
 • Total120[2][3]
Current LocalitiesMa'ayan Tzvi,[4] Ma'agan Michael,[4][5] Beit Hanania[4]

History

A cave in the vicinity contains artifacts from the Middle Palaeolithic and Natufian periods.[4]

The PEF's Survey of Western Palestine visited in 1873, and noted about Kebarah: "Traces of ruins exist here: a cave, and a tomb with nine kokim, and an ante-chamber and entrance of masonry, with a circular arch of small stones. Near this ruin the wall or dam, built to prevent the spreading north- wards of the marsh surrounding the Zerka, will be found marked on the Sheet, ending in a knoll on the east. The masonry resembles that in the aqueducts at Cæsarea; the stones vary in length, averaging about 2 feet, and are set in cement. The wall is about 4 feet thick, with two rows of ashlar, and thoroughbonds, being built in alternate headers and stretchers. The core of the wall is of rubble."[6]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Kabara had a population of 73 Muslims.[7] In the 1931 census it was counted with Jisr az-Zarqa, together they had a population of 572 Muslims, in a total of 117 houses.[8]

In 1938 the kibbutz of Ma'ayan Tzvi was established on what traditionally had been village land.[4]

In the 1945 statistics it had a population of 120 Muslims,[2] with a total of 9,831 dunams of which Muslims owned 1,070, Jews 3,487 and 5,247 was public land.[3] Of the land, Arabs used 2 dunams for citrus and bananas, 20 for plantations and irrigable land, 1,001 dunums (247 acres) for cereals,[9] while a total of 2,437 dunams was classified as non-cultivable land.[10]

1948 and aftermath

According to Walid Khalidi no information is given about how the village became depopulated, but he assumes it was during the second campaign to "clear" the coastal areas of Arabs, that is, in late April, or early May, 1948.[4] Following the war, the area was incorporated into the State of Israel; Ma'agan Michael was established in 1949 and Beit Hanania in 1950, both on village land.[4]

In 1992 the village site was described: "The rubble from the village houses has been moved up the slope where it is now visible, covered with dirt. Cactuses and banana trees, as well as isolated fig, carob, and olive trees grow on the site."[4]

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References
  1. Palmer, 1881, p. 140
  2. Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 14
  3. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 48
  4. Khalidi, 1992, p. 168
  5. Morris, 2004, p. xxii, settlement #128
  6. Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 29
  7. Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Haifa, p. 34
  8. Mills, 1932, p. 92
  9. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 90
  10. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 140

Bibliography
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