Al-Khisas (Arabic: الخصاص), also known as Khisas or Khissas, was a Palestinian Arab village in the Safad Subdistrict in Mandatory Palestine. It was located 31 kilometers (19 mi) northeast of Safed on a natural terrace about 100 meters (330 ft) wide that formed when Lake al-Hula receded. To the west of the village was a valley known as Wadi al-Hasibani through which ran the Hasbani River.[3]
The Arab geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi described al-Khisas as falling within the administrative jurisdiction of Banias in Syria.[4]
Ottoman era
Evidence of the long history of habitation in the village includes the nearby shrine of a local sage known as al-Shaykh 'Ali and the presence of rock-hewn tombs.[3] Under the Ottoman Empire, al-Khisas was administered as part of a sanjak in the vilayet of Damascus, and was later redesignated a part the vilayet of Sidon (renamed the vilayet of Beirut).[4]
British Mandate
In 1917, al-Khisas lay north of the Sykes Picot line, a straight line between the midpoint of the Sea of Galilee and Nahariya in the area to be incorporated under a French sphere of influence. The Syria-Lebanon-Palestine boundary was a product of the post-World War I Anglo-French partition of Ottoman Syria.[5][6] British forces had advanced to a position at Tel Hazor against Turkish troops in 1918 and wished to incorporate all the sources of the river Jordan within the boundaries of British controlled Palestine. Due to the French inability to establish administrative control, the frontier between Syria and Palestine became 'fluid'.[7] The international boundary between Palestine and Syria was finally set by joint agreement between Great Britain and France in 1923 in conjunction with the Treaty of Lausanne, after Britain had been given a League of NationsMandate for Palestine in 1922; thus, al-Khisas came under British jurisdiction.[8]
Al-Khisas had been selected, along with Al-Na'ima and Jahula, by the Palmach as a target for a Haganah operation which was then cancelled before it was undertaken. Leaflets was distributed in villages on Palestine's border that warned the population not to engage in combat:
"If the war will be taken to your place, it will cause massive expulsion of the villagers, with their wives and their children. Those of you who do not wish to come to such a fate, I will tell them: in this war there will be merciless killing, no compassion. If you are not participating in this war, you will not have to leave your houses and villages."[12]
On the night of 18–19 December 1947, the Palmach conducted a massacre in al-Khisas with orders calling for "hitting adult [or the adult] males" and "killing adult [or the adult] males in the palace of the Emir Faur", which was thought to hide a man responsible for shooting a resident of kibbutz Ma'ayan Baruch in revenge for the shooting of a Palestinian a few days earlier.[13] They blew up Faur's house and a neighbouring house, killing many occupants including women and children.[13] The number of villagers killed is estimated at 10-15, including 5 children.[14][15] Following the attack a large number of al-Khisas' residents fled their homes, becoming a part of the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight.[16]
Local Jewish leaders and Arab affairs experts had tried to prevent the attack, but had been overridden by Yigal Allon.[13] Afterwards the Political Department of the Jewish Agency criticized the attack and Yosef Sapir of the Defence Committee called for the punishment of those responsible, but no action was taken.[13]David Ben-Gurion issued a denial that the raid had been authorised and issued a public apology, but it was later included by him in a list of successful operations.[17] The Yishuv held a meeting on 1–2 January to discuss the policy of reprisal operations, the outcome of which was a formulation of guidelines by the Jewish High Command for the conduct and execution of retaliatory raids.[18]
Depopulation and destruction
The first wave of villagers left al-Khisas after the 18 December 1947 attack, forming a part of the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight. Although an estimated 50-55 villagers remained in their homes and maintained good relations with neighboring Jewish settlements, they were eventually evicted on the night of 5–6 June 1949 as part of the 1949–1956 Palestinian expulsions.[19][20] The villagers were forced into trucks and transported to the village of 'Akbara, south of Safad.[21] Those expelled remained at 'Akbara for 18 years until agreeing to resettlement in Wadi Hamam.
Resettlement
Former manor house of Emir Faour of Al-Khisas, now a hotel in kibbutz HaGoshrim.
On September 26, 1948, kibbutz HaGoshrim was established a few hundred meters south of the village, on the village's lands.[19][22] The kibbutz opened a hotel in the manor house of Emir Faour.[19]
^ abGovernment of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 70Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine
^Morris, 2004, p. xvi, village #5. Also gives causes of depopulation.
^Exchange of NotesArchived 2008-09-09 at the Wayback Machine Constituting an Agreement respecting the boundary line between Syria and Palestine from the Mediterranean to El Hammé. Paris, March 7, 1923.
^Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 119Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine
^Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 169Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine
^Pappé, 2007, pp. 56-57
Threatening leaflets were distributed in Syrian and Lebanese villages on Palestine's border, warning the population:
"If the war will be taken to your place, it will cause massive expulsion of the villagers, with their wives and their children. Those of you who do not wish to come to such a fate, I will tell them: in this war there will be merciless killing, no compassion. If you are not participating in this war, you will not have to leave your houses and villages."
Thereafter, a number of destructive operations were undertaken in select areas throughout rural and urban Palestine. Actions in the countryside were at first hesitant. Three villages in the upper eastern Galilee were selected - Khisas, Na'ima and Jahula - but the operation was cancelled, perhaps because the High Command deemed it as yet too ambitious. The cancellation, however, was partially ignored by the commander of the Palmach in the North, Yigal Allon. Allon wanted to experience an attack on at least one village, and decided to assault al-Khisas.
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