Arab al-Samniyya

Arab al-Samniyya عرب السمنية Arab al-Samniya
1870s map 1940s map modern map 1940s with modern overlay map A series of historical maps of the area around Arab al-Samniyya (click the buttons)
Arab al-Samniyya Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 33°02′48″N 35°10′50″E
Palestine grid	165/272
Geopolitical entity	Mandatory Palestine
Subdistrict	Acre
Date of depopulation	31 October 1948
Area
• Total	1,872 dunams (1.872 km^2 or 0.723 sq mi)
Population  (1945)
• Total	200[1][2]
Cause(s) of depopulation	Military assault by Yishuv forces
Current Localities	Ya'ara[3]

Arab al-Samniyya (Arabic: عرب السمنية), also known as Khirbat al-Suwwana, was a Palestinian village in the Western Galilee that was captured and depopulated by Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. It was located in the Acre District of the British Mandate of Palestine, 19.5 km northeast of the city of Acre. In 1945 the, village had a population of 200 Arab and a total land area of 1,872 dunums.

History

The village was situated on a rocky hill near the road linking Ra's al-Naqura with Safad. Its houses were made of stone. A dirt path linked it to the coastal highway and thence to Acre. The villagers cultivated grain, figs, and olives.

In the 1945 statistics it had a population of 200 Muslims,^[1] with 1,872 dunams of land.^[2] Of this, a total of 174 dunams were allocated to grain crops; 22 dunums were irrigated and planted with orchards.^[4][5]

IDF soldiers during Operation Hiram, photographed at Sa'sa', 30 October 1948.

After neighbouring villages were looted and massacred, the 'Oded Brigade captured the village, as part of the Israeli Defense Force offensive Operation Hiram. .  The people of al-Samniyaa were expelled in the weeks following.^[6]

The village was completely destroyed and only building rubble left behind. Following the war the area was incorporated into the State of Israel and the village remained depopulated of its inhabitants. In 1950, the moshav of Ya'ara was established on its land.^[3]

See also

• Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel

References

1. Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 5
2. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 41
3. Khalidi, 1992, p. 6
4. Khalidi, 1992, p. 5
5. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 82
6. Khalidi, Walid, ed. (1992). All that remains: the Palestinian villages occupied and depopulated by Israel in 1948. Washington, D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies. pp. 5–6. ISBN 978-0-88728-224-9.

Bibliography

• Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945. Government of Palestine.
• Hadawi, S. (1970). Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine. Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center.
• Khalidi, W. (1992). All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948. Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies. ISBN 0-88728-224-5.
• Morris, B. (2004). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-00967-6.

External links

• Welcome To 'Arab al-Samniyya
• 'Arab al-Samniyya, Zochrot
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 3: IAA, Wikimedia commons
• Arab Al-Samniyya at Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center