Alma, Safad

Alma علما
Etymology: from personal name [1]
1870s map 1940s map modern map 1940s with modern overlay map A series of historical maps of the area around Alma, Safad (click the buttons)
Alma Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 33°3′20″N35°29′28″E / 33.05556°N 35.49111°E / 33.05556; 35.49111
Palestine grid	196/273
Geopolitical entity	Mandatory Palestine
Subdistrict	Safad
Date of depopulation	October 30, 1948 [2]
Area [3]
• Total	19,498  dunams (19.498 km2 or 7.528 sq mi)
Population  (1945)
• Total	950 [3] [4]
Cause(s) of depopulation	Military assault by Yishuv forces
Current Localities	Alma [5]

Alma (Arabic : علما) was a Palestinian Arab village in the Safad Subdistrict, Mandatory Palestine. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War on October 30, 1948, during Operation Hiram. It was located 10 km north of Safad.

Alma was located in Galilee about 4 km south of the Lebanese border. ^[6] In 1945 it had a population of 950. ^[6]

History

Ceramics from the Byzantine era have been found here. ^[7] Alma had several nearby khirbas, and fragments of inscriptions from an ancient synagogue were found at the site of the village in the 20th century. ^[6] Remains of a ruined watch-tower was found on the crest of the ridge, and a quarter of a mile south of those there were three perfect dolmens, not very large. ^[8]

Two inscriptions discovered in 'Alma indicate the presence of an ancient Jewish synagogue at the site. ^[9] One inscription was discovered on a lintel fragment featuring a bilingual Hebrew and Aramaic inscription, with its right half repurposed. It conveys a blessing of peace for the location and the people of Israel, along with a dedication by the artisan. ^{[lower-alpha 1] [9]} The dating corresponds with that of the Bar'am synagogues, and the unusual first-person usage, similar to Jerusalem epitaphs, acknowledges Levi as both a name and title. Additionally, a second inscription—a two-line Aramaic inscription ^{[lower-alpha 2]} —was found in secondary use in the modern synagogue of 'Alma. ^[9]

Crusader period

The Crusaders called the village "Alme"; it remained under their rule until 1187. ^[10] While travelling though the region in the 12th century, Benjamin of Tudela noted that Alma contained fifty Jewish inhabitants and a "large cemetery of the Israelites", where several sages mentioned in the Mishnah and Talmud were buried. ^[11]

An anonymous Hebrew manuscript of the period mentions that the village's inhabitants were Jews and Muslims, and the lord apparently Frankish. The narrative tells that on every Shabbat Eve, Jews and Muslims light candles on the tomb of Rabbi Eleazar ben Arach, a tanna and a local tzadik (righteous man), and mentions a nearby miracle-working tree. ^[10]

Ottoman era

At the beginning of the period of Ottoman rule over Palestine, Moshe Basola passed through Alma during 1521-1523. He noted that there were 15 Jewish families and one synagogue there, ^[12] though no Jews are listed in the early Ottoman tax registers. Rhode hypothesize that Basola have counted some Jews who went back and forth between Alma and Safad, and were listed/taxed there. ^[13]

In the Ottoman tax registers of 1596, the village is listed as forming part of the nahiya ("subdistrict") of Jira in the liwa' ("district") of Safad. ^[14] It had a relatively large population of 1,440, ^[15] consisting of 288 Muslim households and 140 Muslim bachelors, together with seven Jewish households and one Jewish bachelor. The village paid taxes on goats, beehives, a water-powered mill, and a press that was used for processing olives or grapes. ^{[14] [16]} Total tax revenue amounted to a substantial 51,100 akce. ^[15] Alma's prosperity was attributed to its close proximity to Safad. ^[17]

Edward Robinson and Eli Smith, who travelled to the region in 1838, give the full name of the village as 'Alma el-Khait (Arabic : علماالخيط). ^[18]

James Finn, the British consul to Jerusalem who travelled around Palestine between 1853 and 1856, describes the village of Alma as being situated in an area in which volcanic basalt was abundant. Around the village, women and children were gathering olives from the trees by beating them with poles and then collecting the fallen fruit. He notes that the small district in which the village is located is known by the locals as "the Khait" (Arabic for "string") and that they "boast of its extraordinary fertility in corn-produce." ^[19]

Victor Guérin visited in 1875, and noted that 200 Muslim inhabitants lived there. ^[20] In The Survey of Western Palestine (1881), Alma is described as a village built of stone with about 250 "Algerine Mohammedan" residents, situated in the middle of a fertile plain with a few gardens. ^[21]

A population list from about 1887 showed Alma to have about 1,105 Muslim inhabitants. ^[22]

British Mandate period

The population of Alma in the 1922 census consisted of 309 Muslims, ^[23] increasing to 712 Muslims in 148 occupied houses by 1931. ^[24]

In the 1945 statistics, the population had reached 950, ^{[3] [25]} still all Muslim. ^[26]

The villagers were heavily involved in agriculture, including raising livestock and growing crops. ^[6] During the 1942/43 season olive trees were recorded as being grown on 750 dunums of village land, 550 dunums of which were fruit-bearing trees. It was the largest olive grove in Safad district. ^[6] In 1944–45 983 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards and 7,475 dunums were devoted to cereal crops. ^{[6] [27]}

The village comprised a total area of 19,498 dunums of which 17,240 dunums was run by Arabs and the rest public. The population of the village was entirely Arab in ethnicity and Muslim in religion. ^[27] They had their own mosque and elementary school, which pupils from al-Rihaniyya also attended. ^[6]

A large number of inhabitants were employed in cereal farming, which occupied about 38% of the land area. ^[27] Some land was also allocated for irrigation and plantation, and the growing of olives.

Types of landuse in dunams by Arabs in 1945: [27] [28] Land Usage Dunams Irrigated & Plantation 983 Olives 750 Cereal 7,475 Urban 147 Cultivable 8,458 Non-cultivable 10,893

The land ownership of the village before occupation in dunums: [3] Owner Durums Arab 17,240 Jewish 0 Public 2,258 Total 19,498

1948 war and aftermath

The village was attacked by the Israeli forces in Operation Hiram on 30 October 1948. Israeli historian Benny Morris has documented that Alma was the one village in the area where the villagers were uprooted and/or expelled by the Israeli forces, in spite of the fact that they had not offered any resistance. ^[29]

In 1949, the Israeli moshav of Alma was built about 0.5 km east of where the built-up portion of the former village was located.

Israeli farmers cultivate fruit and olives on the village site, which is fenced in and covered with rubble and the remains of buildings. ^[6]

Footnotes

1. The inscription reads: “יהי שלום על המקום הזה ועל כל מקומות עמו ישראל. אמן. סלה. אנה יוסה בר לוי הלוי אומנה דעבדת הדין שקופה”, translating into “May there be peace upon this place and upon all the places of his people Israel. Amen. Selah. I am Yose, son of Levi, the Levite, the artisan who made this lintel.”
2. The inscription reads: “]--[נה טברייה דע]בד -- | הדי[ן שקופה מלך ע]למה יתן ברכתה בעמלה[”, translating into: “…na the Tiberian who made/donated this lintel. May the king of the world (bless his work).”

References

1. Palmer, pp. 66, 17, 61
2. Morris, 2004, p. xvi, village #33. Also gives cause of depopulation
3. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 69 Archived 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine
4. Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 9
5. Morris, 2004, p. xxii, settlement #162.
6. Khalidi, 1992, pp. 432–433.
7. Dauphin, 1998, p. 647
8. Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 220
9. "XXIII. ʿAlma", Volume 5/Part 1 Galilaea and Northern Regions: 5876-6924, De Gruyter, pp. 146–149, 2023-03-20, doi:10.1515/9783110715774-031, ISBN   978-3-11-071577-4 , retrieved 2024-02-23
10. Kedar, Benjamin Z. (2005). Holy Men in a Holy Land: Christian, Muslim and Jewish Religiosity in the Near East at the Time of the Crusades. Hayes Robinson Lecture Series No. 9. London: Royal Holloway, University of London. p. 21.
11. Benjamin of Tudela in Thomas Wright. Early Travels in Palestine . Courier Corporation; 2003. ISBN   978-0-486-42871-0. p. 89.
12. Schwarz, 1850, p. 385
13. Rhode, 1979, p. 188
14. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 177
15. Petersen, 2005, p. 133.
16. Note that Rhode, 1979, p. 6 Archived 2019-04-20 at the Wayback Machine writes that the register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9
17. Petersen, 2005, p. 42.
18. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Second Appendix, p. 134.
19. Finn, 1877, p. 108
20. Guérin, 1880, pp. 445-6
21. Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p.196. Also quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 432.
22. Schumacher, 1888, p. 189
23. Barron, 1923, Table XI, p. 41
24. Mills, 1932, p. 105
25. Khalidi, 1992, p. 432
26. United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine, Village Statistics, April 1945, p. 4 Archived June 9, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
27. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 118 Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine
28. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 168 Archived 2014-11-01 at the Wayback Machine
29. Morris, 2004, p. 475

Bibliography

• Barron, J. B., ed. (1923). Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922. Government of Palestine.
• Benjamin of Tudela (2003). Thomas Wright (ed.). Early Travels in Palestine (Illustrated ed.). Courier Dover Publications. ISBN   978-0-486-42871-0.
• Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. Vol. 1. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. (p. 205)
• Dauphin, C. (1998). La Palestine byzantine, Peuplement et Populations. BAR International Series 726 (in French). Vol. III : Catalogue. Oxford: Archeopress. ISBN   0860549054.
• Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945. Government of Palestine.
• Finn, J. (1877). Byeways in Palestine. Vol. 1. London: James Nisbet & Co.
• Guérin, V. (1880). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine (in French). Vol. 3: Galilee, pt. 2. Paris: L'Imprimerie Nationale.
• Hadawi, S. (1970). "Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine". Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center. Archived from the original on 2018-12-08. Retrieved 2009-08-18.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Hütteroth, Wolf-Dieter; Abdulfattah, Kamal (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. ISBN   3-920405-41-2.
• 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.
• Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
• Morris, B. (2004). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-00967-6.
• Palmer, E.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
• Petersen, Andrew (2005). The Towns of Palestine Under Muslim Rule. British Archaeological Reports. ISBN   1841718211.
• Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. Vol. 3. Boston: Crocker & Brewster.
• Rhode, H. (1979). Administration and Population of the Sancak of Safed in the Sixteenth Century. Columbia University. Archived from the original on 2020-03-01. Retrieved 2017-11-03.
• Schumacher, G. (1888). "Population list of the Liwa of Akka". Quarterly Statement - Palestine Exploration Fund. 20: 169–191.
• Schwarz, Rabbi Joseph (1850). A descriptive geography and brief historical sketch of Palestine. Isaac Leeser. Philadelphia: A. Hart.

External links

• Welcome To 'Alma
• 'Alma, Zochrot
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 4: IAA, Wikimedia commons
• 'Alma at Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
• 'Alma, Dr. Khalil Rizk.