Al-Sumayriyya
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 al-Sumayriyya
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| Arabic | السُميريه | |
| Name Meaning | "The Samaritan" | |
| Also Spelled | Someleria, Katasir | |
| Sub-district | Acre | |
| Coordinates | 32°58′19.25″N 35°05′36.27″E / 32.9720139°N 35.0934083°ECoordinates: 32°58′19.25″N 35°05′36.27″E / 32.9720139°N 35.0934083°E | |
| Population | 760[1] (1945) | |
| Area | 8,542[1] dunams | |
| Date of depopulation | 14 May 1948[2] | |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault by Yishuv forces | |
| Current localities | Bustan HaGalil,[3]Lohamei HaGeta'ot,[4]Shomrat[5] | |
Al-Sumayriyya (Arabic: السُميريه, Katasir in Canaanite times, Someleria during Crusader rule) was a Palestinian village located six kilometers north of Acre that was depopulated after it was captured by the Israel Defense Forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.[6]
History
Al-Sumayriyya is Arabic for "The Little Samaria". It was inhabited by Samaritans in former centuries, but they were expelled from the area by the Ottoman governor Jezzar Pasha, moving to Nablus in the 18th century, where a community of some 300 continue to live as citizens of the Palestinian National Authority.[6]
In 1881, the Survey of Western Palestine described the place as a village of "mud and stone houses, containing about 200 (Guerin says 400) Moslems, situated on the plain, surrounded by a few clumps of olives and figs and arable land; two or three cisterns are in the village, the aqueduct near brings good water."[7]
Al-Sumayriyya had an elementary school for boys, which was founded in 1943. In 1945, it had an enrollment of 60 students. One mosque which remains to this date, however it needs renovation.
In 1944/45 a total of 6,854 dunams were allocated to grain crops; 354 dunams were irrigated or planted with orchards.[5][8]
1948 War
At the beginning of 1945, al-Sumayriyya's 760 inhabitants were all Arab Muslims. The inhabitants fled as a result of the 14 May 1948 assault on the village by the Carmeli Brigade during Operation Ben-Ami, one day prior to the official outbreak of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.[6] The village - along with those of neighbouring al-Bassa and al-Zib which were also captured in the offensive - was subsequently destroyed, with the exception of its mosque.[9]
Tall al-Sumayriyya contains carved stones, a mosaic floor, tombs, columns, and stone capitals. Khirbat Abu 'Ataba has an Islamic shrine and ceramic fragments.
Lohamei HaGeta'ot was built on its site.
See also
↑Jump back a sectionReferences
- ^ a b Hadawi, 1970, p. 41
- ^ Morris, 2004, p.xvii, village #87. Also gives cause of depopulation
- ^ Morris, 2004, p.xxi, settlement #36. December 1948. However, Khalidi, 1992, p.23 writes that Bustan HaGalil is on the land of Al-Manshiyya
- ^ Morris, 2004, p.xxi, settlement #53. January 1949
- ^ a b Khalidi, 1992, p.30
- ^ a b c Welcome to Al-Sumayriyya, Palestine Remembered, retrieved 2007-12-03
- ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1881, p.147. Also cited in Khalidi, 1992, p.30
- ^ Hadawi, 1970, p.81
- ^ Tal, 2004, pp. 104-105.
Bibliography
- Conder, Claude Reignier and H.H. Kitchener (1881): The Survey of Western Palestine: memoirs of the topography, orography, hydrography, and archaeology. London:Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. vol 1
- Guérin, M. V. (1880): '(1880): Description Géographique, Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine. Galilee, "Tome II" Paris: Imprimerie Nationale p. 161
- Hadawi, Sami (1970), Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine, Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center
- Khalidi, Walid (1992), All That Remains, Washington D.C., Institute for Palestine Studies, ISBN 0-88728-224-5
- Morris, Benny (2004), The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-00967-6
- Pringle, Denys (1997), Secular buildings in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: an archaeological Gazetter, Cambridge University Press p. 94
- Pococke, 1743 II 78
- Tal, David (2004). War in Palestine, 1948: Strategy and Diplomacy. Routledge. ISBN 0-7146-5275-X
External links
- Welcome To al-Sumayriyya
- Al-Sumayriyya at Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
- Al-Sumauriyya, Dr. Moslih Kanaaneh
- Tour to Alsumeriyya, Umar Ighbariyyeh, 25.4.2009 Zochrot
