Farradiyya

Farradiyya
Farradiyya
Arabic الفرّاضية
Also spelled Ferradheh,[1] al-Faradhiyyah, Ferradieh[2]
Subdistrict Safad
Coordinates 32°55′53.66″N 35°25′41.72″E / 32.9315722°N 35.4282556°E / 32.9315722; 35.4282556Coordinates: 32°55′53.66″N 35°25′41.72″E / 32.9315722°N 35.4282556°E / 32.9315722; 35.4282556
Palestine grid 190/259
Population 670[3][4] (1945)
Area 19,947 dunams
20.0 km²
Date of depopulation February 1949[5]
Cause(s) of depopulation Expulsion by Yishuv forces
Current localities Parod, Shefer

Farradiyya (Arabic: الفرّاضية‎, al-Farâdhiyyah) was a Palestinian Arab village of 670 located 8 kilometers (5.0 mi) southwest of Safad.[6]

Farradiyya was situated on the southern slopes of Mount Zabud with an average elevation of 375 meters (1,230 ft) above sea level. The Safad-Nazareth highway passed it to the north.[6] Its total land area was 19,747 dunams, of which 25 dunams were built-up areas and 5,365 dunams cultivable.[3]

History

The site has been identified as that of an ancient Jewish community Parod mentioned once in Talmud Bavli.[7]

Under the Abbasid Caliphate, al-Farradiyya was a part of Jund al-Urdunn ("Province of Jordan").[8] In 985 CE, Arab geographer al-Muqaddasi describes it as a large village between Acre and Tiberias, with a mosque for Friday sermons. He added that water was plentiful, the surrounding country was pleasant, and there were abundant grapes and vineyards in the village.[9]

Ottoman era

Farradiyya was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517, after being ruled by Crusaders, Ayyubids, and the Mamluks. By 1596, it was a part of the nahiya ("subdistrict") of Jira, part of the sanjak ("district") of Safad, paying taxes on wheat, barley, olives, fruits, beehives, goats, and pastures.[10] The village consisted of 43 households,[11] an estimated 237 persons.[10]

A map from Napoleon's invasion of 1799 by Pierre Jacotin showed the place, named as "Farod".[12] In 1875 Victor Guérin noted the spring, Aïn Ferradheh, which had formerly driven several mills, but were now destroyed. He found the village to have about 150 Muslim inhabitants.[1] In 1881 the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described the village as being built of stone and with the inhabitants growing olives, figs, and tilling small gardens.[13] The population was still estimated to be about 150.[13] Springs from Mount al-Jarmaq to the north provided most of the village's water supply, and a boys' elementary school was established during this period.[6]

British Mandate era

After the British took over Palestine from the Ottomans in 1917, Farradiyya became a part of the British Mandate of Palestine in 1922. Under the Mandate, it had a thriving agriculture sector, and was known for its model experimental farm which covered 300 dunams of land. The farm was established to improve the variety of apples, apricots, almonds, figs, grapes, pears, and to develop new seed varieties. It had an arboretum where 2,000 plants were grown and distributed to local fellahin, and the farm provided advice services to teach farmers from the Acre and Safad districts how to raise poultry and beehives. Apart from the farm, there were several water-powered mills in the vicinity of Farradiyya. The village was also the site of a shrine for a local religious leader named Shaykh Mansur.[6] A report from the village (before 1933) noted the maqam for Sheik Mansur as "a square building with arch and niche." The report also noted that there was a medieval arch in the cemetery.[14]

In the 1922 census of Palestine, the village had 362 residents, all Muslims,[15] rising to 465 in the 1931 census; 464 Muslims and 1 Christian, in a total of 101 houses.[16]

The village was visited in 1933 by a representative from the Department of Antiquities, who reported that "A maqam known locally by the name of "Sheik Mansur" is standing in the main track leading to the village at a point about half way between the village itself and the Govt. School for boys. It is a square room in a ruinous condition about 4m x 4m. The only part which is still to be seen in position is the northern wall -it consists of nine courses above the basement with an average of 27 cm height; each course; making a total of 2.45 m high. The N.E. corner as well as the middle of the wall have worn pilasters with 1/2 inch projections. The bases and capitals have simple mouldings. The top most course is made of moulded stones forming a cornice."[17]

The British built here a fortified police station, a so-called Tegart fort.

In Sami Hadawi's 1945 land and population survey, Farradiyya had a population of 670 Arab inhabitants.[3][4]

1948 War and aftermath

Farradiyya was captured by Israel's Golani Brigade in Operation Hiram on October 30, 1948. It was not directly assaulted, but as the brigade advanced north from the Arab town of Eilabun in the south towards Sa'sa' in the north, Farradiyya was surrounded by Israeli forces on all sides.[6]

Prior to its capture, in early May, Arabs from Akbara and az-Zahiriyya took refuge in the village. Because it was not assaulted, many of Farradiyya's residents remained in the village until February 1949. It was on December 15, 1948, that Israeli authorities decided to expel the remaining 261 inhabitants, but the plan was executed in February. Israeli forces evicted most of the villagers to other Arab villages in the Galilee under their control or to the northern West Bank.[6]

In 1949, the Jewish town of Parod was founded on village lands, 300 meters (980 ft) east of the village site, and in 1950, the town of Shefer was established on Farradiyya's northern lands.[18] According to Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi,

The site is deserted and covered with wild thorns, trees, and piles of stones from the destroyed homes. Cactuses grow on the land around the site, which is mostly utilized for grazing animals.[18]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Guérin, 1880, Galilee II, p. 456
  2. ↑ Palmer, 1881, p.72
  3. 1 2 3 Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 69.
  4. 1 2 Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 9
  5. ↑ Morris, 2004, p. xvii, village #70. Also provides cause of depopulation.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Khalidi, 1992, p.449.
  7. ↑ Leiber, 2009, pp. 117–121.
  8. ↑ al-Muqaddasi quoted in le Strange, 1890, p.39.
  9. ↑ al-Muqaddasi quoted in le Strange, 1890, p.439.
  10. 1 2 Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, p.177. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p.449.
  11. ↑ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, p.177. Quoted in Petersen, 2001, p.139.
  12. ↑ Karmon, 1960, p. 166
  13. 1 2 Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 203. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p.449.
  14. ↑ Petersen, 2001, p. 139
  15. ↑ Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Safad, p. 41
  16. ↑ Mills, 1932, p. 106
  17. ↑ PAM Makhouly 11.2.33/ ATQ 676. Cited in Petersen, 2001, p. 139
  18. 1 2 Khalidi, 1992, p.450.

Bibliography

External links

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