Dallata
Encyclopedia
Dallata was a Palestinian
Arab
village, located on a hilltop 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) north of Safad. Constructed upon an ancient site, it was known to the Crusaders as Deleha. Dallata was included in the late 16th century Ottoman
census and British censuses of the 20th century. Its inhabitants were primarily agriculturalists, with some involved in carpentry or trade.
Dallata was depopulated during the 1948 Palestine war
on around May 10, 1948 by the Palmach's First Battalion of Operation Yiftach
. Following the establishment of Israel
, the Israeli locality of Dalton
was established about 1 kilometre (0.621372736649807 mi) southwest of the village site.
census, in the nahiya (subdistrict) of Jira, liwa'
(district) of Safad, with a population of 127 and it was reported that the inhabitants paid taxes on wheat
, barley
, olive
s, goat
s, beehive
s, vineyard
s, and a press for processing grapes or olives.
An excavation carried out in 2006 on a location halfway between the center of Dallata and the new Israeli settlement of Dalton
, revealed a structure dating to the Late Ottoman Period, with alluvial soil that contained worn Late Roman and Byzantine potsherds. By the late nineteenth century, Dallata was described as being situated at the foot of a large hill, with about 100 Muslim
residents. There were a few gardens around the village, and water was supplied from a well and a birket. The villagers worked primarily in agriculture throughout its history, and some worked in carpentry and trade. In 1944/45 a total of 3,651 dunum
s was allocated to cereal
farming and 302 dunums were used for orchards. In 1945, it had a population of 360. The village had a small school which had an enrollment of 37 students in 1945.
. The Israeli historian Benny Morris
writes that the date and cause of the depopulation is unknown,
while Walid Khalidi
assumes it was occupied some time after the fall of the district capital of Safed
, 10–11 May 1948. According to Khalidi, the indirect evidence points to the village being seized during Operation Yiftach
, and, in that case, it was probably one of the villages attacked in the latter stages of the operation, like neighboring ‘Ammuqa, which was occupied on 24 May. The British historian Esber reports that Dallata was one of the villages that locals fled to in the first days of May 1948, when Fir'im
, Mughr al-Khayt
and Qabba'a
were attacked with mortars by Israeli forces. Esber gives the depopulation date as 10 May 1948, and the causes twofold: "Direct mortar attacks on civilians, siege, shooting at fleeing Arabs", and "Terror raids, house demolitions, sniping, hostage-taking, looting, destruction of crop and livestock."
In 1950 after the 1948 war, the settlement of Dalton
was established by the Israelis about 1 km southwest of the village site.
The Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi
described the village remains in 1992: "All that remains are the debris of the houses scattered across the site, partly covered by grass, shrubs, and trees. A few stone terraces on village land are still intact, and some olive trees still grow. About 1 km south of the site lies the Israeli settlement of Dalton"
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
village, located on a hilltop 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) north of Safad. Constructed upon an ancient site, it was known to the Crusaders as Deleha. Dallata was included in the late 16th century Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
census and British censuses of the 20th century. Its inhabitants were primarily agriculturalists, with some involved in carpentry or trade.
Dallata was depopulated during the 1948 Palestine war
1948 Palestine war
The 1948 Palestine war refers to the events in the British Mandate of Palestine between the United Nations vote on the partition plan on November 30, 1947, to the end of the first Arab-Israeli war on July 20, 1949.The war is divided into two phases:...
on around May 10, 1948 by the Palmach's First Battalion of Operation Yiftach
Operation Yiftach
Operation Yiftach was an offensive of the Israeli Haganah between 28 April and 29 May 1948 aimed at capturing the eastern Galilee. The central objectives were the capture of Safed and the securing of the Lebanese and Syrian borders before the British Mandate ended on 14 May 1948...
. Following the establishment of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, the Israeli locality of Dalton
Dalton, Israel
Dalton is a moshav near Safed in northern Israel under the jurisdiction of Merom HaGalil Regional Council. It was founded by immigrants from Tripoli in Libya in 1950 under the leadership of Hapoel Hamizrachi. On the grounds of the moshav is a tomb ascribed to Rabbi Yosi Haglili and his son Yishmael...
was established about 1 kilometre (0.621372736649807 mi) southwest of the village site.
History
Dallata was located on the upper slope of a hill, built on the ruins of an ancient site that contained old structures like cisterns, and large pools. The village was referred to by the Crusaders as "Deleha". The village was mentioned in the 1596 OttomanOttoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
census, in the nahiya (subdistrict) of Jira, liwa'
Liwa (arabic)
Liwa or Liwa is an Arabic term meaning district, banner, or flag, a type of administrative division. It was interchangeable with the Turkish term "Sanjak" in the time of the Ottoman Empire. After the fall of the empire, the term was used in the Arab countries formerly under Ottoman rule...
(district) of Safad, with a population of 127 and it was reported that the inhabitants paid taxes on wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
, barley
Barley
Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
, olive
Olive
The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
s, goat
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
s, beehive
Beehive
A beehive is a structure in which bees live and raise their young.Beehive may also refer to:Buildings and locations:* Bee Hive, Alabama, a neighborhood in Alabama* Beehive , a wing of the New Zealand Parliament Buildings...
s, vineyard
Vineyard
A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...
s, and a press for processing grapes or olives.
An excavation carried out in 2006 on a location halfway between the center of Dallata and the new Israeli settlement of Dalton
Dalton, Israel
Dalton is a moshav near Safed in northern Israel under the jurisdiction of Merom HaGalil Regional Council. It was founded by immigrants from Tripoli in Libya in 1950 under the leadership of Hapoel Hamizrachi. On the grounds of the moshav is a tomb ascribed to Rabbi Yosi Haglili and his son Yishmael...
, revealed a structure dating to the Late Ottoman Period, with alluvial soil that contained worn Late Roman and Byzantine potsherds. By the late nineteenth century, Dallata was described as being situated at the foot of a large hill, with about 100 Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
residents. There were a few gardens around the village, and water was supplied from a well and a birket. The villagers worked primarily in agriculture throughout its history, and some worked in carpentry and trade. In 1944/45 a total of 3,651 dunum
Dunam
A dunam or dönüm, dunum, donum, dynym, dulum was a non-SI unit of land area used in the Ottoman Empire and representing the amount of land that can be plowed in a day; its value varied from 900–2500 m²...
s was allocated to cereal
Cereal
Cereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran...
farming and 302 dunums were used for orchards. In 1945, it had a population of 360. The village had a small school which had an enrollment of 37 students in 1945.
1948, and aftermath
Dallata was depopulated in the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine
The 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine lasted from 30 November 1947, the date of the United Nations vote in favour of the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the UN Partition Plan, to the termination of the British Mandate itself on 14 May 1948.This period constitutes the...
. The Israeli historian Benny Morris
Benny Morris
Benny Morris is professor of History in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Be'er Sheva, Israel...
writes that the date and cause of the depopulation is unknown,
while Walid Khalidi
Walid Khalidi
Walid Khalidi is an Oxford University-educated Palestinian historian who has written extensively on the Palestinian exodus. He is General Secretary and co-founder of the Institute for Palestine Studies, established in Beirut in December 1963 as an independent research and publishing center...
assumes it was occupied some time after the fall of the district capital of Safed
Safed
Safed , is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and of Israel. Due to its high elevation, Safed experiences warm summers and cold, often snowy, winters...
, 10–11 May 1948. According to Khalidi, the indirect evidence points to the village being seized during Operation Yiftach
Operation Yiftach
Operation Yiftach was an offensive of the Israeli Haganah between 28 April and 29 May 1948 aimed at capturing the eastern Galilee. The central objectives were the capture of Safed and the securing of the Lebanese and Syrian borders before the British Mandate ended on 14 May 1948...
, and, in that case, it was probably one of the villages attacked in the latter stages of the operation, like neighboring ‘Ammuqa, which was occupied on 24 May. The British historian Esber reports that Dallata was one of the villages that locals fled to in the first days of May 1948, when Fir'im
Fir'im
Fir'im was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Safad that was depopulated during the 1948 Palestine war. It was first attacked during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on May 2, 1948, by the Palmach's First Battalion during Operation Yiftach. In 1945 the population had...
, Mughr al-Khayt
Mughr al-Khayt
Mughr al-Khayt was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Safad. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on May 2, 1948 by the Palmach's First Battalion of Operation Yiftach. It was located 4.5 km northeast of Safad. In 1945 it had a population of...
and Qabba'a
Qabba'a
Qabba'a was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Safad. It was depopulated during the 1948 War on May 26, 1948 by the Palmach's First Battalion of Operation Yiftach. It was located 6 km northeast of Safad....
were attacked with mortars by Israeli forces. Esber gives the depopulation date as 10 May 1948, and the causes twofold: "Direct mortar attacks on civilians, siege, shooting at fleeing Arabs", and "Terror raids, house demolitions, sniping, hostage-taking, looting, destruction of crop and livestock."
In 1950 after the 1948 war, the settlement of Dalton
Dalton, Israel
Dalton is a moshav near Safed in northern Israel under the jurisdiction of Merom HaGalil Regional Council. It was founded by immigrants from Tripoli in Libya in 1950 under the leadership of Hapoel Hamizrachi. On the grounds of the moshav is a tomb ascribed to Rabbi Yosi Haglili and his son Yishmael...
was established by the Israelis about 1 km southwest of the village site.
The Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi
Walid Khalidi
Walid Khalidi is an Oxford University-educated Palestinian historian who has written extensively on the Palestinian exodus. He is General Secretary and co-founder of the Institute for Palestine Studies, established in Beirut in December 1963 as an independent research and publishing center...
described the village remains in 1992: "All that remains are the debris of the houses scattered across the site, partly covered by grass, shrubs, and trees. A few stone terraces on village land are still intact, and some olive trees still grow. About 1 km south of the site lies the Israeli settlement of Dalton"
External links
- Welcome To Dallata
- Dallata, at Khalil Sakakini Cultural CenterKhalil Sakakini Cultural CenterKhalil Sakakini Cultural Center is an organization established in 1996. It is located at 4 Raja Street, Ramallah in the West Bank. The traditional manor that houses the centre was the former family home of Khalil Salem Salah, the mayor of Ramallah between 1947/1951, is now owned by the Palestinian...
- Dallata, Dr. Khalil Rizk.