Farradiyya
Encyclopedia
Farradiyya was a Palestinian
Arab
village of 670 located 8 kilometres (5 mi) southwest of Safad.
Farradiyya was situated on the southern slopes of Mount Zabud with an average elevation of 375 metres (1,230.3 ft) above sea level. The Safad-Nazareth highway passed it to the north. Its total land area was 19,747 dunam
s, of which 25 dunams were built-up areas and 5,365 dunams cultivable.
period of rule in Palestine
, Farradiyya was known as "Parod".
Under the Abbasid Caliphate, al-Farradiyya was a part of Jund al-Urdunn
("Province of Jordan"). 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.
Farradiyya was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire
in 1517, after being ruled by Crusader
s, Ayyubids, and the Mamluk
s. 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. The village consisted of 43 households.
In the late 19th century, the village was built of stone and the inhabitants grew olives, figs, and tilled small gardens. 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.
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. 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.
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 27cms 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 pilaster
s with 1/2 inch projections. The bases and capital
s have simple mouldings. The top most course is made of moulded stones forming a cornice
."
'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.
Prior to its capture, in early May, Arabs from Akbara and az-Zahiriyya took refuge in he 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
.
In 1949, the Jewish town of Parod
was founded on village lands, 300 metres (984.3 ft) east of the village site, and in 1950, the town of Shefer
was established on Farradiyya's northern lands. According to Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi
,
's 1945 land and population survey, Farradiyya had a population of 670 Arab inhabitants. The entire population adhered to Islam
.
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 of 670 located 8 kilometres (5 mi) southwest of Safad.
Farradiyya was situated on the southern slopes of Mount Zabud with an average elevation of 375 metres (1,230.3 ft) above sea level. The Safad-Nazareth highway passed it to the north. Its total land area was 19,747 dunam
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, of which 25 dunams were built-up areas and 5,365 dunams cultivable.
History
During the RomanRoman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
period of rule in Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
, Farradiyya was known as "Parod".
Under the Abbasid Caliphate, al-Farradiyya was a part of Jund al-Urdunn
Jund al-Urdunn
Jund al-Urdunn was one of the five districts of Bilad ash-Sham during the period of the Arab Caliphates. It was established under the Rashidun and its capital was Tiberias throughout its rule by the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates. It encompassed southern Mount Lebanon, the Galilee, the southern...
("Province of Jordan"). In 985 CE, 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...
geographer al-Muqaddasi
Al-Muqaddasi
Muhammad ibn Ahmad Shams al-Din Al-Muqaddasi , also transliterated as Al-Maqdisi and el-Mukaddasi, was a medieval Arab geographer, author of Ahsan at-Taqasim fi Ma`rifat il-Aqalim .-Biography:Al-Muqaddasi, "the Hierosolomite" was born in Jerusalem in 946 AD...
describes it as a large village between Acre
Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
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.
Farradiyya was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire
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...
in 1517, after being ruled by Crusader
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
s, Ayyubids, and the Mamluk
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
s. By 1596, it was a part of the nahiya ("subdistrict") of Jira, part of the sanjak
Sanjak
Sanjaks were administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire. Sanjak, and the variant spellings sandjak, sanjaq, and sinjaq, are English transliterations of the Turkish word sancak, meaning district, banner, or flag...
("district") of Safad, paying taxes on wheat, barley, olives, fruits, beehives, goats, and pastures. The village consisted of 43 households.
In the late 19th century, the village was built of stone and the inhabitants grew olives, figs, and tilled small gardens. 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.
After the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
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
Arboretum
An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...
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. 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.
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
Course (architecture)
A course is a continuous horizontal layer of similarly-sized building material one unit high, usually in a wall. The term is almost always used in conjunction with unit masonry such as brick, cut stone, or concrete masonry units .-Styles:...
above the basement with an average of 27cms 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 pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s with 1/2 inch projections. The bases and capital
Capital (architecture)
In architecture the capital forms the topmost member of a column . It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's supporting surface...
s have simple mouldings. The top most course is made of moulded stones forming a cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
."
1948 War and aftermath
Farradiyya was captured by IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
's Golani Brigade
Golani Brigade
The Golani Brigade is an Israeli infantry brigade that is subordinated to the 36th Division and traditionally associated with the Northern Command. Its symbol is a green tree on a yellow background, and its soldiers wear a brown beret. It is one of the most highly decorated infantry units in the...
in Operation Hiram
Operation Hiram
Operation Hiram was a military operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It was led by General Moshe Carmel, and aimed at capturing the upper Galilee region from the Arab Liberation Army forces led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji and a Syrian battalion...
on October 30, 1948. It was not directly assaulted, but as the brigade advanced north from the Arab town of Eilabun
Eilabun
Eilabun is an Israeli-Arab local council in Israel's North District, located in the Beit Netofa Valley. According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, Eilabun had a population of 4,400 inhabitants in 2005. The population is predominantly Christian...
in the south towards Sa'sa'
Sa'sa'
Sa'sa was a Palestinian village, located 12 kilometres northwest of Safed that was depopulated by Israeli forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war...
in the north, Farradiyya was surrounded by Israeli forces on all sides.
Prior to its capture, in early May, Arabs from Akbara and az-Zahiriyya took refuge in he 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
Galilee
Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...
under their control or to the northern West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
.
In 1949, the Jewish town of Parod
Parod
Parod is a kibbutz in the Upper Galilee near Safed in northern Israel. It belongs to the Merom HaGalil Regional CouncilThe community was founded in 1949 by immigrants to Israel from Hungary, on land belonging to the depopulated Palestinian village of Farradiyya.The name "Parod" is based on the...
was founded on village lands, 300 metres (984.3 ft) east of the village site, and in 1950, the town of Shefer
Shefer
Shefer is a moshav located near Safed in northern Israel. It belongs to the Merom HaGalil Regional Council, and it is founded on the land of the depopulated Palestinian village of Farradiyya....
was established on Farradiyya's northern lands. According to 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...
,
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.
Demographics
In 1596, Farradiyya had a population of 237, which over the period of nearly two centuries decreased to about 150 in the late nineteenth century. In a 1922 British Mandate survey, the village had 362 residents, rising to 465 in 1931. In Sami HadawiSami Hadawi
Sami Hadawi was a Palestinian scholar and author. He is known for documenting the effects of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War on the Arab population in Palestine and published statistics for individual villages prior to Israel's establishment. Hadawi worked as a land specialist until he was exiled from...
's 1945 land and population survey, Farradiyya had a population of 670 Arab inhabitants. The entire population adhered to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
.
External links
- Welcome to al-Farradiyya
- al-Farradiyya, 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...
- Al-Farradiyya Dr. Khalil Rizk.
- "Memoirs" "Refugee Interviews" in Journal of Palestine StudiesJournal of Palestine StudiesThe Journal of Palestine Studies is an academic journal established in 1971. It is published and distributed by University of California Press on behalf of the Institute for Palestine Studies. The current editor is Rashid Khalidi of Columbia University....
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