Madahil was a Palestinian

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 in the District of Safad

District of Safad

The District of Safad was an administrative district, situated in the British Mandate of Palestine around the city of Safad. After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the district disintegrated.-Depopulated settlements:...

. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine

1947–1948 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...

 on April 30, 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...

. It was located 30 km northeast of Safad in a flat area on the northeastern edge of the al-Hula Plain, about 1 km east of Wadi Banyas.

History

Madahil was located just south of a small mound named Tall al-Turmus, which has provided evidence of a settlement dating to the fourth millennium B.C.

During the 1948 war, the evacuation occurred before the Zionist assault on Safad on 10 to 11 May. According to 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...

, based on Haganah

Haganah

Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...

-sources, the villagers feared reprisals or feared being caught in a cross-fire after local Jewish communities had been attacked. Therefore the villagers of Madahil (together with those of Khiyam al-Walid

Khiyam al-Walid

Khiyam al-Walid was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Safad located northeast of Safad along the Syrian border. It was on situated on a hill above sea level on the eastern edge of the Hula Valley. In 1945, there were 280 predominantly Muslim inhabitants...

, Al-Hamra'

Al-Hamra'

Al-Hamra' was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Safad. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on May 1, 1948 by the Palmach's First Battalion of Operation Yiftach. It was located 24.5 km northeast of Safad, 1 km northwest of Wadi...

, Ghuraba

Ghuraba

Ghuraba was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Safad. It was depopulated during the 1948 War on May 28, 1948 by the Palmach's First Battalion of Operation Yiftach. It was located 22 km northeast of Safad.In 1945 it had a population of 220....

, and (partially) Al-Muftakhira

Al-Muftakhira

Al-Muftakhira was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Safad. It was depopulated during the 1948 War on May 16, 1948 by the Palmach's First Battalion of Operation Yiftach. It was located 25.5 km northeast of Safad....

) fled. However the British historian Esber gives as depopulation cause "Attack or atocity in neighboring village or community" and "Fear of impending attack, or fall of neighboring town or village."

The Israeli settlement of Kefar Szold, founded in 1942, is located 1.5 km southeast of the village site, but not on village land.

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 in 1992: "There are no traces of any village structures. The site is covered with grass, cane, and cactuses. The surrounding land is cultivated by the settlement of Kefar Szold."

External links

• Welcome To Madahil
• Madahil at Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
  Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
  Khalil 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...
  
  
• Madahil, Dr. Khalil Rizk.