Al-Samakiyya Explained

Al-Samakiyya
Native Name:تلحوم/السمكية
Native Name Lang:ar
Settlement Type:Village
Etymology:’Arab es Semakîyeh, the Semakîyeh (fisher) Arabs[1]
Pushpin Map:Mandatory Palestine
Pushpin Mapsize:200
Coordinates:32.8839°N 35.5781°W
Grid Name:Palestine grid
Grid Position:204/254
Subdivision Type:Geopolitical entity
Subdivision Name:Mandatory Palestine
Subdivision Type1:Subdistrict
Subdivision Name1:Tiberias
Established Title1:Date of depopulation
Established Date1:Not known[2]
Established Title2:Repopulated dates
Unit Pref:dunam
Area Total Dunam:10,526
Population As Of:1945
Population Total:330 Muslims, and 50 Christians connected to Capernaum ecclesiastic sites[3] [4]
Blank Name Sec1:Cause(s) of depopulation
Blank3 Name Sec1:Current Localities
Blank3 Info Sec1:Amnun,[5] Korazim

Al-Samakiyya was a Palestinian Arab village in the Tiberias Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on May 4, 1948, under Operation Matateh. It was located 11 km northeast of Tiberias, near the Wadi al-Wadabani. The village was located at Tel Hum, which has been identified with Capernaum.[6]

History

In 1838, Edward Robinson noted the bedawin (Bedouin) tribe of es-Semekiyeh, who kept some buildings in Abu Shusha as magazines.[7]

British Mandate

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, the population of Samakiyeh was 193 Muslims,[8] increasing in the 1931 census to 290; 266 Muslims and 24 Christians, in a total of 60 houses.[9]

In the 1945 statistics Es Samakiya had a population of 380; 330 Muslims and 50 Christians,[3] with 10,526 dunams of land.[4] Of this, 2 dunams were used for citrus and bananas, 66 for plantations and irrigable land, 4,034 dunams for cereals,[10] while a total of 6,424 dunams were classified as non-cultivable area.[11]

Al-Samakiyya had an Italian monastery, a Franciscan church, and a Greek Orthodox church.[5]

1948, aftermath

On May 5, 1948, Yigal Allon launched Operation Matateh ('Operation Broom'), in order to clear the area of its Bedouin inhabitants.[2] [12] The Bedouin site is listed by Benny Morris as "'Arab al Samakiya (Samakiya/Talhum)".[2]

Amnun and Korazim were both established on Al-Samakiyya land in 1983.[5]

In 1992 the village site was described: "The village site is covered with wild vegetation, piles of basalt stones, and date palm trees. Part of the surrounding land is used as pasture, and the other part is planted with fruit and walnut trees."[5]

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Palmer, 1881, p. 123
  2. Morris, 2004, p. xvii, village #373. Gives both date and cause of depopulation as "Not known"
  3. Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 12
  4. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 72
  5. Khalidi, 1992, p. 539
  6. Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, pp. 371, 417
  7. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, p. 286, cited in Khalidi, 1992, p. 539
  8. Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Tiberias, p. 40
  9. Mills, 1932, p. 85
  10. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 123
  11. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 173
  12. Morris, 2004, pp. 249-250, notes #694-698, p. 302

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