Al-Shuna Explained

Al-Shuna
Native Name:الشونة
Native Name Lang:ar
Settlement Type:Village
Etymology:Kŭlảt esh Shûneh, the castle of the granary[1]
Pushpin Map:Mandatory Palestine
Pushpin Mapsize:200
Coordinates:32.9083°N 35.4869°W
Grid Name:Palestine grid
Grid Position:195/257
Subdivision Type:Geopolitical entity
Subdivision Name:Mandatory Palestine
Subdivision Type1:Subdistrict
Subdivision Name1:Safad
Established Title1:Date of depopulation
Established Date1:"Not known"[2]
Established Title2:Repopulated dates
Unit Pref:dunam
Area Total Dunam:3,660
Population As Of:1945
Population Total:170[3] [4]
Blank Name Sec1:Cause(s) of depopulation

Al-Shuna (Arabic: الشونة) was a Palestinian Arab village in the Safad Subdistrict. It was ethnically cleansed and depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on April 30, 1948, by the Palmach's First Battalion of Operation Yiftach. It was located 6 km south of Safad, overlooking the deep gorge of Wadi al-'Amud.

History

Victor Guérin describes this place in 1875 as "built of white limestone mixed with stones of black basalt in alternate courses. We think that although this custom is common in modern Arab building, it can be shown to have been an ancient usage, so that the building may be old. Round it are the vestiges of a ruined hamlet."[5]

In 1881 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine found at Kŭlảt esh Shûneh: "A modern Arab building of basaltic stone; used probably as a barn, as the name implies".[6]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine Shuneh had a population of 83; all Muslim,[7] increasing in the 1931 census to 337, still all Muslims, in a total of 65 houses.[8]

In the 1945 statistics the population was 170 Muslims,[3] with a total of 3,660 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[4] Of this, 995 dunums were used for cereals,[9] while 2,481 dunams was non-cultivable area.[10]

The village had a school and a mosque.

1948, aftermath

Today, a wildlife sanctuary known as the Nachal 'Amud Reserve is located in the vicinity.

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Palmer, 1881, p. 130
  2. Morris, 2004, p. xvii, village #72. Gives both date and cause of depopulation as "Not known"
  3. Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 11
  4. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 71
  5. Guérin, 1880, p. 353; as given in Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 412
  6. Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 412
  7. Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Safad, p. 41
  8. Mills, 1932, p. 111
  9. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 121
  10. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 171

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