Al-Shajara الشجرة al-Shajara | |
|---|---|
| Etymology: "the Tree"[1] | |
.jpg) 1870s map.jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map.jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Al-Shajara, Tiberias (click the buttons) | |
  Al-Shajara Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:32°45′16″N35°23′56″E / 32.75444°N 35.39889°E /32.75444; 35.39889 | |
| Palestine grid | 187/239 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Tiberias |
| Date of depopulation | May 6, 1948[4] |
| Area | |
• Total | 3,754dunams (3.754 km2; 1.449 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 770[2][3] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault byYishuv forces |
| Current Localities | Ilaniya |
Al-Shajara (Arabic:الشجرة) was aPalestinian Arab village depopulated byIsrael during the1948 Arab-Israeli War when its residents were forcefully evacuated and became refugees. It was located 14 kilometers west ofTiberias on the main highway toNazareth near the villages ofLubya andHittin. The village was very close to the city ofNazareth, about 5 kilometers away.
The village was the fourth largest by area in Tiberias district. Its economy was based on agriculture. In 1944/45 it had 2,102 dunams (505 acres) planted with cereals and 544 dunams (136 acres) either irrigated or fig and olive orchards.
Al-Shajara was the home village of the cartoonistNaji al-Ali.
Ceramics from theByzantine era have been found here,[5] while theCrusaders referred to al-Shajara by "Seiera".[6] The Arabic name of the villageash-Shajara translates as "the Tree".
In 1596, al-Shajara was part of theOttoman Empire'snahiya (subdistrict) ofTiberias under theliwa' (district) ofSafad with a population of 60 Muslim families and 12 Muslim bachelors. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, olives, fruits, and cotton. Taxes were also paid on goats, beehives, orchards, and a press that was used either for processing olives or grapes; a total of 16,250Akçe. 5/24 of the revenue went to aWaqf, the rest wasZiamet land.[7]
A party of Frenchcavalry was apparently stationed in the village duringNapoleon's invasion of 1799.[8] A map from the same campaign byPierre Jacotin showed the place, named asChagara.[9]
Traveling inPalestine under the alias Sheikh Ibrahim Ibn 'Abd Allah,[10] the Swiss scholarJohann Ludwig Burckhardt passed through the area around 1812 and said that the plain around the village was covered with wild artichoke,[11][12] whileWilliam McClure Thomson said that al-Shajara (Sejera) was one of several villages in the area which was surrounded by gigantic hedges of cactus.[13] He also said there were great oak woods in the vicinity.[14]
Victor Guérin visited in 1875, and
discovered the ruins of a rectangular edifice built of cut stones, and oriented from west to east. Its height is 31 feet, and its breadth 18 feet 8 inches. Six monolithic columns decorated the interior, which they divided into two naves.Capitals are lying about on the ground, apparently of Byzantine style. This church was used for a mosque, for the traces of amihrab are to be seen at the south end. On a fine slab, lying on the ground, are read the Greek letters ΔΟΚΙ, each about four and a half inches high, and on a second slab the letter Δ placed above a I[15]
Gottlieb Schumacher found old graves and other antiquities when he explored the area in the 1880s.[16] In the late nineteenth century, the village of al-Shajara was a stone-built village and had about 150 residents. The village was surrounded by arable land on which there were fig and olive trees, and there was a spring to the south.[17]
In 1907, the residents of the nearby Jewish settlement ofSejera moved onto land within the village boundaries after buying it from theSursock family (seeSursock Purchase). This triggered attacks from al-Shajara residents.[18]
In the1922 census of Palestine conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities, the population ofSjajara was 543 residents; 391 Muslims, 100 Jews, and 52 Christians.[19] where the Christians were all Orthodox.[20] By the1931 census,Esh Shajara had 584 persons; 559 Muslims and 28 Christians, in a total of 123 houses.[21]
This had increased to 770 Muslims when the last census was made in the1945 statistics.[2][3][22] There were 720 Muslim and 50 Christians.[23] In 1944/45 the village had 2,102 dunams of land used for cereals, and 544 dunams irrigated or used for orchards,[22][24] while 100 dunams were built-up (urban) area.[25]
During the 1948 War, theArab Liberation Army defending al-Shajara battledIsraeli forces in the village in early March.[26] It was captured by Israel on May 6, 1948, by the 12th Battalion,Golani Brigade — the entire population fled leaving twenty dead.[27][4][28]
The Palestinian historianWalid Khalidi described the place in 1992:
The ruins of houses and broken steel bars protrude from beds of wild vegetation. One side of an arched doorway still stands. The western part of the site and the nearby hill are covered with cactus. Cattle barns belonging to the nearby settlement ofIlaniyya stand on the southern and eastern sides of the site. On the northern edge is a wide, deep well with a spiral stairway inside (used for periodic cleaning and maintenance of the well). Fig,doum-palm, andchinaberry trees grow in the area.[22]
