Kafr Bir'im كفر برعم Kefr Berem | |
|---|---|
 The church of Kafr Bir'im | |
| Etymology: The village of Bir'im[1] | |
.jpg) 1870s map.jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map.jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Kafr Bir'im (click the buttons) | |
  Kafr Bir'im Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:33°02′37″N35°24′51″E / 33.04361°N 35.41417°E /33.04361; 35.41417 | |
| Palestine grid | 189/272 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Safad |
| Date of depopulation | early November 1948[3] |
| Area | |
• Total | 12,250dunams (12.25 km2; 4.73 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 710[2] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Expulsion byYishuv forces |
| Current Localities | Bar'am National Park,Bar'am[4][5]Dovev[5] |
Kafr Bir'im, alsoKefr Berem (Arabic:كفر برعم,Hebrew:כְּפַר בִּרְעָם), was a former village inMandatory Palestine, located in modern-day northernIsrael, 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) south of theLebanese border and 11.5 kilometers (7.1 mi) northwest ofSafed. The village was situated 750 meters (2,460 ft) above sea level. "The village stood on a rocky hill only a little higher than the surrounding area and faced north and west."[6]
In ancient times, it was aJewish village known as Kfar Bar'am. It became culturallyArabized during the Middle Ages.[citation needed] In the earlyOttoman era it was wholly Muslim. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was noted as a predominantlyMaronite Christian village. A church overlooking it at an elevation of 752 meters (2,467 ft) was built on the ruins of an older church destroyed in theearthquake of 1837. In 1945, it had a population of 710 people, most of them Christians.[6]
The Palestinian Christian villagers were expelled byZionist forces during the1948 Palestine war. A few years later, on September 16, 1953 the village was destroyed by theIsraeli military in order to prevent the villagers' return and in defiance of anIsraeli Supreme Court decision recognizing the villager's right to return to their homes.[7][8][9][10] By 1992, the only standing structure was the church and belltower.[6][additional citation(s) needed]
The village was originally Kfar Bar'am, a Jewish village which was established in ancient times.[11] The remains of the 3rd-centuryKfar Bar'am synagogue on the outskirts of the town are still visible, as is another ruinedsynagogue in the center of the village.[12][13]
Among the findings here is anAramaic bronzeamulet inscribed inHebrew letters, believed to offer protection to "Yudan, son of Nonna". This artifact was unearthed during excavations led by Aviam in 1998 at the small synagogue near Bar'am.[14]
A visitor in the thirteenth century described an Arab village containing the remains of two ancient synagogues.[15]
In 1596, Kafr Bir'im appeared inOttomantax registers as being in theNahiya ofJira, part ofSanjak Safad. It had a population of 114 households and 22 bachelors; all noted asMuslim. The villagers paid taxes on wheat, barley, goats and beehives, but most of the taxes were paid as a fixed sum; total revenue was 13,400akçe.[16][17]
Kafr Bir'im was badly damaged in theGalilee earthquake of 1837. The local church and a row of columns from the ancient synagogue collapsed.[18] In 1838 it was noted as aMaronite village in the Safad region.[19]
In 1852 it was estimated that the village had a population of 160 males, all Maronites andMelkites.[20] During the1860 civil war in Lebanon,Muslims andDruzes attacked the Christian village.[21]
In 1881, thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine described the village as being built of stone, surrounded by gardens, olive trees and vineyards, with a population of between 300 and 500.[22]
A population list from about 1887 showedKefr Bir’im to have about 1,285 inhabitants, all Christian.[23]
In the1922 census of Palestine, conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities,Kufr Berim had a population of 469; allMaronite Christians.[24][25] By the1931 census there were 554 people in the village; 547 Christians and 7 Muslims, in a total of 132 houses.[26]
In the1945 statistics, Kafr Bir'im had a population of 710, consisting of 10 Muslims and 700 Christians,[2] with 12,250dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[27] Of this, 1,101 dunams were irrigated or used for plantations, 3,718 for cereals,[28] while 96 dunams were classified as urban land.[29]
TheInteractive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question describes the pre-1948 modern period in Kafr Bir'im thus: "Their houses, made of stone and mud, were built close together. Some of the land was forested. Agriculture, irrigated from the abundant springs, was the primary occupation of the villagers, who were especially active in olive and fruit cultivation."[6]
Some villagers assisted European Jews traveling to Palestine by way of Lebanon by distracting British police officers, who were restricting Jewish immigration.[30]
The village population in 1948 was estimated as 1,050 inhabitants.[citation needed]
Kafr Bir'im was captured by theHaganah on October 31, 1948 duringOperation Hiram. In November 1948 most of the Palestinian inhabitants were expelled until the military operation was complete, and none were subsequently permitted to return.[31] Families camped in the orchards outside the village untilBechor Sheetrit ordered them to relocate to nearbyJish in the homes emptied by the expelled Muslim villagers. Around 250 Bir'imites could not find homes in Jish, many of whom crossed the border to Lebanon.[30]
Today the villagers and their descendants number about 2,000 people in Israel. In addition, there are villagers and descendants in Lebanon and in western countries.[32] The majority of the villagers remained in the territory that became the state of Israel.[33]
In 1949, with cross-border infiltration a frequent occurrence, Israel did not allow the villagers to return to Bir'im on the grounds that Jewish settlement at the place would deter infiltration.[34][clarification needed] KibbutzBar'am was established by demobilized soldiers on the lands of the village.[citation needed]
In 1953, the residents of former Kafr Bir'im appealed to theSupreme Court of Israel to return to their village. The court ruled that the authorities must answer to why they were not allowed to return. In September, the court ruled that the villagers should be allowed to return to their homes. However after the court ruling, an Israeli Air Force bombing on September 16, 1953 "levelled" the village and 1,170hectares of land were expropriated by the state.[6][7][9] Villagers recount watching the firebombing of the village from a hill inJish they later called "Bir'imites wailing place."[30] Ultimately, the court's decision to allow the Palestinian villagers to return was not enforced.[35]
In his bookBlood Brothers, FatherElias Chacour, who was a child away at school at the time, records the story of what happened, as told to him by his brothers:
For the second time, the village elders marched across the hill and presented the order to the Zionist soldiers...Without question or dispute, the commanding officer read the order. He shrugged. 'This is fine...We need some time to pull out. You can return on the 25th.'
On Christmas! What an incredible Christmas gift for the village. The elders fairly ran across the hill toGish to spread the news. At long last they would all be going home. The Christmas Eve vigil became a celebration of thanksgiving and joyful praise. On Christmas morning...bundled in sweaters and old coats supplied by the Bishop's relief workers, the villagers gathered in the first light of day...Mother, Father, Wardi, and my brothers all joined in singing a jubilant Christmas hymn as they mounted the hill...At the top of the hill their hymn trailed into silence...Why were the soldiers still there? In the distance, a soldier shouted, and they realized they had been seen. A cannon blast sheared the silence. Then another—a third...Tank shells shrieked into the village, exploding in fiery destruction. Houses blew apart like paper. Stones and dust flew amid the red flames and billowing black smoke. One shell slammed into the side of the church, caving in a thick stone wall and blowing off half the roof. The bell tower teetered, the bronze bell knelling, and somehow held amid the dust clouds and cannon fire... Then all was silent—except for the weeping of women and the terrified screams of babies and children.
Mother and Father stood shaking, huddled together with Wardi and my brothers. In a numbness of horror, they watched as bulldozers plowed through the ruins, knocking down much of what had not already blown apart or tumbled. At last, Father said—to my brothers or to God, they were never sure—'Forgive them.' Then he led them back to Gish.
— Father Elias Chacour
The leader ofMelkite Greek Catholics in Israel, ArchbishopGeorgios Hakim, alertedthe Vatican and other church authorities, and the Israeli government offered the villagers compensation. Archbishop Hakim accepted compensation for the land belonging to the village church.[37]
In the summer of 1972, the villagers of Kafr Bir'im andIqrit went back to repair their churches and refused to leave. Their action was supported by archbishop Hakim's successor, ArchbishopJoseph Raya. The police removed them by force. The government barred the return of the villagers so as not to create a precedent.[38] In August 1972, a large group of Israeli Jews went to Kafr Bir'im and Iqrit to show solidarity with the villagers. Several thousand turned out for a demonstration inJerusalem.[39][30] The Israeli authorities said most of the inhabitants of the village had received compensation for their losses, but the villagers said they had only been compensated for small portions of their holdings.[40] In 1972, the government rescinded all "closed regions" laws in the country, but then reinstated these laws for the two villages Kafr Bir'im and Iqrit.
This was met with criticism by the opposition parties. In the 1977 election campaignMenachem Begin, then leader of the right-wingLikud party, promised the villagers that they could return home if he was elected. This promise became a great embarrassment to him after he had won, and a decision on the issue was postponed as long as possible. It was left to his agriculture minister to reveal to the public that a special cabinet committee had decided that the villagers of Kafr Bir'im and Iqrit would not be allowed to return.[41]
Families displaced from Bir'im to nearby areas return to the village ruins to celebrate holidays and special events at the village church, as well as pick fruit and forage from the remaining gardens. Summer camps (called "roots and belonging") for children of the displaced families began in the 1970's and were held annually from the mid-80's onward, and served as a model for other internally displaced Palestinian communities.[30]
On the occasion of official visits to Israel by popesJohn Paul II in 2000 andBenedict XVI in 2009, the villagers made public appeals to the Vatican for help in their endeavour to return to Kafr Bir'im, but have so far remained unsuccessful.[42][43]
The operational name of theMunich massacre of Israeli athletes in 1972 was named after this village andIqrit.[44]
The Palestinian artistHanna Fuad Farah made memory of Kafr Bir'im a central theme of his work.[45]
PriestElias Chacour, who was expelled from Kafr Bir'im at age 6, wrote of his return to the village ruins by way ofBar'am National Park in his autobiography.[30]
Kafr Bir'im is among the demolished Palestinian villages for which commemorative Marches of Return have taken place, such as those organized bythe Association for the Defence of the Rights of the Internally Displaced.[46]
