Khirbet al-Wa'ra al-Sawda' خربة الوعرة السوداء | |
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.jpg) 1870s map.jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map.jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Khirbat al-Wa'ra al-Sawda' (click the buttons) | |
  Khirbet al-Wa'ra al-Sawda' Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:32°50′02″N35°28′51″E / 32.83389°N 35.48083°E /32.83389; 35.48083 | |
| Palestine grid | 195/248 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Tiberias |
| Date of depopulation | 2 November 1948[2] |
| Area | |
• Total | 7,036dunams (7.036 km2; 2.717 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 1,870[1] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Expulsion byYishuv forces |
Khirbat al-Wa'ra al-Sawda' (Arabic:خربة الوعرة السوداء) was aPalestinianArab village in theTiberias Subdistrict. In 1945, the village had a population of 1,870 Arabs.[3] It was depopulated during the1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on April 18, 1948. It was located 7.5 km northeast ofTiberias. Some of the villagers fled toSyria while others migrated to the centralGalilee.
Khirbat al-Wa'ra al-Sawda' was classified as a hamlet by thePalestine Index Gazetteer. Situated on a small plateau composed of volcanic stone, it was connected toHittin by a dirt road and overlookedWadi Hamam andLake Tiberias.[4]
During theBritish Mandate period in Palestine, the village's houses—which were constructed from stone—were clustered together in an irregular pattern.Bedouin tents were set up for inhabitants who had not built permanent homes. Most of the residents, all of whom wereMuslims, belonged to the 'Arab al-Mawasi tribe, while the remainder were members of the Arab al-Wuhayb tribe.[5]
Shrines were built for two localsheikhs, Umar al-Qadhim and Musa al-Qadhim, at the northern outskirts of Khirbat al-Wa'ra al-Sawda. Religious ceremonies were held by the villagers at the tombs.
The village comprised a total area of 7,036dunums in the1945 statistics.[3] Agriculture was the primary economic sector, with olives and grain being the principal crops grown, with a large number of inhabitants were employed in cereal farming, which occupied about 29% of the land area.[6]
Types of landuse in dunums by Arabs in 1945:[6][7]
| The land ownership of the village before occupation in dunums:[3]
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According to Palestinian historianWalid Khalidi, no published accounts of Khirbat al-Wa'ra al-Sawda's capture byIsraeli forces during the1948 Arab-Israeli War have been recorded. Khalidi suggests it was possible that the village was occupied in the wake ofTiberias' fall on April 18, 1948, whenHaganah forces attacked a few nearby villages afterward. A second possibility was that it was seized in the course ofOperation Dekel in mid-July as Israeli forces advanced eastward after capturingNazareth.[5]
An oral report from the village's residents claims amassacre occurred in late October and early November 1948. The report entailed thatJewish troops rounded up 15 men from Khirbat al-Wa'ra al-Sawda' who were later taken to the nearby Arab village ofEilabun and shot them, killing all but one. He fled toSyria with most of the Arab al-Mawasi. The remaining inhabitants relocated to the centralGalilee where they joined other Bedouin tribes.[5]
No Jewish towns were built on village lands, butArbel was constructed 2 kilometers (1.2 mi) southeast of the village site in 1949, on the land ofHittin, andRavid was constructed 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) west of the village site. Khalidi states "No traces of the houses remain. Stone terraces provide the only indication of a former village on the site. The site and lands are used largely as grazing areas, although some of the lands are cultivated by Israelis."[5]
