Samakh (Arabic:سمخ) was aPalestinian Arab village at the south end ofLake Tiberias (the Sea of Galilee) inOttoman Galilee and laterMandatory Palestine (now inIsrael). It was the site ofbattle in 1918 duringWorld War I.

Samakh سمخ Samach
Samakh from the air, 1931
Etymology: "fish"[1] or "gum"[2]
1870s map 1940s map modern map 1940s with modern overlay map A series of historical maps of the area around Samakh, Tiberias (click the buttons)
Samakh Location withinMandatory Palestine
Coordinates:32°42′18″N35°35′15″E / 32.70500°N 35.58750°E /32.70500; 35.58750
Palestine grid	205/234
Geopolitical entity	Mandatory Palestine
Subdistrict	Tiberias
Date of depopulation	28 April 1948[5]
Area [4]
• Total	9,265 dunams (9.265 km2 or 3.577 sq mi)
Population  (1945)
• Total	3,460[3][4]
Cause(s) of depopulation	Military assault byYishuv forces
Current Localities	Ma'agan[6][7]Tel Katzir[7]Masada,[7]Sha'ar HaGolan[7]

In the 19th century,Algerian migrants settled in Samakh, transforming it into one of the largest Algerian concentrations in the district.^[8] Between 1905 and 1948, the town was an important stop on theJezreel Valley railway andHejaz railway, being the last effective stop in theBritish Mandate of Palestine (the station atal-Hamma was geographically isolated). It had a population of 3,320ArabMuslims andArab Christians in 1945.^[9]

The town's inhabitants fled afterHaganah forces captured the town on 3 March 1948, and the remainder left in the wake of an assault by theGolani Brigade against theSyrian army on 18 April 1948. Most of the former residents becameinternally displaced refugees in theArab city ofNazareth.^[10] Today, theTzemah Industrial Zone and part ofkibbutzMa'agan are on the site of the former village.

The village was on flat land in theJordan Valley, on the southernmost shore ofLake Tiberias, only a short distance east of the point whereRiver Jordan exits from the lake. Samakh was the largest village in the Tiberias district in terms of area and population and was a major transportation link. A station served the village on the railroad line that ran on theJezreel Valley railway, an extension of theHejaz Railway. This railway station was the border station between the British Mandate of Palestine and the French Mandate of Syria.^[11] It lay on a highway that ran along the lake shore and led to the city ofTiberias in the northwest. Sailing routes on Lake Tiberias also linked Samakh with Tiberias's harbour.^[12]

In the lateOttoman era,Pierre Jacotin named the villageSemak on his map from 1799.^[13] Most houses were built ofadobe, but some were built of the black (basalt) stone that was abundant in theGolan area near Samakh.^[12]Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, aSwiss traveler toPalestine who saw the village (which he calledSzammagh), in 1812, described it as a collection of thirty or forty mud houses alongside more costly houses built of black stone. He said about 100faddans (1 fadda = 100–250dunams) were cultivated in the immediate vicinity.^[14][15]

In 1838Edward Robinson also found the village to contain 30-40 adobe huts, and a few built of black stone.^[16]

In 1875,Victor Guérin found the village to be divided into two parts, and built of adobe bricks or volcanic stones.^[17] In 1881, thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine described it as a village of 200 inhabitants who cultivated the surrounding plain.^[18]

G. Schumacher, who visited the site in 1883, described the village as being inhabited mostly by people who immigrated there fromAlgiers.^[19]

Samakh was the location of one of the first airfields in Palestine, built by the Turks (with German assistance) in 1917 for military use.^[20]

The village and its railway station were the site of a battle between British/Australian and German/Turkish forces inWorld War I. The battle ended in an Allied victory and opened up the way toDamascus forGeneral Allenby's troops. It was described byField Marshal Wavell as the most fierce and cruel battle in the Palestinian theater.^[21]

During the British Mandate era Samakh grew in importance, because of its railway station at the border of Palestine to Syria. The railway station was on the way between Haifa and Damascus. Through the increased prices for transporting the Goods fabricated in Damascus to Beirut, Haifa became the preferred export destination of Damascene merchants. From there the products could be shipped all over the world. In Samakh those products got checked and the customs raised while the passports got controlled in the pass office of the railway line. Many merchants were coming together in Samakh and that is why in 1923 a restaurant was opened there.^[22]

In the1922 census of Palestine, conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities, Samakh, together withAl-Hamma, had a total population of 976. Of these, 922 wereMuslims, 28Jews, one follower of theBaháʼí Faith and 25Christians;^[23] where the Christians were 6 Orthodox, 1 Roman Catholic, 2 Melkite, 11 Armenian and 5 Anglican.^[24] In the1931 census the population had increased to 1900; 4 Druse, 76 Christians, 40 Jews and 1780 Muslims, in a total of 480 houses.^[25]

In 1923 a local council was created, which still administered Samakh by 1945. The council's expenditure grew steadily, from P£310 in 1929 to P£1,100 in 1944.^[26]

In 1929–1935, the airfield in Samakh was used forImperial Airways passenger services as a stop en route toBaghdad and further toKarachi.^[27] Difficult weather conditions in the area led to destruction of aHannibal aircraft, and to relocation of the passenger services toGaza.^[28]

In the1944/45 statistics, the population of Samakh had increased to 3,320 Muslims, 130 Christians and 10 of other faiths, a total of 3,460 persons.^[3] The majority of the population belonged to the settledBedouin tribes of the 'Arab al-Suqur and 'Arab al-Bashatiwa. The village had two schools, one for boys and another for girls. Their chief crops were bananas and grain; in 1944/45 8,523 dunums were planted in cereals,^[12][29] while 239 dunams were built-up (urban) land.^[30]

The village was captured by theHaganah in the1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine, along with the British border guard base nearby, and became a military outpost.

Samakh that changed hands twice in theBattles of the Kinarot Valley, between the Haganah and theSyrian Army. On May 21, 1949, after the Syrian retreat, the Haganah set up a position in Samakh.^[31]

Walid Khalidi wrote in 1992, that the structure remaining of Samakh was the ruins of the railway station and a water reservoir. The members ofDegania Alef kibbutz built a public park, a petrol station, and factories known as the Tzemah Factories on the village site.^[7] TheKinneret College is also located there.

ThekibbutzimMasada andSha'ar HaGolan were established southeast of the village site in 1937, and have since expanded onto lands within Samakh's former jurisdiction. BothMa'agan and the nearby kibbutzTel Katzir were built on Samakh's land in 1949. The kibbutzim Deganya Alef andDeganya Bet are also close to Samakh's location, but not on land that belonged to the village.^[7]

TheTzemah Junction, between highways90,92 and98, is next to the site of Samakh; near the road junction is theTzemach regional center [he], with a public beach, a sprawlingshopping centre, an industrial area and so forth.

• Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel

• Welcome to Samakh
• Samakh,Zochrot
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 6:IAA,Wikimedia commons
• Samakh, from theKhalil Sakakini Cultural Center
• Samakh Railway Station