Al-Butayha البطيحة | |
|---|---|
Village | |
.jpg) 1870s map.jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map.jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Al-Butayha (click the buttons) | |
  Al-Butayha Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:32°54′59″N35°37′28″E / 32.91639°N 35.62444°E /32.91639; 35.62444 | |
| Palestine grid | 208/257 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Safad |
| Date of depopulation | May 4, 1948 |
| Area | |
• Total | 16,690dunams (16.69 km2; 6.44 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 650[1] |
| Current Localities | Almagor[2] |
Al-Butayha (Arabic:البطيحة) was aPalestinianArab village in theSafad Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on May 4, 1948, by thePalmach's First Battalion duringOperation Matateh. It was located 13 km southeast ofSafad, quarter of a mile east of theJordan River, a little northeast of the northern tip of theSea of Galilee. Many of the inhabitants were forced intoSyria.
Al-Butayha was located close theSyrian border. The name means "marshland" in Arabic, in reference to the vast stretch of land in the area. In 1459 the village was visited by the Arab geographeral-Qalqashandi.[2]
It was classified as a hamlet by the Palestine Index Gazetteer.[2]
In the1944/45 statistics the village was counted withArab al-Shamalina, and together they had 650Muslim inhabitants,[1] with a land area of 16,690 dunums,[3][1] with 3,842 dunums allocated to cereal farming, 238 dunums under irrigation or used for orchards,[4] while 12,610 dunams were classified as non-cultivable land.[5]
On May 4, 1948, the village was attacked byHaganahs duringOperation Matateh ('Operation Broom'), part ofOperation Yiftach.[2] Their orders were to "destroy any points of assembly for invading forces from the east”.
ThePalmach's first Battalion, in addition to units from theAlexandroni Brigade and localHaganah troops, started with firingmortar rounds against the villages, then proceeded to burn down them down. A report stated they "blew up most of the houses and burned the tents of Kedar", betweenTabgha and Buheita. Some 15 Arabs were killed, and the rest fled to Syria.[6]According to Israeli historianBenny Morris,Operation Matateh resulted in 2000 Arabs all fleeing across the border to Syria.[2]
The village was razed in 1948. Some of the cultivated trees such as olives and palms still grow among the ruined houses.[2] Today the village lands are occupied by the settlement ofAlmagor, which was established in 1961. A popular picnicking spot,Park ha-Yarden ("Jordan River Park"), is 200 metres south of the site.[2]
