Al-Buwayziyya البويزية والميس Buweiziya,[1] | |
|---|---|
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-Buwayziyya (click the buttons) | |
  Al-Buwayziyya Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:33°09′32″N35°34′13″E / 33.15889°N 35.57028°E /33.15889; 35.57028 | |
| Palestine grid | 203/284 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Safad |
| Date of depopulation | May 11, 1948[1] |
| Area | |
• Total | 14,620dunams (14.62 km2; 5.64 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 510[2][3] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Influence of nearby town's fall |
Al-Buwayziyya (Arabic:البويزية والميس) was aPalestinianArab village in theSafad Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on May 11, 1948, by the Palmach's First Battalion ofOperation Yiftach. It was located 22 km northeast ofSafad.
In the1944/45 statistics it had a population 510Muslims.[2][3] The village had elementary school for boys which was founded in 1937.
In the1922 census of Palestine conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities,Buaizia had a population of 276, all Muslims,[4] increasing in the1931 census to 318, still all Muslims, in a total of 75 houses.[5]
The population were mostly engaged inagriculture and mainly grew citrus fruits, grains and vegetables.[6] In 1944/45 it had a total of 14,620 dunum of land,[3] of which 2,770 dunums was allocated to cereal farming, 56 dunums was used for irrigation and orchards,[7] while 17 dunams were classified as urban (built-up) land.[8]
The village was attacked by Israeli forces on 11 May 1948 as part of Operation Yiftach which depopulated eastern Galilee. According to Israeli historianBenny Morris, al-Buwayziyya’s residents fled when they learned that the neighboring village ofal-Khalisa, 5 km to the north, had succumbed to Jewish forces and as a result the village had been evacuated after the Haganah declined the villagers’ request for conditional permission to stay.[6]
In 1992, the village site was described: "On the site where al-Buwayziyya once stood are remains of destroyed houses, a few walls and terraces, and the (intact) concrete roof of one house. The flat portion of the surrounding lands are used by Israelis for agriculture; the more hilly lands serve as pasture."[9]
