Fir'im فرعم Feram[1] | |
|---|---|
Village | |
| Etymology: from personal name[2] | |
.jpg) 1870s map.jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map.jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Fir'im (click the buttons) | |
  Fir'im Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:32°59′07″N35°31′59″E / 32.98528°N 35.53306°E /32.98528; 35.53306 | |
| Palestine grid | 200/265 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Safad |
| Date of depopulation | May 26, 1948[5] |
| Area | |
• Total | 2,023dunams (2.023 km2; 0.781 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 740[3][4] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault byYishuv forces |
| Current Localities | Hatzor HaGlilit |
Fir'im (Arabic:فرعم) was aPalestinianArab village in theSafad Subdistrict that was depopulated during the1948 Palestine war. It was first attacked during the1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on May 2, 1948, by thePalmach's First Battalion duringOperation Yiftach. In 1945 the population had been 740.
Fir'im was located 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) northeast ofSafad. It was situated on the southeastern slope of Mount Kan'an, and overlooked land betweenLake Tiberias andLake Hula.[6]
An archaeological site near Fir'im contained the ruins of buildings and rock-hewn tombs.[6] In the late 19th century, remains of ancient structures built into the modern buildings were observed.[7]
In 1964, a resident of Afula reported the discovery of an intricately inscribed limestone lintel featuring a bilingualAramaic/Greek funerary inscription dedicated to Yosef, son of ʿUzi (יוסף בר עוזי). He said he had found it at Fir'im years earlier.Triglyphs divide thelintel, with arosette on the right and aJewish script inscription on the left, presented intabula ansata. Below the Jewish script, a Greek inscription is also in tabula ansata.[8]
According to theOttomans 1596tax records, Fir'im belonged to thenahiya (subdistrict) of Jira, (in theSafad Sanjak), and had a 72 households and 9 bachelors, an estimated population of 446, allMuslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on various agricultural product, such as wheat, barley, olives, goats, beehives, and a press that was used for processing either olives or grapes; total of 6,222akçe.[9][10] According to HaReuveni, Jews also lived in Fir'im in the 16th century, and the son of RabbiYom Tov Tzahalon died there.[11]
The village appeared under the name ofFarhan on the map thatPierre Jacotin compiled duringNapoleon's invasion of 1799.[12]
In 1838, it was noted asFur'am, a Muslim village, located in theel-Khait district.[13]
In 1875Victor Guérin noted that the village contained about twenty houses.[14]In 1881 thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine described Fir'im as a stone-built village, situated at the end of a ridge. The villagers, who wereMuslim, numbered about 200 and cultivatedolives andfigs.[15]
A population list from about 1887 showedFe'ram to have about 765 Muslim inhabitants.[16]
In the1922 census of Palestine conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities,Fer'em had a population of 449; all Muslims,[17] increasing in the1931 census to 527, still all Muslims, in a total of 109 houses.[18]
Most of the stone houses in the village were densely situated in a northwest—southeast order.[6] The village had a village council, and an elementary school for boys.[6] The village economy was based on agriculture; fruit was the main crop, followed by grain. The village also had two olive presses.[6]
In the1945 statistics the population was 740 Muslims,[4] and the total land area was 2,023dunums.[3] Of this, 700dunams (0.70 km2; 0.27 sq mi) was allocated to cereal farming, while 935 dunams (0.935 km2; 0.361 sq mi) were used for plantations or were irrigated.[4][6][19]
The village was attacked by forces from theJewishparamilitary organizationHaganah on the night of 2 May 1948. The attack, calledOperation Yiftach, was led byYigal Allon. In the operation, the villages of'Ein al Zeitun andBiriyya were conquered, while the villages of Fir'im,Qabba'a andMughr al-Khayt were intimidated withmortar barrages, which precipitated mass evacuation.[20] However, the villagers soon began to return, only to find that Fir'im was torched byPalmach forces on 22 May.[21] During late May it was reported that hungry refugees once again began to drift back to their old villages, including Fir'im. Mainly the villagers tried to harvest their crops, and many erected temporary shelters outside their old villages from where they could reach their crops and were relatively inaccessible to Israeli troops.[22] TheHaganah acted to curb this, and on 24 May, they started the "systematic torching of the villages of the Hula [Valley]".[23]
By late June 1948, Israeli military intelligence reported (somewhat inaccurately, according toMorris), that "All the Arab villages in the Safad area as far [northwestward] asSasa were empty".[24]
Today the settlement ofHatzor HaGlilit (Chatzor ha-Gelilit), established in 1953, is situated about 1 kilometer southeast of where the village stood.[6]
The Palestinian HistorianWalid Khalidi described the village site in 1992: "The rubble of destroyed village houses is scattered across the site. Some terraces with olive trees remain. Olive trees and cactuses grow on the site and the surrounding lands. Some small portions of these lands are wooded but most are used for pasture."[25]
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