Kafr Lam كفر لام Kfar Lam | |
|---|---|
Former village | |
 The fortress of Kafr Lam as seen from the southeast | |
| Etymology: The village of Lam[1] | |
.jpg) 1870s map.jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map.jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Kafr Lam (click the buttons) | |
  Kafr Lam Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:32°38′15″N34°56′04″E / 32.63750°N 34.93444°E /32.63750; 34.93444 | |
| Palestine grid | 144/227 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Haifa |
| Date of depopulation | July 16, 1948[4] |
| Area | |
• Total | 6,838dunams (6.838 km2; 2.640 sq mi) |
| Population (1944-45) | |
• Total | 340[2][3] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault byYishuv forces |
| Secondary cause | Influence of nearby town's fall |
| Current Localities | HaBonim,[5]Ein Ayala[6] |
Kafr Lam (Arabic:كفر لام) was aPalestinianArab village located 26 kilometres (16 mi) south ofHaifa on theMediterranean coast. The name of the village was shared with that of anIslamic fort constructed there early in the period ofArab Caliphate rule (638–1099 CE) inPalestine. To theCrusaders, both the fort and the village, which they controlled for some time in the 13th century, were known asCafarlet.
Kafr Lam was depopulated during the1948 Arab-Israeli war. While the village was largely destroyed, some of its former structures and their ruins can be seen in the Israelimoshav ofHaBonim, established on the lands of Kafr Lam in 1949.
According to the Arab geographerYaqut al-Hamawi, the town of Kafr Lam was established nearQisarya by theUmayyad caliphHisham ibn ´Abd al-Malik (AD 724-743).[7][8] The fort built, in the shape of aRomancastrum, was erected during the lateUmayyad or earlyAbbasid period, as aribat meant to guard against attacks from the sea and invasion by the former rulers, theByzantines.[9][10][11]
Kafr Lam was afiefdom of thelord of Caesarea during theCrusader period, and was known at this time asCafarlet.[11][12] In 1200, Cafarlet was granted to a vassal by the Lord of Caesarea,Aymar de Lairon.[13]
In October 1213, Aymar de Lairon pledged thecasalis of Cafarlet and two fiefdoms assurety for a debt of 1,000besants he had taken from theHospitallers.[12][14]In 1232, the Casal of Cafarlet was sold to the Hospitallers for 16,000Saracen besants, the increased value being a result of it having been fortified after a raid on the lordship of Caesarea by troops fromDamascus in 1227.[12]
The Hospitallers transferred ownership over Carfalet to theTemplars by 1255.[15] In 1262 the final exchange of the land of Kafr Lam took place between the Templars and the Hospitallers, leaving Kafr Lam under Templar control.[16]
The village was captured by Muslim forces in 1265, but retaken by the Crusaders shortly thereafter. In 1291, it was taken by theMamluks, who ruled over it from that time until the expansion of theOttoman Empire into Palestine in the early sixteenth century.[6]
Duringearly Ottoman rule in Palestine, in 1596, a farm in Kafr Lam paid taxes to the ruling authorities.[17]Pierre Jacotin named the villageKofour el An on his map from 1799.[18]
Descriptions of Kfar Lam underlater Ottoman rule are available in the writings of European travellers to the region. For example, Mary Rogers, the sister of theBritishvice-consul in Haifa, visited Kafr Lam in 1856 and wrote that its houses were built of mud and stone and that the fields around the village abounded in Indianwheat,millet,sesame,tobacco, and orchards.[19] In 1859, consul Rogers estimated the population to be 120, and the cultivation to be 16feddans.[20]
French explorerVictor Guérin visited in 1870 and noted that Kafr Lam was situated on top of a small hill and was inhabited by about 300 villagers. He further wrote that the village stood within a large stone enclosure that dated to the time of the Crusades.[21]
In 1883, thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine described Kafr Lam as a small village ofadobe hovels crowded within the ancient walls.[20]
A population list from about 1887 showed thatKefr Lam had about 180 inhabitants, all Muslim.[22]
In modern times, the houses of Kafr Lam were made of stone and either mud or cement and were clustered together. The villagers wereMuslims, and maintained amosque. A boys elementary school was built in 1882, but it was closed during the period of theBritish Mandate in Palestine.[citation needed]
In the1922 census of Palestine conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities,Kufr Lam had a population 156, all Muslims,[23] increasing in the1931 census to 215, still all Muslims, in a total of 50 houses.[24]
There were fivewells on village lands. The village economy depended on animal husbandry and agriculture and the main crops cultivated were various sorts of grain.[6]
In the1945 statistics, Kafr Lam had a population of 340 Muslim inhabitants,[2] and the total land area was 6,838 dunams.[3] Of the land, a total of 75 dunams was for plantations and irrigable land, 5,052dunums (1,248acres) for cereals,[25] while 14 dunams were built-up land.[26]
Kafr Lam was evacuated early in May 1948, but by mid-May some of the villagers had returned. On 15 May 1948, the first day of the1948 Arab-Israeli war, troops from theCarmeli Brigade occupied Kafr Lam and neighbouringSarafand, and brieflygarrisoned the two villages. Both villages were re-occupied and cleared of their inhabitants by mid-July 1948.[27] This operation involved the first use of support fire fromIsraeli naval forces, with two warships participating in the attack, aiming light-weapons fire at Kafr Lam and Sarafand.[6]
After the start of the Second Truce, on 19 July 1948, units of theIsrael Defense Forces (IDF) units continued to destroy Palestinian villages in various parts of the country. However, special interest groups, such asarchaeologists, began to complain, calling for curbs on IDF destructiveness. Thus, on 7 October, Haifa District HQ ordered the 123rd Battalion to stop all demolition activities in "Qisarya,Atlit, Kafr Lam andTiberias"; all of which containedRoman or Crusader era ruins.[28]
Following the war the area was incorporated into theState of Israel. Themoshavim ofHaBonim andEin Ayala were established on Kafr Lam's village lands in 1949.[6][29]
In 1992, the village site was described as "[t]he abandoned Crusader fortress and several houses are still standing. One house, that ofAhmad Bey Khalil, has been converted into a school; another is being used as anIsraeli post office."[6]
The population (includes Kafr Lam Station) was 215 in 1931.[24] In 1944/45 the population was 340.[6][3]
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