Mansurat al-Khayt منصورة الخيط Mansurat al Kheit[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 Mansurat al-Khayt (click the buttons) | |
  Mansurat al-Khayt Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:32°58′15″N35°36′58″E / 32.97083°N 35.61611°E /32.97083; 35.61611 | |
| Palestine grid | 207/264 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Safad |
| Date of depopulation | January 18, 1948[1] |
| Area | |
• Total | 6,735dunams (6.735 km2; 2.600 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 200[2][3] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault byYishuv forces |
| Current Localities | Kfar Hanassi?[4] However, Khalidi writes that it is on the land of Tuba[5] |
Mansurat al-Khayt was aPalestinian Arab village in theSafad Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on January 18, 1948. It was located 11.5 km east ofSafed, 1 km west of theJordan River.
Part of the name,al-Khayt, came from the area named asard al-khayt, located southwest of thelake of Hula.[6]
Al-Dimashqi (d.1327) wrote aboutAl Khait: "A district of the Upper Ghaur of theJordan Valley. The country resembles that ofIrak in the matter of its rice, its birds, its hot springs, and excellent crops."[7]
In the mid 18th century, The Syrian Sufi teacher and traveller al-Bakri al-Siddiqi (1688-1748/9) noted that he passed byal-Khayt with a judge fromSafad.[5]
In the1922 census of Palestine, conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities,Kerad al Khait had a population of 437Muslims,[8] decreasing in the1931 census whenMansurat el Hula had to 367 Muslims inhabitants, in a total of 61 houses.[9]
In the1945 statistics the village had a population of 200 Muslims,[2] with 6,735 dunams of land, all of which was publicly owned.[3] Of this, 5,052 dunams were used for cereals,[10] while 17 dunams were classified as built-up, public areas.[11]
The village was also known by Mansurat al-Hula to distinguish it fromal-Mansura in Safed and had a shrine for a local sage known as al-Shaykh Mansur from which the village was named after.
The village was temporarily evacuated after aHaganah attack on 18 January 1948. The Haganah was under order to "eliminate" anyone in the village who resisted.[12] It was noted that "houses and shacks were set alight" during the attack.[13]
In July 1948, a new settlement called Habonim, later renamedKfar Hanassi, went up on the land of Mansurat al-Khayt.[14]
