Qaddita قدّيتا Kaditta | |
|---|---|
Village | |
| Etymology: from personal name[1] | |
.jpg) 1870s map.jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map.jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Qaddita (click the buttons) | |
  Qaddita Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:33°00′17″N35°28′5″E / 33.00472°N 35.46806°E /33.00472; 35.46806 | |
| Palestine grid | 194/267 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Safad |
| Date of depopulation | May 11, 1948[4] |
| Area | |
• Total | 2,441dunams (2.441 km2; 0.942 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 240[2][3] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Influence of nearby town's fall |
| Current Localities | Kadita |
Qaddita (Arabic:قدّيتا, transliteration:Qaddîtâ) was aPalestinianArab village of 240, located 4.5 kilometers (2.8 mi) northwest ofSafad. It was captured and depopulated in the1948 Arab-Israeli War, with some of its inhabitants expelled or fleeing to nearby'Akbara where they live asinternally displaced Palestinians and others to refugee camps inLebanon orSyria.
It is possible that the name "Qaddita" is anArabic distortion of theAramaic wordkaddish.[5]
Qaddita was under theOttoman Empire in 1517, and by 1596 it was administrated by thenahiya ("subdistrict") of Jira, part ofSanjak Safad. The population was 27 households, an estimated 149 inhabitants, allMuslims. They paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on wheat, barley, vineyards, beehives, and goats; a total of 4,030akçe.[6][7]
The village appeared under the name ofKadis on the map thatPierre Jacotin compiled duringNapoleon's invasion of 1799.[8]
The village was reported to be totally destroyed in the devastatingGalilee earthquake of 1837.[9] In 1838,Robinson noted: "Kadita has many vineyards and fig trees in its neighbourhood, and was greatly injured by the earthquake".[10] He also noted it as a village located in the Safad district.[11]
In 1875,Victor Guérin found "only ten houses, inhabited by as many Moslem families.Cisterns cut in the rock prove that it is the site of an ancient place."[12]
In 1881, thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine (SWP) describedKadditha: "a mud and stone village, containing about 200 Muslems, situated on the slope of a hill, with gardens of figs. There is abirket and spring."[13]
A population list from about 1887 showedKadditha to have about 315 inhabitants; all Muslims.[14]
Under the rule of theBritish Mandate in Palestine, Qaddita expanded north and south, its houses were clustered together, and built of stone.[5] In the1922 census of Palestine, Qaddita had a population of 110; all Muslims,[15] increasing in the1931 census to 170, still all Muslims, in a total of 32 houses.[16]
Its economy was based on animal husbandry and crop cultivation, mainly grains, figs, pomegranates, and grapes as well as olives which by 1943 covered 77dunams.[5] In the1945 statistics the population was 240 Muslims,[2] and the total land area was 2,441dunums;[3] Of this, 150 dunums was plantations and irrigable land, 1,452cereals,[17] while 31 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[18]
Like many otherPalestinian villages in the easternGalilee, Qaddita was evacuated a day afterSafad fell to theIsraelis during Operation Yiftach on May 10. Some villagers were evicted to the village ofAkbara, south of Safad, where they, according toWalid Khalidi, lived under harrowing circumstances. NoJewish towns were built on village lands.[5] Khalidi describes the remains of the village being "tombs from the cemetery and stone rubble from the destroyed homes".[19]
