Sa'sa' سعسع | |
|---|---|
 Sa'sa', 1939 | |
| 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 Sa'sa' (click the buttons) | |
  Sa'sa' Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:33°01′43″N35°23′40″E / 33.02861°N 35.39444°E /33.02861; 35.39444 | |
| Palestine grid | 187/270 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Safad |
| Date of depopulation | 30 October 1948[4] |
| Area | |
• Total | 14,796dunams (14.796 km2; 5.713 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 1,130[2][3] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault byYishuv forces |
| Secondary cause | Expulsion byYishuv forces |
| Current Localities | Sasa[5] |
Sa'sa' (Arabic:سعسع,Hebrew:סעסע) was aPalestinian village, located 12 kilometres northwest ofSafed, that was depopulated byIsraeli forces during the1948 Arab-Israeli war. The village sufferedtwo massacres committed byHaganah forces: one in mid-February 1948 and the other at the end of October the same year.[6][7][8] Its place has been taken since 1949 bySasa, anIsraelikibbutz.
Sa'sa' was built on the site of aBronze Age (early second millennium B.C.) settlement whose remains (walls, tombs, cisterns, and olive and wine presses), have been unearthed.[dubious –discuss] One village house had foundations which has been dated back to fourth century by archaeologists.[6] Architectural fragments of asynagogue from theLate Roman and/or Byzantine period were excavated at the site.[9]
The Arab geographerAbū 'Ubayd 'Abd Allāh al-Bakrī (d.1094) reported that one passed through Sa'sa' when travelling fromDayr al-Qasi toSafad.[6] A house excavated in 2003 yielded ceramics dated to the fourteenth–fifteenth centuries CE, in the Mamluk period.[10]
In 1516 Sa'sa', with the rest of Palestine, came under the control of theOttoman Empire. Shortly afterwards Sa'sa' was made a checkpoint where travellers were charged atoll andtariffs were collected on various goods. The first records of these levies are from 1525/6.[11]
In 1596 Sa'sa' was classified as a village in thenahiya ("subdistrict") of Jira, part ofliwa' ("district") of Safad, with a population of 457. It paid taxes onwheat,barley,olives and fruits, as well as ongoats,beehives, andvineyards.[12] According to thesetax records all the villagers wereMuslim.[13] In the eighteenth century Sa'sa' is mentioned as one of the fortified villages ofGalilee controlled byZahir al-Umar's son, Ali. After the defeat of Zahir al-Umar in 1775, Ali continued to resist the Ottoman authorities and defeated an army sent against him at Sa'sa'.[14]
Excavations in 1972 on the west side of the hill revealed the remains of a large rectangular structure (15m x 41m) with 2m thick walls made out of rubble stone withashlar facing. At the south-west corner of the building there was a solid semi-circular tower (diameter 7m). The main part of the structure is a rectangular hall divided into two rows of fivebays. There was a central row of four piers and two half-piers which would probably have supported a cross-vaulted roof. In a later phase an outer skin (2m wide) was added, making the wall a total of 4m thick. At the same time the round tower was converted into a square plan. According to the excavators, the place was occupied for a "fairly long" period, and suggest that it was probably part of the fortress built by Ali, (son ofZahir al-Umar) in the eighteenth century.[15] The design of the building is compatible with other fortresses of the period, likeQalat Jiddin andDayr Hanna.[13]
In 1875,Victor Guérin found it to be a Muslim village with about 350 inhabitants.[16]
In 1881, thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Sa'sa' as a village with a population of 300, built on a slight hill that was surrounded by vineyards and olive and fig trees.[17]
A population list from about 1887 showedSa'sa' to have about 1,740 inhabitants, all Muslim.[18]
Pottery vessels from theRashaya al-Fukhar workshops, dating to the late Ottoman and early Mandate eras have been found here.[19]
In the1922 census of Palestine conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities,Sa'sa had a population of 634; allMuslim,[20] increasing in the1931 census to 840, still all Muslims, in a total of 154 houses.[21]
The village had a small market-place in the village center with a few shops, as well as amosque and two elementary schools, one for girls and one for boys.[6]
In the1944/45 statistics the village had a population of 1,130 Muslims[2] and a total land area of 14,796 dunams.[3] Of this, 4,496dunums were used for cereals; 1,404 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards,[22] while 48 dunams were built-up (urban) area.[23]
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During the1948 Palestine war, Sa'sa' was the site oftwo massacres committed by Israeli forces.
On the night of 14-15 February 1948,Yigal Allon, commander of thePalmach in the north, ordered an attack on Sa'sa'. The order was given toMoshe Kelman, the deputy commander of Third Battalion. The order read: "You have to blow up twenty houses and kill as many warriors as possible".[24][25] According toPappé, the quote says which said "warriors" should be read "villagers".[24] Khalidi, referencing "The History of the Haganah" byBen-Zion Dinur, say they referred to the massacre as "one of the most daring raids into enemy territory."[25] APalmach unit entered the village during the night and, without resistance, planted explosives against some of the houses. Historians estimate 60 villagers were killed and 16-20 houses demolished.[26][27]
A second massacre occurred after the surrender of the village on 30 October. HistorianSaleh Abdel Jawad writes that "many villagers" were killed.[28][29]
Currently, there are few remains of the Palestinian village of Sa'sa', with the exception of the villagemosque, which has now been converted into the kibbutz cultural center.
In 1992, thePalestinian historianWalid Khalidi described the remains of the village: "Some of the old olive trees remain, and a number of walls and houses still stand. Some of the houses are presently used by kibbutzSasa; one of them has an arched entrance and arched windows. A large portion of the surrounding land is forested, the rest is cultivated by Israeli farmers."
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