Sabbarin صبارين Sabarin Sabbarim | |
|---|---|
 Sabbarin, 1940 | |
| Etymology: "rough ground"[1] | |
.jpg) 1870s map.jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map.jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Sabbarin (click the buttons) | |
  Sabbarin Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:32°34′23″N35°1′23″E / 32.57306°N 35.02306°E /32.57306; 35.02306 | |
| Palestine grid | 152/219 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Haifa |
| Date of depopulation | 12–14 May 1948[4] |
| Area | |
• Total | 25,307dunams (25.307 km2; 9.771 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 1,700[2][3] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault byYishuv forces |
| Current Localities | Ramot Menashe,Amikam |
Subbarin was aPalestinian Arab village located 28 kilometers south ofHaifa. It was depopulated and destroyed during the1948 Palestine war as part of the1948 Palestinian expulsion and theNakba.
In 1859 Subbarin had about 600 inhabitants, who cultivated 55faddans (1 faddan =100-250dunums) of land.[5]
The French explorerVictor Guérin visited the village in 1870, and noted that the villagers cultivatedsesame. Awell, called Bir Sabbarin, appeared well built. The village had an estimated 1000 inhabitants, with homes constructed of stones oradobe.[6]
In the 1882, thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine described Sabbarin as a "large" village, situated on a slope. The well was said to be the head of theCaesareaaqueduct.[7] The oval well was 15 feet diameter and 15 feet deep.[8]
A population list from about 1887 showed that Subbarin had about 1,160 inhabitants; allMuslims.[9]
In the1922 census of Palestine, conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities, Sabbarin had a population of 845; 833Muslims and 12 Christian,[10] where the Christians were all Roman Catholics.[11] The population had increased in the1931 census to 1,108; 18 Christians and the rest Muslim, in a total of 256 houses.[12]
In the1945 statistics, the village had a population of 1,700; 1,670 Muslims and 30 Christians[2] and the village's lands spanned 25,307dunams.[3] 12,773 dunums of land used forcereals; 45 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards,[13][14] while 179 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[15]
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Sabbarin was captured byIsraeli forces on May 12, 1948, during the1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine in Operation Coastal Clearing. It was defended by a local militia and possibly theArab Liberation Army. According toBenny Morris, theIrgun (IZL) encountered resistance there and the majority of the villagers fled after 20 of them were killed in a firefight, with an IZL armoured car firing on the villagers as they fled. More than one hundred people who had not fled, including the elderly, women, and children, were held behind barbed wire for a few days before being expelled to nearbyUmm al-Fahm.[16] Others who had fled earlier ended up inrefugee camps in theJenin area.[17]
HistorianSaleh Abdel Jawad writes that a massacre was committed by the Irgun in the village on 12-14 May.[18]
Following the war the area was incorporated into theState of Israel.KibbutzRamot Menashe was established northeast of the site in 1948, andMoshavAmikam was founded in 1950, 1 km south of the village site.[13]
Khalidi described the remains of the village in 1992:
The large site, strewn with the stone debris of houses, is overgrown with wild thorns. The thorns are interspersed withcactuses andpine,fig,olive andmulberry trees. Some of the surrounding lands are used by Israelis as pasture and growing fruit trees.[13]
Sabbarin is among the Palestinian villages for which commemorative Marches of Return have taken place, such as those organized bythe Association for the Defence of the Rights of the Internally Displaced.[19]
From Palestineremembered.com.[17]
