Safsaf صفصاف Safsofa | |
|---|---|
Village | |
 Safsaf in 1938 | |
| Etymology: "theOsier willow"[1] | |
.jpg) 1870s map.jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map.jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Safsaf (click the buttons) | |
  Safsaf Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:33°00′42″N35°26′44″E / 33.01167°N 35.44556°E /33.01167; 35.44556 | |
| Palestine grid | 192/268 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Safad |
| Date of depopulation | 29 October 1948[4] |
| Area | |
• Total | 7,391dunams (7.391 km2; 2.854 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 910[2][3] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault byYishuv forces |
| Secondary cause | Fear of being caught up in the fighting |
| Current Localities | Kfar Hoshen,[5][6]Bar Yohai[7] |
Safsaf (Arabic:صفصافṢafṣāf, "weeping willow") was aPalestinian village 9 kilometres northwest ofSafed, present-dayIsrael. Its villagers fled toLebanon after theSafsaf massacre in October 1948, during the1948 Arab–Israeli War.
The village was called Safsofa inRoman times.[8]
According toYaqut, it was harried in 950 CE by theHamdanid ruler ofAleppo,Sayf al-Dawla.[9]
In the early sixteenth century CE, Safsaf was incorporated into theOttoman Empire, and by the 1596tax records, it was a village in thenahiyah ("subdistrict") of Jira, part ofSanjak Safad. It had a population of 25 households, an estimated 138 persons, allMuslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on several agricultural items, including wheat, barley, olives and fruits, as well as other types of produce, such as beehives and goats; a total of 3,714akçe. A quarter of the revenue went to awaqf (religious endowment).[10][11]
In 1838 Safsaf was noted as a village in the Safad district,[12] while in 1875Victor Guérin described it as a village with fifteen Muslim families.[13]
In 1881 thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine described Safsaf as a small village situated on a plain, with a population of about 100. They also noted that "ornamented stones of a preexisting public building" had been built into the doorway of the villagemosque.[14] The villagers cultivated olive and fig trees and vineyards.[15]
A population list from about 1887 showed Safsaf to have about 740 inhabitants, all Muslim.[16] At this time it was part ofBeirut vilayet.
Safsaf became a part of theBritish Mandate in 1922. During this time, the village lay on the eastern side of theSafad-Tarshiha highway and extended in a northeast–southwest direction. All the residents of Safsaf wereMuslims. A mosque and several shops were located in the village center, and an elementary school was established during this period. Agriculture was the main economic activity, and it was both irrigated from springs and rainfed. Fruits and olives were cultivated on the land north of the village.[6]
In the1922 census of Palestine Safsaf had a population of 521 Muslims,[17] increasing in the1931 census to 662, still all Muslims, in a total of 124 houses.[18]
In the1945 statistics the population was 910 Muslims,[2] with a total of 7,391 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[3] Of this, a total of 2,586 dunums were allotted to cereals; 769 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards,[6][19] while a 72 dunams was built-up (urban) area.[20]
On October 29, 1948,Israeli forces assaulted the village as part ofOperation Hiram.[21] After the villagers surrendered, some 50-70 men weremassacred while bound and four women reported being raped.[6][22][23][24] TheIDF records for this massacre remain classified.[25]
In 1949Kfar Hoshen was established on village land, followed byBar Yohai in 1979, also on village land.[6]
In 1992 the village site was described: "The site is overgrown with grass and scattered trees among which can be seen a few terraces and piles of stones from destroyed houses. A few houses are inhabited by Israelis. A fraction of surrounding land is cultivated by the settlements, and the rest is forested."[6]
