Al-Dawwara

Al-Dawwara
Al-Dawwara
Arabic	الدوّارة
Sub-district	Safad
Coordinates	33°10′43.33″N 35°38′02.70″E
Population	1100 (1945)
Area	5470 dunums
Date of depopulation	May 25, 1948
Cause(s) of depopulation	Whispering campaign

Al-Dawwara (Arabic: الدوّارة‎) was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Safad. It was depopulated during the 1948 War on May 25, 1948 by the Palmach's First Battalion of Operation Yiftach. It was located 27 km northeast of Safad, bordering three rivers that flowed into lake al-Hula: the al-Hasbani, Banyas, and Dan rivers.

In 1945 the village had a population of 1,100 (this figure included 400 Jewish residents of the Kibbutzim ‘Amir and Sde Nehemia).

History

Al-Dawwara was located on on flat terrain, and faced Mount Herrmon (Jabal al-Shaykh) to the northeast. It was near the confluence of three rivers that flowed into Lake Hula: the al-Hasbani, Banyas, and Dan rivers and a road linked it to a high­way that led to Safad.

According to the 1931, the entire population was Muslim except for one Christian and the residents were employed mostly in agricul­ture, growing gram, vegetables, and citrus. In 1944/45 a total of 68 dunums was allocated to the growing of citrus fruits and bananas and 281 dunums was allocated to cereals. A total of 2,135 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards. The older houses in the village was sepa­rated by narrow alleys and mostly made of mud and some with basalt stones.

On receiving news of an imminent attack on the village by Operation Yiftach, many villagers fled on May 25, 1948, but some sources have indicated that some military force in practice was used to drive out the Arabs from the village.

Today there are few remnants of Al-Dawwara except for some stones near a fish pond and today the area is a notable fish hatchery. Kibbutz ‘Amir was established in 1939 about 0.5 km west of the site, and Sde Nechemya in 1940 to the northwest.

Bibliography

• Hadawi, Sami (1970), Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine, Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center, http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html
• Khalidi, Walid (1992), All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948, Washington, D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies, ISBN 0-88728-224-5
• Morris, Benny (2004), The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-00967-7, 9780521009676