Al-Khisas

al-Khisas

الخصاص
'Arab al-Khisas
al-Khisas الخصاص 'Arab al-Khisas
Village
	Ruins of a destroyed house in Al-Khisas after the 1947 Al-Khisas raid
	al-Khisas
	Coordinates: 33°13′31″N 35°37′10″E / 33.22528°N 35.61944°E
Palestine grid	208/292
Geopolitical entity	Mandatory Palestine
Subdistrict	Safad
Date of depopulation	25 May 1948/June 1949
Area
• Total	4,795 dunams (4.795 km2 or 1.851 sq mi)
Population (1945)
• Total	530 (470 Arabs and 60 Jews)
Cause(s) of depopulation	Whispering campaign
Secondary cause	Influence of nearby town's fall
Tertiary cause	Expulsion by Yishuv forces
Current Localities	HaGoshrim (ha-Gosherim)

Al-Khisas (Arabic: الخصاص), also known as Khisas or Khissas, was a Palestinian Arab village in the Safad Subdistrict in Mandatory Palestine. It was located 31 kilometers (19 mi) northeast of Safed on a natural terrace about 100 meters (330 ft) wide that formed when Lake al-Hula receded. To the west of the village was a valley known as Wadi al-Hasibani through which ran the Hasbani River.^[3]

History

Ottoman era

Evidence of the long history of habitation in the village includes the nearby shrine of a local sage known as al-Shaykh 'Ali and the presence of rock-hewn tombs.^[3] The Arab geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi described al-Khisas as falling within the administrative jurisdiction of Banias in Syria. Under the Ottoman Empire, al-Khisas was administered as part of a sanjak in the vilayet of Damascus, and was later redesignated a part the vilayet of Sidon (renamed the vilayet of Beirut).^[4]

British Mandate

In 1917, al-Khisas lay north of the Sykes Picot line, a straight line between the midpoint of the Sea of Galilee and Nahariya in the area to be incorporated under a French sphere of influence. The Syria-Lebanon-Palestine boundary was a product of the post-World War I Anglo-French partition of Ottoman Syria.^[5]^[6] British forces had advanced to a position at Tel Hazor against Turkish troops in 1918 and wished to incorporate all the sources of the river Jordan within the boundaries of British controlled Palestine. Due to the French inability to establish administrative control, the frontier between Syria and Palestine became 'fluid'.^[7] The international boundary between Palestine and Syria was finally set by joint agreement between Great Britain and France in 1923 in conjunction with the Treaty of Lausanne, after Britain had been given a League of Nations Mandate for Palestine in 1922; thus, al-Khisas came under British jurisdiction.^[8]

In the 1931 census of Palestine the population of Khisas was 386, all Muslims, in a total of 73 houses.^[9]

Types of land use in dunams in the village in 1945:^[10]^[11]

Land Usage	Arab	Jewish
Irrigated and plantation	1,438	2,728
Cereal	0	0
Cultivable	1,438	2,728
Urban	30	10
Non-cultivable	12	0

The land ownership of the village in dunams:^[1]

Owner	Dunams
Arab	1,480
Jewish	2,738
Public	577
Total	4,795

1948 Palestine war and aftermath

Al-Khisas had been selected, along with Al-Na'ima and Jahula, by the Palmach as a target for a Haganah operation which was then cancelled before it was undertaken. Leaflets was distributed in villages on Palestine's border that warned the population not to engage in combat:

"If the war will be taken to your place, it will cause massive expulsion of the villagers, with their wives and their children. Those of you who do not wish to come to such a fate, I will tell them: in this war there will be merciless killing, no compassion. If you are not participating in this war, you will not have to leave your houses and villages."^[12]

Al-Khisas massacre

On the night of 18–19 December 1947, the Palmach conducted a massacre in al-Khisas with orders calling for "hitting adult [or the adult] males" and "killing adult [or the adult] males in the palace of the Emir Faur", which was thought to hide a man responsible for shooting a resident of kibbutz Ma'ayan Baruch in revenge for the shooting of a Palestinian a few days earlier.^[13] They blew up Faur's house and a neighbouring house, killing many occupants including women and children.^[13] The number of villagers killed is estimated at 10-15, including 5 children.^[14]^[15] Following the attack a large number of al-Khisas' residents fled their homes, becoming a part of the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight.^[16]

Local Jewish leaders and Arab affairs experts had tried to prevent the attack, but had been overridden by Yigal Allon.^[13] Afterwards the Political Department of the Jewish Agency criticized the attack and Yosef Sapir of the Defence Committee called for the punishment of those responsible, but no action was taken.^[13] David Ben-Gurion issued a denial that the raid had been authorised and issued a public apology, but it was later included by him in a list of successful operations.^[17] The Yishuv held a meeting on 1–2 January to discuss the policy of reprisal operations, the outcome of which was a formulation of guidelines by the Jewish High Command for the conduct and execution of retaliatory raids.^[18]

Depopulation and resettlement

Former manor house of Emir Faour of Al-Khisas, now a hotel in kibbutz HaGoshrim.

The first wave of villagers left the al-Khisas after the 18 December 1947 attack. Others left on 25 May 1948.^{[citation needed]} Although an estimated 50-55 villagers remained in their homes and maintained good relations with neighboring Jewish settlements, they were eventually evicted on the night of 5–6 June 1949 as part of the 1949–1956 Palestinian expulsions.^[19]^[20] The villagers were forced into trucks and transported to the village of 'Akbara, south of Safad.^[21] Those expelled remained at 'Akbara for 18 years until agreeing to resettlement in Wadi Hamam. On September 26, 1948, kibbutz HaGoshrim was established on the village lands of al-Khisas. The kibbutz opened a hotel in the manor house of Emir Faour.^[19]

References

^ ^a ^b Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 70 Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine
^ Morris, 2004, p. xvi, village #5. Also gives causes of depopulation.
^ ^a ^b Khalidi, 1992, p. 465
^ Khatib, 2003, p.31
^ Fromkin, 1989, p. ?
^ MacMillan, 2001, pp. 392-420
^ Shapira, 1999, pp. 98-110
^ Exchange of Notes Archived 2008-09-09 at the Wayback Machine Constituting an Agreement respecting the boundary line between Syria and Palestine from the Mediterranean to El Hammé. Paris, March 7, 1923.
^ Mills, 1932, p. 107
^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 119 Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine
^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 169 Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine
^ Pappé, 2007, pp. 56-57 Threatening leaflets were distributed in Syrian and Lebanese villages on Palestine's border, warning the population:
"If the war will be taken to your place, it will cause massive expulsion of the villagers, with their wives and their children. Those of you who do not wish to come to such a fate, I will tell them: in this war there will be merciless killing, no compassion. If you are not participating in this war, you will not have to leave your houses and villages."
Thereafter, a number of destructive operations were undertaken in select areas throughout rural and urban Palestine. Actions in the countryside were at first hesitant. Three villages in the upper eastern Galilee were selected - Khisas, Na'ima and Jahula - but the operation was cancelled, perhaps because the High Command deemed it as yet too ambitious. The cancellation, however, was partially ignored by the commander of the Palmach in the North, Yigal Allon. Allon wanted to experience an attack on at least one village, and decided to assault al-Khisas.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Morris, 2004, pp. 79–80
^ Pappé 2006, "Fifteen villagers, including five children, were killed in the attack."
^ Benny Morris, 1948 and After (1990), "ten Arab civilians, including five children"
^ Morris 2004, "Following the raid, a large part of Khisas’s population left their homes"
^ Pappé, 2007, p. 57
^ Benvenisti, 2000, pp. 102-104
^ ^a ^b Benvenisti, 2000, pp. 206-207
^ Benny Morris, 1948 and After (1990), page 200
^ Morris, 2004, pp. 511-512

Bibliography

Benvenisti, M. (2000). Sacred Landscape: The Buried History of the Holy Land Since 1948. Maxine Kaufman-Lacusta (translator). University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-92882-2.
Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945. Government of Palestine.
Finkelstein, N. (2003). Image and reality of the Israeli-Palestine conflict (2 ed.). Verso Press. ISBN 978-1-85984-442-7. (pp. 56, 79 83- 84)
Fromkin, D. (2010). A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East. New York: Owl. ISBN 978-1-4299-8852-0.
Khalidi, W. (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.
Khatib, Hisham (2003). Palestine and Egypt Under the Ottomans: Paintings, Books, Photographs, Maps and Manuscripts. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 1-86064-888-6.
MacMillan, M. (2011). Peacemakers: The Paris Conference of 1919 and Its Attempt to End War. Hachette UK. ISBN 978-1-8485-4668-4.
Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
Morris, B. (2004). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-00967-6.
Pappé, I. (2007). The ethnic cleansing of Palestine. (reprint). Oneworld Publications Limited. ISBN 978-1-78074-056-0.
Shapira, A. (1999). Land and Power; The Zionist Resort to Force, 1881-1948. Stanford University press. ISBN 0-8047-3776-2.

External links

Welcome to al-Khisas
al-Khisas, Dr. Khalil Rizk.
N.Y. Times: Haganah kills 10 in raid on Arabs^{[dead link]}

[Hadawi70-1] Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 70 Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine

[2] Morris, 2004, p. xvi, village #5. Also gives causes of depopulation.

[Khalidi_1992,_p._465-3] Khalidi, 1992, p. 465

[4] Khatib, 2003, p.31

[5] Fromkin, 1989, p. ?

[MMPTPC-6] MacMillan, 2001, pp. 392-420

[7] Shapira, 1999, pp. 98-110

[8] Exchange of Notes Archived 2008-09-09 at the Wayback Machine Constituting an Agreement respecting the boundary line between Syria and Palestine from the Mediterranean to El Hammé. Paris, March 7, 1923.

[Census1931-9] Mills, 1932, p. 107

[Hadawi119-10] Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 119 Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine

[Hadawi171-11] Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 169 Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine

[12] Pappé, 2007, pp. 56-57 Threatening leaflets were distributed in Syrian and Lebanese villages on Palestine's border, warning the population:
"If the war will be taken to your place, it will cause massive expulsion of the villagers, with their wives and their children. Those of you who do not wish to come to such a fate, I will tell them: in this war there will be merciless killing, no compassion. If you are not participating in this war, you will not have to leave your houses and villages."
Thereafter, a number of destructive operations were undertaken in select areas throughout rural and urban Palestine. Actions in the countryside were at first hesitant. Three villages in the upper eastern Galilee were selected - Khisas, Na'ima and Jahula - but the operation was cancelled, perhaps because the High Command deemed it as yet too ambitious. The cancellation, however, was partially ignored by the commander of the Palmach in the North, Yigal Allon. Allon wanted to experience an attack on at least one village, and decided to assault al-Khisas.

[Morris79-13] Morris, 2004, pp. 79–80

[14] Pappé 2006, "Fifteen villagers, including five children, were killed in the attack."

[15] Benny Morris, 1948 and After (1990), "ten Arab civilians, including five children"

[16] Morris 2004, "Following the raid, a large part of Khisas’s population left their homes"

[17] Pappé, 2007, p. 57

[18] Benvenisti, 2000, pp. 102-104

[Benvenisti-19] Benvenisti, 2000, pp. 206-207

[20] Benny Morris, 1948 and After (1990), page 200

[21] Morris, 2004, pp. 511-512

[2]

v t e Palestinian Arab towns and villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestinian exodus by subdistrict
Acre	Amqa Arab al-Samniyya al-Bassa al-Birwa al-Damun Dayr al-Qassi al-Ghabisiyya Iqrit Iribbin Jiddin al-Kabri Kafr 'Inan Kuwaykat al-Manshiyya al-Mansura Mi'ar al-Nabi Rubin al-Nahr al-Ruways Suhmata al-Sumayriyya Suruh al-Tall Tarbikha Umm al-Faraj az-Zeeb
Beisan	Arab al-'Arida Arab al-Bawati Arab al-Safa al-Ashrafiyya al-Bira Beisan Danna Farwana al-Fatur al-Ghazzawiyya al-Hamidiyya al-Hamra Jabbul Kafra Kawkab al-Hawa al-Khunayzir Masil al-Jizl al-Murassas Qumya al-Sakhina al-Samiriyya Sirin Tall al-Shawk al-Taqa al-Tira Umm 'Ajra Umm Sabuna Yubla Zab'a al-Zawiya
Beersheba	al-Imara al-Jammama al-Khalasa Auja al-Hafir
Gaza	Arab Suqrir Barbara Barqa al-Batani al-Gharbi al-Batani al-Sharqi Bayt 'Affa Bayt Daras Bayt Jirja Bayt Tima Bil'in Burayr Dayr Sunayd Dimra al-Faluja Hamama Hatta Hiribya Huj Hulayqat Ibdis Iraq al-Manshiyya Iraq Suwaydan Isdud al-Jaladiyya al-Jiyya Julis al-Jura Jusayr Karatiyya Kawfakha Kawkaba al-Khisas al-Masmiyya al-Kabira al-Masmiyya al-Saghira al-Muharraqa Najd Ni'ilya Qastina al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya al-Sawafir al-Shamaliyya al-Sawafir al-Sharqiyya Simsim Summil Tall al-Turmus Yasur
Haifa	Abu Shusha Abu Zurayq Arab al-Fuqara Arab al-Nufay'at Arab Zahrat al-Dumayri 'Atlit Ayn Ghazal Ayn Hawd Balad al-Sheikh Barrat Qisarya Burayka al-Burj al-Butaymat Daliyat al-Rawha' al-Dumun al-Ghubayya al-Fawqa al-Ghubayya al-Tahta Hawsha Ijzim Jaba' al-Jalama Kabara al-Kafrayn Kafr Lam al-Kasayir Khubbayza Lid al-Manara al-Mansi al-Mansura al-Mazar Naghnaghiya Qannir Qira Qisarya Qumbaza al-Rihaniyya Sabbarin al-Sarafand al-Sarkas Sa'sa' al-Sawamir al-Shuna al-Sindiyana al-Tantura al-Tira Umm ash Shauf Umm az-Zinat Wa'arat al-Sarris Wadi Ara Yajur
Hebron	'Ajjur Barqusya Bayt Jibrin Bayt Nattif al-Dawayima Deir al-Dubban Dayr Nakhkhas Kudna Mughallis al-Qubayba Ra'na Tell es-Safi Umm Burj az-Zakariyya Zayta Zikrin
Jaffa	al-'Abbasiyya Abu Kabir Abu Kishk Bayt Dajan Biyar 'Adas Fajja al-Haram Ijlil al-Qibliyya Ijlil al-Shamaliyya al-Jammasin al-Gharbi al-Jammasin al-Sharqi Jarisha Kafr 'Ana al-Khayriyya al-Mas'udiyya al-Mirr al-Muwaylih Rantiya al-Safiriyya Salama Saqiya al-Sawalima al-Shaykh Muwannis Yazur
Jenin	al-Jawfa al-Mazar Ayn al-Mansi Lajjun Nuris Zir'in
Jerusalem	Allar Aqqur Artuf Bayt 'Itab Bayt Mahsir Bayt Naqquba Bayt Thul Bayt Umm al-Mays al-Burayj Dayr Aban Dayr 'Amr Dayr al-Hawa Dayr Rafat Dayr al-Shaykh Deir Yassin Ayn Karim Ishwa Islin Ism Allah Jarash al-Jura Kasla al-Lawz Lifta al-Maliha Nitaf al-Qabu Qalunya al-Qastal Ras Abu 'Ammar Sar'a Saris Sataf Sheikh Badr Suba Sufla al-Tannur al-'Umur al-Walaja
Nazareth	al-Mujaydil Indur Ma'alul Saffuriyya
Ramle	Abu al-Fadl Abu Shusha Ajanjul Aqir Barfiliya al-Barriyya Bashshit Bayt Far Bayt Jiz Bayt Nabala Bayt Shanna Bayt Susin Bir Ma'in Bir Salim al-Burj al-Buwayra Daniyal Dayr Abu Salama Dayr Ayyub Dayr Muhaysin Dayr Tarif al-Duhayriyya al-Haditha Idnibba Innaba Jilya Jimzu Kharruba al-Khayma Khulda al-Kunayyisa al-Latrun Lydda al-Maghar Majdal Yaba al-Mansura al-Mukhayzin al-Muzayri'a al-Na'ani al-Nabi Rubin Qatra Qazaza al-Qubab al-Qubayba Qula Ramla Sajad Salbit Sarafand al-Amar Sarafand al-Kharab Saydun Shahma Shilta al-Tina al-Tira Umm Kalkha Wadi Hunayn Yibna Zakariyya Zarnuqa
Safad	Abil al-Qamh al-'Abisiyya 'Akbara Alma Ammuqa Arab al-Shamalina Arab al-Zubayd Ayn al-Zaytun Baysamun Biriyya al-Butayha al-Buwayziyya Dallata al-Dawwara Dayshum al-Dirbashiyya al-Dirdara Fara al-Farradiyya Fir'im Ghabbatiyya Ghuraba al-Hamra' Harrawi Hunin al-Husayniyya Jahula al-Ja'una Jubb Yusuf Kafr Bir'im al-Khalisa Khan al-Duwayr Karraza al-Khisas Khiyam al-Walid Kirad al-Baqqara Kirad al-Ghannama Lazzaza Madahil Al-Malkiyya Mallaha al-Manshiyya al-Mansura Mansurat al-Khayt Marus Meiron al-Muftakhira Mughr al-Khayt al-Muntar al-Nabi Yusha' al-Na'ima Qabba'a Qadas Qaddita Qaytiyya al-Qudayriyya al-Ras al-Ahmar Sabalan Safsaf Saliha al-Salihiyya al-Sammu'i al-Sanbariyya Sa'sa' al-Shawka al-Tahta al-Shuna Taytaba Tulayl al-'Ulmaniyya al-'Urayfiyya al-Wayziyya Yarda, Safad al-Zahiriyya al-Tahta al-Zanghariyya Zawiya al-Zuq al-Fawqani al-Zuq al-Tahtani
Tiberias	Awlam al-Dalhamiyya Ghuwayr Abu Shusha Hadatha al-Hamma Hittin Kafr Sabt Lubya Ma'dhar al-Majdal al-Manara al-Manshiyya al-Mansura Nasir al-Din Nimrin al-Nuqayb Samakh al-Samakiyya al-Samra al-Shajara al-Tabigha al-'Ubaydiyya Wadi Hamam al-Wa'ra al-Sawda' Yaquq
Tulkarm	Bayt Lid Bayyarat Hannun Fardisya Ghabat Kafr Sur al-Jalama Kafr Saba al-Majdal al-Manshiyya Miska Qaqun Raml Zayta Tabsur Umm Khalid Wadi al-Hawarith Wadi Qabbani al-Zabadida Zalafa