Welcome To Farwana - فرونه (פרונה)

District of Baysan Ethnically cleansed days ago	العربية Google Earth
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Statistic & Fact

Value

Occupation Date

May 11, 1948

Distance From District

4.5 (km) South of Baysan

Elevation

-125 (meters)

Before & After Nakba, Click Map For Details

Pre-Nakba Map showing before and after destruction

Map Location

See location #23 on the map

View from satellite

Military Operation

Gidion Operation

Attacking Units

Golani Brigade

Exodus Cause

Military assault by Zionist troops

Village Temains

On May 12th, 1948, Farwana was completely destroyed, and only house walls and rubble left behind.

Ethnically Cleansing

Upon occupation, both Farwana and al-Ashrafiyya inhabitants fled towards Jordan.

Pre-Nakba
Land Ownership

Ethnic Group	Land Ownership (Dunums)*
Arab	3,942
Jewish	0
Public	1,054
**Total	4,996

*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics
**Town Lands' Demarcation Maps

Land Usage
As of 1945

Land Usage	Arab (Dunum)*
Irrigated & Plantation	42
Olive Groves	6
Planted W/ Cereal	4,243
Built up	11
Arable	4,285
Non-Arable	700

*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics

Population

Year	Population*
1922	48
1931	286
1945	330
1948	383
Est. Refugees 1998	2,351

*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics

Number of Houses

Year	Number of Houses
1931	72
1948	96

Near By Towns

	Baysan ↑ (N)	al-Ghazzawiyya ↗
al-Ashrafiyya ←	Farwana	→ Umm 'Ajra
↙ Jalbun	↓ al-Samiriyya	↘ 'Arab al-Safa

Town's Name Through History

Farwana was sometimes identified with city of Rehob during Egyptian rule over Palestine in the 2nd millenium B.C.

Archeological Sites

The village contains Tall al-Sarim (the ruins of an anceint city), also the remains of a third century A.D. synagogue.

Exculsive Jewish Colonies
Who Usurped Village Lands

Rechov, Chawwat Eden, and 'En ha-Natziv.

Village Before Nakba

The village stood on flat ground in the Baysan Valley, on the highway between Baysan and Jericho. Farwana may have been derived from an Arabic phrase, farana al-khubzu farnan or 'the bread was thoroughly baked [in the oven],' due to the hot climate of the Jordan Valley. The village houses, built of adobe brick, were crowded together, separated only by narrow alleys. The village was surrounded by agricultural lands, where a number of springs flowed and eventually fed Wadi al-Maddu'. In 1944/45 a total of 3,847 dunums was allotted to cereals; 42 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards. About 300 m southeast of the village was Tall al-Sarim, a large tell containing the ruins of a city that was bifurcated into upper and lower parts. This city is sometimes identified with Rehob, a center of Egyptian rule over Palestine in the second millenium B.C. Excavations some 200 m south of this tell uncovered tombs dating to the late third and early second millennium B.C. The ruins of a third century A.D. synagogue were discovered northeast of the village site in 1969.

Village Occupation and Ethnic Cleaning

Farwana was targeted for attack in mid-February 1948, as a nearby battle raged around the Jewish settlement of Tirat Tzvi. The Palestinian daily Filastin reported on 19 February that Zionist forces attempted to encircle the village from the north and east, but were driven back by Farwana's defenders. According to the newspaper account, the attackers blew up three empty houses before withdrawing.

Israeli historian Benny Morris writes that on the night of 10-11 May 1948, units of the Golani Brigade attacked and captured the village, along with neighboring al-Ashrafiyya. Both were located on the outskirts of Baysan and were occupied in preparation for the final assault on the sub-disctrict capital, on 12 May. The village was probably one of eight villages in the Baysan area reported by the Associated Press as captured on 13 May. Morris reports that the inhabitants fled across the Jordan River 'as the troops approached,' adding that sappers from the Haganah lost no time in blowing up the village houses and completely destroying the village.

Zionists Colonies on Village Lands

The settlement of Rechov was founded in 1951 to the north of the village site on village lands. The model farm of Chawwat Eden is to the west, on village lands. The settlement of 'En ha-Natziv was established in 1946 just to the northeast of the village site, on lands belonging to the town of Baysan. Sde Terumot was also established in 1951 west of the village site, on land belonging to al-Samiriyya.

Village Today

The only remains of the village are the ruined walls and floors of houses. The site is overgrown with wild vegetation and contains an archaeological dig. The lands around it are cultivated by Israelis.

Source

Dr. Walid al-Khalidi, 1992: All That Remains.

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Nakba Oral History Interview with Muhammad Hussein Kahwash

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Display Name

Clan/Hamolah

Country of Residence

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