Welcome To al-Kafrayn - الكفرين (אל-כופרין)

District of Haifa Ethnically cleansed days ago	العربية Google Earth
	Gallery (21)

Statistic & Fact

Value

Occupation Date

April 12, 1948

Distance From District

29.5 (km) South East of Haifa

Elevation

250 (meters)

Before & After Nakba, Click Map For Details

Pre-Nakba Map showing before and after destruction

Pre-Nakba Aerial View

Map Location

See location #34 on the map

View from satellite

Military Operation

Battle for Mishmar ha-'Emeq

Attacking Units

Possibly Carmeli brigade

Defenders

Arab Liberation Army

Exodus Cause

Military assault by Zionist troops

Village Temains

On the 19th of April 1948, the village was completely obliterated.

Ethnically Cleansing

al-Kafrayn inhabitants were completely ethnically cleansed.

Pre-Nakba
Land Ownership

Ethnic Group	Land Ownership (Dunums)*
Arab	9,981
Jewish	0
Public	901
**Total	10,882

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

Land Usage
As of 1945

Land Usage	Arab (Dunum)*
Irrigated & Plantation	147
Olive Groves	30
Planted W/ Cereal	9,911
Built up	18
Arable	10,058
Non-Arable	806

*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics

Population

Year	Population*
19th century	200
1922	571
1931	657
1945	920
1948	1,067
Est. Refugees 1998	6,554

*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics

Number of Houses

Year	Number of Houses
1931	95
1948	154

Near By Towns

Daliyat al-Rawha' ↖		Abu Shusha ↗
Umm al-Shawf ←	al-Kafrayn	→ al-Mansi
↙ al-Butaymat	↓ Umm al-Fahm	↘ al-Lajjun

Town's Name Through History

The Crusades referred to al-Kafrayn by Caforana.

Schools

al-Kafrayn had an elementary school for boys which was founded by the Ottomans in 1888.

Places of Warship

One mosque

Nearby Wadies & Rivers

The village was situated 6km north Wadi 'Ara

Archeological Sites

The village contained a number of ruins that revealed its long history, such as the foundations of buildings, columns, and tombs

Exculsive Jewish Colonies
Who Usurped Village Lands

Currently, an Israeli military training camp occupies some of the village.

Village Before Nakba

Al-Kafrayn was located in an open landscape of gentle slopes and shallow wadis. It was built on a hilltop surrounded by wadis that separated long, sloping hills, about 6 km north of Wadi Ara. A secondary road led northwest to the Haifa-Jenin highway (which bordered on Marj ibn Amir). Al-Kafrayn, which means 'the two villages' in Arabic, was called Caforana by the Crusaders. In the late nineteenth century, al-Kafrayn had 200 residents who cultivated 30 faddans (1 faddan = 100-250 dunums). Al-Kafrayn was rectangular in shape, its longest side extending from east to west. The residents, who were Muslim, built their houses of mud and cement and also maintained a mosque and a boys' elementary school that was established about 1888, during the Ottoman period. The village lands contained about ten wells and springs. Its economy was based on cattle-breeding and agriculture. The primary crop was grain. In 1944/45 a total of 9,776 dunums were allotted to cereals; 147 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards. Al-Kafrayn contained a number of ruins that revealed its long history, such as the foundations of buildings, columns, and tombs.

Village Occupation and Ethnic Cleaning

Zionist forces claimed to have occupied the village on 12 April 1948, and Arab Liberation Army (ALA) records indicate that Arab forces withdrew from an area just west of al-Kafrayn the following day. The Palmach attack on al-Kafrayn was part of an operation launched after the battle of Mishmar ha-Emeq. When Jewish Agency Chairman David Ben-Gurion and the Haganah command rejected the ALA's offer of a ceasefire in that battle, they also decided to attack and destroy about ten villages near the settlement, including al-Kafrayn, which, acording to the New York Times, was the largest. A 12 April Haganah broadcast was quoted by the New York Times as saying that it was the fifth village around Mishmar ha-Emeq to be occupied by their forces.

Israeli historian Benny Morris reports that the village was partially destroyed during its occupation, but final demolition was postponed for a week, due to the Palmach's plan to use the village to train units to fight in built-up areas. On 19 April the Haganah General Staff was informed: 'Yesterday company exercises in fighting in built-up areas took place south and east of Mishmar Ha'emek. At the end of the exercises, the village of el Kafrin was blown up completely.'

Zionists Colonies on Village Lands

No Israeli settlements are on village lands, but some of these lands are occupied by a military training camp.

Village Today

The site and its surrounding area are divided between a military training camp and a cow pasture. A rubble-filled area has been fenced in and is covered with dirt, underbrush, and thorns. Almond, olive, and fig trees are scattered around the site.

Source

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

Want to browse more? 80,000 pictures were grouped in these gallaries:

Pre-Nakba Aerial view of the village / صورة من الجو للقرية اخذت قبل النكبة

Display Name	Clan/Hamolah	Country of Residence
نصرالله ابو سريس	ابو سريس	طولكرم, فلسطين
نادر رشدي رجا عبد اسماعيل الجعايصة (النعجة)	جعايصة (نعجه)	الدار البيضاء, المغرب
العربي	-	-
زيد محمدشفيق نعجة	نعجة	aqaba, Jordan
ناصر ابوذيب	ابوذيب	فلسطين, فلسطين
جهاد ابوذيب	ابوذيب	فلسطين, فلسطين
mohammad saeed nahya	nahya	الرصيفة, الاردن
خالد	صالح	jenim, palistine
esra2 abu-lubadeh	ابولباده	jordan
abubasheer	sbeihat	florida, USA
alghoul	ghoul	ksa, ksa
Rabie Serhan	Serhan	UAE - Dubai
محمد محمود رجا جعايصة	جعايصة	الزرقاء, الاردن
ققصي صالح	صالح	الزرقاء, اللاردن
abu oddai	bdewi	-
أبو الغول	ALGHOUL	-
wesam	ALGHOUL	england, uk
ABO EBRAHEEM	GHOUL	-
EL GHOUL Haitham	AL GHOUL	Biskra, Algeria
Mahmoud Nahya	Abu-Nahya	Sydney, Australia
Faisal Al-ghoul	Al-Ghoul	-
Mohammed Samarah	Samarah	-

All Registered Members

No links have been shared yet, be free to the first to share the first link.

PalestineRemembered		About Us	Oral History	العربية
Menu	Pictures	Zionist FAQs	Haavara	Maps

PalestineRemembered.com		Satellite View	Search	Donate	Contact Us	Looting 101	The Home of Palestinians		العربية
About Us	Zionist FAQs	Conflict 101	Pictures	Maps	Oral History	Haavara	Facts Not Lies	Zionism 101	Zionist Quotes