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

Welcome To al-Sarafand - الصرفند (א-צרפנד)

District of Haifa
Ethnically cleansed days ago
العربية

Google Earth
Picture for al-Sarafand Village - Palestine: : That is how the
Gallery (48)
Statistic & Fact Value
Occupation Date July 16, 1948
Distance From District 19 (km) South West of Haifa
Elevation 25 (meters)
Before & After Nakba, Click Map For Detailswhat's new
Pre-Nakba Map showing before and after destruction
Map Location See location #15 on the map

View from satellite
Military Operation Operation Shoter (Police)
Attacking Units A special force drawn from the Israeli Navy, Golani, Carmeli, and Alexandroni brigades
Defenders Local Palestinian militia, some Arab Liberation Army volunteers, and possibly some help from the Iraqi army in Tulkarm and Jinin
Acts of Terror In September 1948, UN investigators stated that 130 villagers were unaccounted for (see al-Tira & 'Ayn Ghazal for more details).
Refugees' Migration Routes The refugees were mostly expelled first eastward to al-Tira, and then they were expelled again to but this time to Jinin (West Bank)
Exodus Cause Military assault by Zionist troops
Village Temains The village has been mostly destroyed with the exception of a remaining house.
Ethnically Cleansing al-Sarafand inhabitants were completely ethnically cleansed.
Pre-Nakba
Land Ownership
Ethnic Group Land Ownership (Dunums)*
Arab 3,486
Jewish 1,923
Public 1,923
**Total 5,409
*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics
**Town Lands' Demarcation Maps
Land Usage
As of 1945
Land Usage Arab (Dunum)*
Irrigated & Plantation 22
Planted W/ Cereal 3,249
Built up 6
Arable 3,271
Non-Arable 2,132
*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics
Population
Year Population*
1596 61
19th century 150
1922 204
1931 188
1945 290
1948 336
Est. Refugees 1998 2,066
*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics
Number of Houses
Year Number of Houses
1931 38
1948 67
Near By Townswhat's new
'Atlit
↑
(N)
Jaba'
↗        
Mediterranean  ←
al-Sarafand
→   Ijzim
↓
Kafr Lam
↘           
'Ayn Ghazal
Town's Name Through History The Crusades referred to al-Sarafand by Sarepta Yudee
Water Supply The village contained more than ten wells
Exculsive Jewish Colonies
Who Usurped Village Lands		 kibbutz Neve-Yam, Tzerufa, & Geva' Karmel
Featured Video

Village Before Nakba

The village stood on the narrow coastal plain south of Atlit, on a sandstone hill that was only slightly higher than the surrounding area. Secondary roads linked it to several nearby villages as well as to the coastal highway that ran 2 km to the east. The Crusaders referred to it as Sarepta Yudee. In 1596, al-Sarafand was a village in the nahiya of Shafa (liwa' of Lajjun), with a population of sixty-one. It paid taxes on a number of crops, including wheat and barley, as well as on goats and beehives.

In the late nineteenth century, al-Sarafand was situated on a ridge between a plain and the beach. An estimated 150 people lived in it and cultivated 16 faddans (1 faddan =100-250 dunums). The village's general orientation was north-south, and its houses, made of stone and either mud or cement, were clustered together. Its population was Muslim. More than ten wells provided water for domestic use. The village economy depended on agriculture, animal husbandry, and salt making. The primary crops were various kinds of grain. Date palms were also planted in small patches on the western side of the village land. In 1944/45 a total of 3,244 dunums was allocated to cereals; 22 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards.

Village Occupation and Ethnic Cleaning

On 16 July 1948, two Haganah ships directed fire at the village of al-Sarafand to provide cover for the main attack by land. This was the first instance of cooperation between Israeli ground and naval forces in a military attack, according to the History of the War of Independence. The operation, one of the minor offensives launched during the ten-day period between the two truces of the war, resulted in the occupation of nearby Kafr Lam. Its residents may have been expelled following its occupation, as were those of neighboring al-Tira, which was occupied on the same day.

Zionists Colonies on Village Lands

On 3 August 1948, the kibbutz of Neve-Yam wrote to the Israeli Agriculture Center asking to be handed over the lands of al-Sarafand. Israeli historian Benny Morris quotes the settlers as saying that the depopulation of the village had 'opened up the possibility of [a] radical solution which once and for all could give us sufficient land for the development of [our] settlement.'

In 1949, Israel established the settlement of Tzerufa, 1 km northeast of the village site, on village land. The settlement of Geva' Karmel, also built in 1949 east of the site, was established on the lands of the neighboring village of Jaba'.

Village Today

Only one house, a large structure with two arches in front, has been spared. The Tel Aviv-Haifa highway crosses part of the site another part, fenced in with barbed wire, is overgrown with thorns and cactuses.

Source

Dr. Walid al-Khalidi, 1992: All That Remains.
Related Maps Town Lands' Demarcation Maps
خرائط للقضاء توضح حدود القرى والاودية
Town's map on MapQuest
View from satellite
Help us map this town at WikiMapia
Related Links Wikipedia's Page
Google Search
Google For Images
Google For Videos
More Information في كتاب كي لا ننسى
في كتاب بلادنا فلسطين
المزيد من موقع هوية

Bibliography and References

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

Display Name Clan/Hamolah Country of Residence
mohammed omar amro amro mosul, Iraq
raed amru - -
ahmad amroo amroo syria, syria
All Registered Members
Fake Valor: Why Did Zionist Jews Hoist Nazis Flag on Their Ships in the 1930s?

What is new?