Welcome To al-Shawka al-Tahta - الشوكة التحتا (א-שוכה א-תחתא)

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

Value

Occupation Date

May 14, 1948

Distance From District

31.5 (km) North East of Safad

Elevation

175 (meters)

Before & After Nakba, Click Map For Details

Pre-Nakba Map showing before and after destruction

Map Location

See location #3 on the map

View from satellite

Military Operation

Operation Yiftach (commanded by the ethnic cleansing champion Yigal Allon)

Attacking Units

The Palmach's First Battalion

Exodus Cause

Fear of Jewish attack, or of being caught in the fighting

Village Temains

The village has been completely destroyed, and only house rubble left behind

Ethnically Cleansing

al-Shawka al-Tahta inhabitants were completely ethnically cleansed.

Pre-Nakba
Land Ownership

Ethnic Group	Land Ownership (Dunums)*
Arab	2,009
Jewish	0
Public	123
**Total	2,132

**Town Lands' Demarcation Maps

Land Usage
As of 1945

Land Usage	Arab (Dunum)*
Irrigated & Plantation	1,845
Planted W/ Cereal	140
Built up	17
Arable	1,985
Non-Arable	123

Population

Year	Population*
1931	136
1945	200
1948	232
Est. Refugees 1998	1,425

*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics

Number of Houses

Year	Number of Houses
1931	31
1948	52

Archeological Sites

The village contained two khirbas known by Tall al-Qadi and Khirbat al-Day'a

Exculsive Jewish Colonies
Who Usurped Village Lands

Dan and Dafna

Village Before Nakba

The village stood on gently sloping hills in the northeast part of the al-Hula Plain, to the southwest of Tall aI-Qadi. It was linked by a paved road to the nearby Jewish settlements of Dan and Dafna; the road led west to al-Khalisa, a village on the highway that led to Safad. Al-Shawka al-Tahta had a semicircular layout and its houses were clustered closely together. Its entire population was Muslim. A thick growth of natural vegetation flourished on the village's northern side, thanks to a plentiful water supply provided by the perennial stream that flowed from Tall aI-Qadi. Agriculture was both rainfed and irrigated from a number of springs; crops consisted mainly of grain and fruits. In 1944/45 a total of 140 dunums was allocated to cereals; 1,845 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards. Archaeological sites near al-Shawka al-Tahta include Tall aI-Qadi (211294), to the northeast, and Khirbat al-Day'a (210293) to the south.

Village Occupation and Ethnic Cleaning

Israeli sources report that the villagers of al-Shawka al-Tahta feared a Zionist attack and fled on 14 May 1948; the sub-district capital, Safad, had been captured a few days earlier, which would have contributed to the villagers' panic. Safad had been captured during Operation Yiftach (see Abil al-Qamh, Safad sub-district), which aimed at occupying the eastern Galilee and uprooting its residents.

Zionists Colonies on Village Lands

Two Zionist settlements are very close to the village site. Dan (211293), founded in 1939, is 2 km to the east, and Dafna (210292), also established in 1939, is 1 km to the southeast. Neither settlement is on village land

Village Today

Nothing remains of al-Shawka al-Tahta. Stone rubble from destroyed houses is for the most part hidden under eucalyptus trees and wild grasses. A few cactuses grow on the site. The surrounding lands are used by Israelis both for farming and as pasture.

Source

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

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Display Name

Clan/Hamolah

Country of Residence

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