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al-Sarafand الصرفندSarepta Yudee
Etymology: from a personal name
1870s map 1940s map modern map 1940s with modern overlay map A series of historical maps of the area around Al-Sarafand (click the buttons)
al-SarafandLocation within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 32°38′48″N 34°56′08″E / 32.64667°N 34.93556°E / 32.64667; 34.93556
Palestine grid	144/228
Geopolitical entity	Mandatory Palestine
Subdistrict	Haifa
Date of depopulation	16 July 1948
Area
• Total	5,409 dunams (5.409 km or 2.088 sq mi)
Population
• Total	290
Cause(s) of depopulation	Military assault by Yishuv forces
Secondary cause	Influence of nearby town's fall
Current Localities	Tzrufa

Al-Sarafand (Arabic: الصرفند) was a Palestinian Arab village near the Mediterranean shore south of Haifa. In Ottoman tax records, it is shown that the village had a population of 61 inhabitants in 1596. According to a land and population survey by Sami Hadawi, al-Sarafand's population was 290 in 1945, entirely Arab.

Etymology

Sarafand or Sarafend (Ṣarafand / صرفند) is an Arabic rendition of the Phoenician place-name *Ṣrpt. Al-Sarafand was known to the Crusaders as Sarepta Yudee..

History

Pottery remains from the late Roman era and Byzantine era have been found here.

Ayyubid forces captured al-Sarafand from the Crusaders in 1187-1188. The village appears in the waqf of the tomb (turba) and madrasa of amir Qurqamaz in Egypt.

Ottoman era

In 1517 the village of 'Sarafanda' was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire with the rest of Palestine. During the 16th and 17th centuries, it belonged to the Turabay Emirate (1517-1683), which encompassed also the Jezreel Valley, Haifa, Jenin, Beit She'an Valley, northern Jabal Nablus, Bilad al-Ruha/Ramot Menashe, and the northern part of the Sharon plain.

From Ottoman records it is known that in 1596 Sarafand was a village in the nahiya ("subdistrict") of Shafa, ( liwa' ("district") of Lajjun), with a population of 11 Muslim households, an estimated 61 persons. Villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% to the authorities for the crops that they cultivated, which included wheat, barley, summer crops such as corn, beans, melons, and vegetables, and raising goats; a total of 8,500 akçe.

In 1799, it appeared as the village Sarfend on the map that Pierre Jacotin compiled that year. In 1859 the village of Sarafand was described as being situated on a ridge between a plain and the beach. Consul Rogers estimated that 150 people lived in it and cultivated 16 faddans. Four years later, Victor Guérin stated that the population size was not exceeding 300.

According to the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine, who visited in 1873; "North of this village there is a system of rock- cut tombs, sixteen in all. Eight have each three loculi under arcosolia, and in three cases the rolling stones which closed the doors lie beside them. One of these stones was 3 feet diameter, and 1 foot thick, weighing probably about 6 cwt. Five of the tombs are single loculi, open in front, cut in the face of the cliff under arcosolia; two of the tombs have only two loculi each, and one is blocked up. This group presents the best examples found by the Survey party of the rolling stone arrangement for a tomb door."

A population list from about 1887 showed that Sarafand had about 270 inhabitants; all Muslims.

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Sarafand had a population of 204; all Muslims, decreasing in the 1931 census to 188; still all Muslim, in a total of 38 houses.

The village economy depended on agriculture, animal husbandry and salt making.

In the 1945 statistics, the village had a population of 290 Muslims, and the village's lands spanned 5,409 dunams. The population was entirely Muslim. A total of 3,244 dunums of land was allocated to cereals; 22 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards, while 6 dunams were built-up (urban) land.

1948, and aftermath

During the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, the inhabitants were ethnically cleansed in several stages. Most fled in early May towards al-Tira and when al-Tira was depopulated they left for Jenin. Some returned and remained in al-Sarafand until Israeli forces — composed of the Carmeli and Alexandroni Brigades — assaulted the village on July 16, 1948. At the time, Arab Liberation Army volunteers and local militia were defending al-Sarafand. Most of the inhabitants fled to the southeast line of Wadi Ara, where the Iraqi Army was stationed. Later, they crossed the Jordan River, and since then the majority of al-Sarafand’s refugees have been living in Jordan. Only one former resident of al-Sarafand remained in Israel. The village houses were not immediately demolished by the Israelis and remained empty for many years. When they were eventually destroyed, the mosque was the only building spared.

Petersen inspected the village mosque and adjacent vaults in 1994, and described the mosque as "a tall rectangular box-like building standing on a terrace near the top of the ridge on which it was built. The mosque is entered through a doorway in the middle of the north wall. The interior is divided into two long cross-vaulted bays resting on six large piers. There are four windows in west wall facing the sea. The mihrab is placed in the centre of the south wall and can be seen on the exterior as a rectangular projection. To the west of the mihrab are the remains of a minbar (now destroyed). The lower sections of the wall are approximately 1 m. thick, whilst the upper part of the south and north walls are considerably thinner (0.3 m.). Although the present building does not appear to be very old (late nineteenth or early twentieth centuries) it does appear to in incorporate an earlier structure which is visible in the exterior walls. To the south of the mosque is a rectangular area of ruins (approximately 30m x 40m) containing several barrel-vaulted chambers. Three of these are still accessible; one on the north side nearest the mosque, and two on the south side next to the quarry cliff. Each vault is about 7m long; one is 2.52m wide and the other is 3.52m wide. More intensive investigation could reveal a basic plan of this structure."

Mosque restoration

In 1999, the 'Aqsa Society for the Preservation of Islamic Holy Sites decided to restore al-Sarafand’s mosque. In May 2000, while restoration was on the verge of completion, the mosque was destroyed overnight by a bulldozer. The perpetrator was never identified. The activists covered the ruins by a large tent and maintained a vigil at the site. Removal of the tent was negotiated with the Israeli authorities. It was agreed that the site would be fenced to protect it, but that did not happen and the activists built a more permanent structure. The latter was demolished by the police in March 2002, but the ruined mosque continues to be used for Friday prayers. According to the Or Commission report, Israeli authorities did not grant a license for rebuilding the mosque after the demolition; a decision that contributed to the souring of relations between local Muslim residents and the authorities. The Or Commission report also claims that activities by Islamic organizations such as the aforementioned society may be using religious pretenses to further political aims. The commission describes such actions as a factor in 'inflaming' the Muslim population in Israel against the authorities, and cites the Sarafand mosque episode, with Muslims' attempts to restore the mosque and Jewish attempts to stop them, as an example of the 'shifting of dynamics' of the relationship between Muslims and the Israeli authorities.

Ilan Pappe

The Israeli new historian Ilan Pappe has a different story of the events. He writes:"The mosque was a hundred years old when the Israeli government gave the go-ahead to have it bull-dozed on 25 july 2000 ignoring a petition addressed to the then prime minister Ehud Barak, beseeching him not to authorise this official act of vandalism."

See also

• Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel

References

1. Palmer, 1881, p. 141
2. ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 14
3. ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 49
4. Morris, 2004, p. xviii, village #174. Also gives causes of depopulation
5. Morris, 2004, p. xxii, settlement #124, 1949
6. Marom, Roy; Zadok, Ran (2023). "Early-Ottoman Palestinian Toponymy: A Linguistic Analysis of the (Micro-)Toponyms in Haseki Sultan's Endowment Deed (1552)". Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins. 139 (2).
7. ^ Efrat Ben-Ze'ev and Issam Aburaiya (2004). ""Middle-ground" politics and the re-Palestinization of places in Israel". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 36 (4): 639–655. doi:10.1017/S0020743804364068. S2CID 155913777.
8. Oren, 2004, Es-Sarafand
9. Abu Shama RHC (or.), IV, p. 303. Cited in Petersen, 2001, p. 272
10. MPF, 11 No. 31. Cited in Petersen, 2001, p. 272
11. al-Bakhīt, Muḥammad ʻAdnān; al-Ḥamūd, Nūfān Rajā (1989). "Daftar mufaṣṣal nāḥiyat Marj Banī ʻĀmir wa-tawābiʻihā wa-lawāḥiqihā allatī kānat fī taṣarruf al-Amīr Ṭarah Bāy sanat 945 ah". www.worldcat.org. Amman: Jordanian University. pp. 1–35. Retrieved 2023-05-15.
12. Marom, Roy; Marom, Tepper; Adams, Matthew, J (2023). "Lajjun: Forgotten Provincial Capital in Ottoman Palestine". Levant. 55 (2): 218–241. doi:10.1080/00758914.2023.2202484. S2CID 258602184.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
13. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 158. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p.188
14. Karmon, 1960, p. 163 Archived 2017-12-01 at the Wayback Machine
15. Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 4. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 188
16. Cited in Petersen, 2001, pp. 272-3.
17. Guérin, 1875, pp. 301-302; cited in Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 4
18. Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 33
19. Schumacher, 1888, p. 178
20. Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Haifa, p. 34
21. Mills, 1932, p. 95
22. Khalidi, 1992, p. 188
23. Village Statistics April 1945, The Palestine Government, p. 12 Archived 2012-06-09 at the Wayback Machine
24. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 92
25. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 142
26. Morris, 2004, p. ?
27. Petersen, 2001, pp. 272-273
28. The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, Ilan Pappe, Oneworld, Oxford, 2006, p.217

Bibliography

• Abu Shama (d.1267) (1969): Livre des deux jardins ("The Book of Two Gardens"). Recueil des Historiens des Croisades, Cited in Petersen (2001).
• Barron, J.B., ed. (1923). Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922. Government of Palestine.
• Clermont-Ganneau, C.S. (1896). [ARP] Archaeological Researches in Palestine 1873-1874, translated from the French by J. McFarlane. Vol. 2. London: Palestine Exploration Fund. (pp. 123, 100, 124, 126)
• Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1882). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. Vol. 2. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
• Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945.
• Guérin, V. (1875). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine (in French). Vol. 2: Samarie, pt. 2. Paris: L'Imprimerie Nationale.
• Hadawi, S. (1970). "Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine". Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center. Archived from the original on 2018-12-08. Retrieved 2009-05-09. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Hütteroth, W.-D.; Abdulfattah, K. (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. ISBN 3-920405-41-2.
• Karmon, Y. (1960). "An Analysis of Jacotin's Map of Palestine" (PDF). Israel Exploration Journal. 10 (3): 155–173, 244–253. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2017-09-05.
• 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.
• 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.
• MPF: Ipsirli and al-Tamimi (1982): The Muslim Pious Foundations and Real Estates in Palestine. Gazza, Al-Quds al-Sharif, Nablus and Ajlun Districts according to 16th-Century Ottoman Tahrir Registers, Organisation of Islamic Conference, Istanbul 1402/1982. Cited in Petersen (2002).
• Oren, Eliran (2004-07-09). "Es-Sarafand Final Report" (116). Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Palmer, E.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
• Petersen, Andrew (2001). A Gazetteer of Buildings in Muslim Palestine (British Academy Monographs in Archaeology). Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-727011-0.
• Schumacher, G. (1888). "Population list of the Liwa of Akka". Quarterly Statement - Palestine Exploration Fund. 20: 169–191.

External links

• Welcome to al-Sarafand
• al-Sarafand, Zochrot
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 7: IAA, Wikimedia commons
• Sarafand, at Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
• Sarafand, Dr. Moslih Kanaaneh

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

• District of Haifa
• Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War