Arab al-Zubayd was a Palestinian village in the Safad Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on April 20, 1948, when the villagers fled on hearing the intentions of The Palmach's First Battalion of Operation Yiftach.Khalidi, 1992, p.435. It was located 15 km northeast of Safad, near the al-Mutilla-Safad—Tiberias highway.
History In 1838, in the Ottoman era, ez-Zubeid was described as an Arab tribe residing in the vicinity of Safad.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 134 British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Arab Zubaid had a population of 257; 255 MuslimsBarron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Safad, p. 42 and 2 Melkite Christians,Barron, 1923, table XV, p. 51 increasing in the 1931 census, when it was counted together with Al-'Ulmaniyya, to 432; 5 Christians and 427 Muslims, in a total of 100 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 111
The population, combined with that of Mallaha, came to 890 Muslims in the 1945 statistics, with a total of 2,168 dunams of land.
The village relied on its abundant springs for farming. In 1944–45 a total of 1,761 dunums was allocated to cereal farming.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 119 while 20 dunams were classified as built-up land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 169
1948 war and depopulation According to Israeli historian Benny Morris, the villagers fled on 20 April (prior to the occupation of any neighboring villages), anticipating an Israeli attack.Khalidi, 1992, p. 436 In August 1948, Golani Brigade units were preparing to blow up the village in spite of a complaint from the nearby Kibbutz Sha’ar ha-’Amaqim, which objected. Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion denied responsibility, saying: "No permission was given by me or to any commander to destroy houses." The village was nevertheless destroyed.
In 1992, Khalidi wrote that the area was strewn with rubble covered by a thicket of woods, grass, and thorny plants, and he saw animals grazing in the hills. Some land in the plain had been turned into a nature reserve and the rest cultivated by Israeli farmers."
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Bibliography
External links Welcome To 'Arab al-Zubayd 'Arab al-Zubayd, Zochrot 'Arab al-Zubayd at Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center 'Arab al-Zubayd, Dr. Khalil Rizk. Survey of Western Palestine, Map 4: IAA, Wikimedia commons