Al-Shuna () was a Palestinian Arab village in the Safad Subdistrict. It was ethnically cleansed and depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on April 30, 1948, by the Palmach's First Battalion of Operation Yiftach. It was located 6 km south of Safad, overlooking the deep gorge of Wadi al-'Amud.
History Victor Guérin describes this place in 1875 as "built of white limestone mixed with stones of black basalt in alternate courses. We think that although this custom is common in modern Arab building, it can be shown to have been an ancient usage, so that the building may be old. Round it are the vestiges of a ruined hamlet."Guérin, 1880, p. 353; as given in Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 412
In 1881 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine found at Kŭlảt esh Shûneh: "A modern Arab building of basaltic stone; used probably as a barn, as the name implies".Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 412
British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine Shuneh had a population of 83; all Muslim,Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Safad, p. 41 increasing in the 1931 census to 337, still all Muslims, in a total of 65 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 111
In the 1945 statistics the population was 170 Muslims, with a total of 3,660 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 995 dunums were used for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 121 while 2,481 dunams was non-cultivable area.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 171
The village had a school and a mosque.
1948, aftermath Today, a wildlife sanctuary known as the Nachal 'Amud Reserve is located in the vicinity.
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External links Welcome To al-Shuna al-Shuna, Zochrot al-Shuna, Villages of Palestine Survey of Western Palestine, Map 6: IAA, Wikimedia commons