Arab al-Safa was a Palestinian

Palestinian people

The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...

 Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

 village in the District of Baysan . It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War

1948 Arab-Israeli War

The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...

. It was located 7.5 km south of Baysan.

The village was destroyed on May 20, 1948 by the Israeli Golani Brigade

Golani Brigade

The Golani Brigade is an Israeli infantry brigade that is subordinated to the 36th Division and traditionally associated with the Northern Command. Its symbol is a green tree on a yellow background, and its soldiers wear a brown beret. It is one of the most highly decorated infantry units in the...

 under Operation Gideon

Operation Gideon

Operation Gideon was a Haganah offensive launched in the closing days of the British Mandate in Palestine, as part of the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine. Its objectives were to capture Beisan , clear the surrounding villages and bedouin camps and block one of the possible entry routes...

.

Demographics

According to a land census report in 1944, land ownership in the village (in dunam

Dunam

A dunam or dönüm, dunum, donum, dynym, dulum was a non-SI unit of land area used in the Ottoman Empire and representing the amount of land that can be plowed in a day; its value varied from 900–2500 m²...

s) was as follows:

• Arab 7,549
• Jewish 2,523
• Public 2,446
• Total 12,518

By 1944, a total of 7,449 dunums were used for cereals.
The Arab population were occupied mainly in cereal farming. The village had a population of 225 in 1922. This had grown to 754 by 1948 with 150 houses.

External links

• Welcome To 'Arab al-Safa
• 'Arab al-Safa from Khalil Sakakini Cultural Centre