Population :
1944/45 : 350
Kirad
al-Ghannama was the “twin” of the adjacent village, Kirad aJ-Baqqara. It was
situated on a gently sloping, volcanic outcrop on the southern edge of the
al-Hula Plain, overlooking it to the north. Its houses were made of adobe
bricks and had wooden roofs. Water was plentiful and came from a variety of
sources—wells, springs, and the nearby Wadi Waqqas (to the west). The village
population was predominantly Muslim.
The villagers cultivated mainly grain.
In 1944/45 a total of 77 dunums was devoted to citrus and bananas and
3,451 dunums were allocated to cereals; 20 dunums were irrigated or used for
orchards. Near the village were two archaeological sites, Khirbat Ni.jmat
al-Subh and Tall al-Safa , that contained columns, the ramains of walls, and
cisterns. About 2 km to the southwest lay the large Bronze-Iron Age site of
Tall al-Qadah.
Occupation and Depopulation
In
mid-March 1948, a Haganah massacre in the neighboring village of al-Husayniyya
“left dozens of dead,” according to Israeli sources, and led to the temporary
evacuation of Kirad al-Ghannama. The following month, it was temporarily (or
partially) evacuated again during Operation Yiftach (see Abil al-Qamh, Salad
District). On 22 April the villagers reportedly left during that operation
under the influence of a direct military assault on a nearby village, perhaps
al-’Ulmaniyya (which was attacked on 20 April). In July 1949, Israel signed an
armistice agreement according to which Kirad aI-Ghannama was to be located
within a Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and the inhabitants of the area were to be
protected. However, the Israeli authorities were determined to drive out those
villagers who had remained, and deployed a variety of means over the following
seven years to do so (see Kirad al-Baqqara, Salad District). By 1956, the DMZ’s
2,200 inhabitants had been pushed out, and Kirad al-Ghannama was evacuated for
the third time.
Israeli Settlements on Village Lands
There are no Israeli settlements on village lands, although Gadot, founded in 1949, is very close to the site and Ayyelet ha-Shahar), founded in 1918, is close by to the west.
Only the
rubble of houses remains. Vegetation, such as shrubs, some trees, and grass,
grows throughout the area. The surrounding land is used by Israelis both for
crop cultivation and as pasture.
Source(s):
al-Khalidi.
All That Remains
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