PLace

'Arab al-Samniyya

Place
'Arab al-Samniyya — عرب السَمْنِيَّة
Known also as: Khirbat al-Suwwana
District
Galilee
Subdistrict
Acre
Average Elevation
150 m
Distance from Acre
19.5 km
Population
Year Arab Total
1944/45 * 200 200
Land Ownership (1944/45) in dunums
Year Arab Public Total
1944/45 * 1872 1872
Land Use (1944/45) in dunums
Use Arab Total
Non-Cultivable & Built-up (Total) *
Use Arab Total
Non-Cultivable * 1676 1676
1676 1676 (90%)
Cultivable (Total) **
Use Arab Total
Plantation and Irrigable * 22 22
Cereal ** 174 174
196 196 (10%)
Number of Houses (1931)
13

The village, which was also known as Khirbat al-Suwwana, was situated on a rocky hill near the road linking Ra's al-Naqura with Safad. Its houses were made of stone. A dirt path linked it to the coastal highway and hence to Acre. The villagers cultivated grain, figs, and olives. In 1944/45 a total of 174 dunums was allocated to cereals; 22 dunums were irrigated and used for orchards.

Arab al-Samniyya was probably taken at the end of Operation Hiram, on 30-31 October 1948. The village would have been reached shortly after Tarbikha and Iqrit, and like these two nearby villages, might not have been emptied directly. Judging from circumstantial evidence cited by Israeli historian Benny Morris, its people may have been expelled in the coming weeks, under the guise of creating a 'secure' border.

The settlement of Ya'ara was established in 1950 on village land.

Only the stone rubble of houses, crumbling walls, and a few roofs remain of the village buildings. The terraces of fig and olive groves are still visible.

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