PLace

Fara

Place
Fara — فارَة
District
Galilee
Subdistrict
Safad
Average Elevation
675 m
Distance from Safad
11.5 km
Population
Year Arab Total
1931 229 229
1944/45 320 320
Land Ownership (1944/45) in dunums
Year Arab Public Total
1944/45 7225 4 7229
Land Use (1944/45) in dunums
Use Arab Public Total
Non-Cultivable & Built-up (Total)
Use Arab Public Total
Built-up 38 38
Non-Cultivable 3276 4 3280
3314 4 3318 (46%)
Cultivable (Total)
Use Arab Total
Plantation and Irrigable 173 173
Cereal 3738 3738
3911 3911 (54%)
Number of Houses (1931)
42

The village was perched on a relatively high, rocky hill that faced the southeast and overlooked Wadi Fara. Two roads that passed through other neighboring villages connected it to Safad. In 1596, Fara was a village in the nahiya of Jira (liwa' of Safad) with a population of 281. It paid taxes on a number of crops, including wheat, barley, and olives, as well as on other types of produce and property, such as goats, beehives, vineyards, and a press that was used for processing either olives or grapes. In the late nineteenth century, Fara was situated at the foot of a large hill and had a population of about 100. The houses were built of basalt stones and mud. The village had a rectangular layout; its longer sides were oriented in a northeast- southwest direction, and its houses were clustered together. It had a cistern on its east side and a pool about 0.25 km to the northeast. All of the residents of Fara were Muslims, and they earned their living primarily from animal husbandry and agriculture. Grain was their most important crop, but they also cultivated fruit trees; their orchards were west and southwest of the village. In 1944 a total of 3,738 dunums was allocated to cereals and 173 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards.

The village fell into Israeli hands on 30 October 1948, in the final stage of Operation Hiram (see 'Arab al-Samniyya, Acre sub-disctrict). Judging from information gathered by Israeli historian Benny Morris, Fara was probably captured by units of the Israeli army's Sheva' (Seventh) Brigade as they advanced through upper Galilee from Sa'sa' to al-Malikiyya, moving eastwards along a road parallel to the Lebanese border. Morris does not indicate what happened to the inhabitants, but if events followed the same pattern as in other villages in the area, they either were expelled or fled out of fear. They were likely to have heard of the nearby massacres committed at the beginning of Operation Hiram; after news of the carnage spread in Upper Galilee, only a few communities remained.

There are no Israeli settlements on village land.

One stone building (probably a mosque) stands on the site, as well as several stone terraces. On the whole, however, the site is overgrown with grass and fig trees. Less that 1 km north of it lies the settlement of Yir'on (192275). A portion of the land around the village is planted with fruit trees, such as apples, but the land along the valley's slope is deserted and uncultivated.

t