PLace

al-Buwayziyya

Place
al-Buwayziyya — البُوَيْزِيَّة
District
Galilee
Subdistrict
Safad
Average Elevation
100 m
Distance from Safad
22 km
Population
Year Arab Total
1931 318
1944/45 * 510
Land Ownership (1944/45) in dunums
Year Arab Jewish Public Total
1944/45 * 13226 503 891 14620
Land Use (1944/45) in dunums
Use Arab Jewish Public Total
Non-Cultivable & Built-up (Total) *
Use Arab Jewish Public Total
Non-Cultivable * 10383 160 891 11434
Built-up ** 17 17
10400 160 891 11451 (78%)
Cultivable (Total) **
Use Arab Jewish Total
Cereal * 2770 343 3113
Plantation and Irrigable ** 56 56
2826 343 3169 (22%)
Number of Houses (1931)
75

The village was situated on the western edge of the al-Hula Plain, on the lower, rocky slopes of Mount 'Amil. It stood on the west side of a highway that ran from the city of Tiberias to the northernmost Palestinian village, al-Mutilla. The village had many springs that provided drinking water. A boys' elementary school opened its doors in al-Buwayziyya in 1937. The people of al-Buwayziyya, who were predominantly Muslim, earned their livelihood from agriculture and tilled a relatively large amount of land. Although they grew mainly citrus and other fruits, grain and vegetables also were cultivated. In 1944/45 a total of 2,770 dunums was allocated to cereals and 56 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards.

Jewish forces captured al-Buwayziyya on 11 May 1948, during the assault on eastern Galilee known as Operation Yiftach (see Abil al-Qamh, Safad sub-disctrict). Israeli historian Benny Morris indicates that al-Buwayziyya's residents fled when they learned that the neighboring village of al-Khalisa, 5 km to the north, had fallen. That village had been evacuated after the Haganah turned down the villagers' request for an 'agreement.' In the absence of such an accommodation, both villages presumably anticipated a direct attack. The villagers probably were also influenced by the fall of Safad on the same day, an event that undermined morale in the villages of the sub-disctrict.

There are no Israeli settlements on village lands.

On the site where al-Buwayziyya once stood are the remains of destroyed houses, a few walls and terraces, and the (intact) concrete roof of one house. The flat portions of the surrounding lands are used by Israelis for agriculture; the more hilly lands serve as pasture.

t