Nimrin was a Palestinian Arab town of 320 that was captured and depopulated by

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

History

Nimrin stood on the site of Kfar Nimra when Palestine was ruled by the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Medite ...

.Khalidi, 1992, p.535 Its inhabitants were

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

s when

Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupa ...

and

Saint James Saint James or St. James may refer to: People Saints *James, brother of Jesus (died 62 or 69), also known as James the Just *James the Great (died 44), Apostle, also known as James, son of Zebedee, or Saint James the Greater **Saint James Matamoro ...

visited the town in 30 CE.

Ottoman era

Nimrin was incorporated into the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

in the early sixteenth century CE, and by the 1596 tax records the village was under the administration of the ''

nahiya A nāḥiyah ( ar, , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level division w ...

'' ("subdistrict") of

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's F ...

, part of

Safad Sanjak Safed Sanjak ( ar, سنجق صفد; tr, Safed Sancağı) was a ''sanjak'' (district) of Damascus Eyalet (Ottoman Empire, Ottoman province of Damascus) in 1517–1660, after which it became part of the Sidon Eyalet (Ottoman province of Sidon). The ...

. It had a population of 20 households, an estimated 110 persons, all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on agricultural products, such as on wheat barley, wheat, olives, beehives, and goats; a total of 3,920 akçe. 1/3 of the revenue went to a

waqf A waqf ( ar, وَقْف; ), also known as hubous () or ''mortmain'' property is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitabl ...

. A map from Napoleon's invasion of 1799 by

Pierre Jacotin Pierre Jacotin (1765–1827) was the director of the survey for the '' Carte de l'Égypte (Description de l'Égypte)'', the first triangulation-based map of Egypt, Syria and Palestine. The maps were surveyed in 1799-1800 during the campaign in ...

showed the place, named as ''Nemen''. In the nineteenth century, Nimrin grew to become a stone-built village of 250 Muslim people. It was described as being built on the slope of a hill, surrounded by arable land.Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p
361
Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 535 The Ottomans founded an elementary school in the village. A population list from about 1887 showed Nimrin to have about 300 inhabitants; all Muslims.Schumacher, 1888, p
185
/ref>

British Mandate era

In 1922, Nimrin became a part of the British Mandate of Palestine and in the

1922 census of Palestine The 1922 census of Palestine was the first census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine, on 23 October 1922. The reported population was 757,182, including the military and persons of foreign nationality. The divis ...

, ''Nemrin'' had a population of 273; all Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Tiberias, p
39
/ref> increasing in the 1931 census to 316, still all Muslims, in a total of 71 houses.Mills, 1932, p
84
/ref> The main economic sectors were farming and livestock, with grain being the most important crop, followed by vegetables. The Ottoman school was closed down during this period. In the 1945 statistics the population consisted of 320 Muslims, and the total land area was 12,019 dunams. Of this, Arabs used 7,905 dunams for cereals, 335 for plantations and irrigable land,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p
123
/ref> while 64 dunams were classified as built-up (urban) area.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p
173
/ref>

1948 war, and aftermath

During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Nimrin fell into

i hands on July 17, 1948, after nearby Lubya was captured at the end of Operation Dekel. Its entire population of 320 (1945) fled for unclear reasons. According to

Walid Khalidi Walid Khalidi ( ar, وليد خالدي, born 1925 in Jerusalem) is an Oxford University-educated Palestinian historian who has written extensively on the Palestinian exodus. He is a co-founder of the Institute for Palestine Studies, establish ...

, "the site and a major part of the lands are surrounded by a fence."

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Welcome to NimrinNimrin

Zochrot Zochrot ( he, זוכרות; "Remembering"; ar, ذاكرات; "Memories") is an Israeli nonprofit organization founded in 2002. Based in Tel Aviv, its aim is to promote awareness of the Palestinian ''Nakba'' ("Catastrophe"), including the 1948 P ...

*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 6
IAAWikimedia commons

from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
Nimrin photos
from Dr. Moslih Kanaaneh {{Palestinian Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War District of Tiberias