Kafr Bir'im
Kafr Bir'im, also Kefr Berem (Arabic: كفر برعم, Hebrew: כְּפַר בִּרְעָם), was a former village in Mandatory Palestine, located in modern-day northern Israel, 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) south of the Lebanese border and 11.5 kilometers (7.1 mi) northwest of Safed. The village was situated 750 meters (2,460 ft) above sea level. "The village stood on a rocky hill only a little higher than the surrounding area and faced north and west."[6]
In ancient times, it was a Jewish village known as Kfar Bar'am. It was an Arab village during the Middle Ages. In the early Ottoman era it was wholly Muslim. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was noted as a Maronite Christian village. A church overlooking it at an elevation of 752 meters (2,467 ft) was built on the ruins of an older church destroyed in the earthquake of 1837.
In 1945, 710 people lived in Kafr Bir'im, most of them Christians. Prior to 1948, "A secondary road linked [Kafr Bir'im] to a number of villages in the west and east and led to the coastal highway and the highway to Safad."[6]
The villagers were expelled during the Nakba. A few years later, on September 16, 1953 the village was destroyed by the Israeli Air Force, in order to prevent the villagers' return and in defiance of an Israeli Supreme Court decision recognizing the villager's right to return to their homes.[7][8][9] By 1992, the only standing structure was the church and belltower.[6]
The village of Iqrit had the same fate.
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Antiquity
The village was originally Kfar Bar'am, a Jewish village which was established in ancient times.[10] The remains of the 3rd-century Kfar Bar'am synagogue on the outskirts of the town are still visible, as is another ruined synagogue in the center of the village.[11][12]
Among the findings here is an Aramaic bronze amulet inscribed in Hebrew letters, believed to offer protection to "Yudan, son of Nonna". This artifact was unearthed during excavations led by Aviam in 1998 at the small synagogue near Bar'am.[13]
Middle Ages
A visitor in the thirteenth century described an Arab village containing the remains of two ancient synagogues.[14]
Ottoman period
In 1596, Kafr Bir'im appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Jira, part of Sanjak Safad. It had a population of 114 households and 22 bachelors; all noted as Muslim. The villagers paid taxes on wheat, barley, goats and beehives, but most of the taxes were paid as a fixed sum; total revenue was 13,400 akçe.[15][16]
Kafr Bir'im was badly damaged in the Galilee earthquake of 1837. The local church and a row of columns from the ancient synagogue collapsed.[17] In 1838 it was noted as a Maronite village in the Safad region.[18]
In 1852 it was estimated that the village had a population of 160 males, all Maronites and Melkites.[19] During the 1860 civil war in Lebanon, Muslims and Druzes attacked the Christian village.[20]
In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described the village as being built of stone, surrounded by gardens, olive trees and vineyards, with a population of between 300 and 500.[21]
A population list from about 1887 showed Kefr Bir’im to have about 1,285 inhabitants, all Christian.[22]
British rule
In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Kufr Berim had a population of 469; all Maronite Christians.[23][24] By the 1931 census there were 554 people in the village; 547 Christians and 7 Muslims, in a total of 132 houses.[25]
In the 1945 statistics, Kafr Bir'im had a population of 710, consisting of 10 Muslims and 700 Christians,[2] with 12,250 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[26] Of this, 1,101 dunams were irrigated or used for plantations, 3,718 for cereals,[27] while 96 dunams were classified as urban land.[28]
The Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question describes the pre-1948 modern period in Kafr Bir'im thus: "Their houses, made of stone and mud, were built close together. Some of the land was forested. Agriculture, irrigated from the abundant springs, was the primary occupation of the villagers, who were especially active in olive and fruit cultivation."[6]
Some villagers assisted European Jews traveling to Palestine by way of Lebanon by distracting British police officers, who were restricting Jewish immigration.[29]
The village population in 1948 was estimated as 1,050 inhabitants.
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Legacy
The operational name of the Munich massacre of Israeli athletes in 1972 was named after this village and Iqrit.[43]
The Palestinian artist Hanna Fuad Farah made memory of Kafr Bir'im a central theme of his work.[44]
Priest Elias Chacour, who was expelled from Kafr Bir'im at age 6, wrote of his return to the village ruins by way of Bar'am National Park in his autobiography.[29]
Kafr Bir'im is among the demolished Palestinian villages for which commemorative Marches of Return have taken place, such as those organized by the Association for the Defence of the Rights of the Internally Displaced.[45]
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