Jadeidi Makr

History

Under the names "Makr Harsin" and "al-Hudeidah", Makr and Jadeidi, respectively, were mentioned as part of the domain of the Crusaders during the hudna (truce agreement) of 1283 between the Crusaders based in Acre and the Mamluk sultan al-Mansur Qalawun. However, it is also possible that Makr Harsin in the original text referred to separate locations Makr and Harsini, the latter unidentified.

Ottoman era

Incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517, Makr appeared in the census of 1596, located in the nahiya (subdistrict) of Acre, part of Safad Sanjak. The population was 22 households and 3 bachelors, all Muslim. They paid taxes on wheat, barley, summer crops, fruit trees, cotton, occasional revenues, goats and beehives; a total of 17000 akçe. A map by Pierre Jacotin from Napoleon's invasion of 1799 showed both places, named as "Makr" and "Sedid".

In 1875 Victor Guérin visited Makr, and found it to have 350 inhabitants, half Muslim and half "Schismatic Greek". He further noted that "In and about El Mekr are broken columns, the fragment of an ancient bas-relief, a little sarcophagus in terra cotta, and several sepulchral caves." He found Jadeidi to have 350 inhabitants.

In 1881, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Jadeidi as "a village, built of stone, containing about eighty Moslems and twenty Christians, surrounded by olives and arable land, situated near the plain, .....with many cisterns for rain water to drink from." Makr was described as "a village, built of stone, containing 100 Moslems and eighty Christians, situated at the edge of the plain, surrounded by olives and arable land; there are many cisterns for rain-water in the village."

British Mandate period

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities Jadeidi had a population of 204 residents; 108 Muslims and 96 Christians. Of the Christians, 51 were Orthodox and 45 Greek Catholic (Melchite). Al Makr had a population of 281; 206 Muslims and 75 Christians. Of the Christians, 30 were Orthodox and 45 Greek Catholic (Melchite). In the 1931 census, Jadeidi had a population of 249; 146 Muslims and 103 Christians, in a total of 57 houses, while Makr had a population of 331; 257 Muslims and 74 Christians, in a total of 77 houses.

In 1945 the population of Jadeidi was 280, all Arabs, who owned 5,219 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey. 1,855 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 2,202 dunams were used for cereals, while 39 dunams were built-up (urban) land.

The same year the population of Makr was 490, all Arabs, while 8,791 dunams of land belonged to the village according to the same official land and population survey. 96 dunams were for citrus and bananas, 730 for plantations and irrigable land, 7,241 used for cereals, while 26 dunams were built-up (urban) land.

1948, and aftermath

Makr was captured by the Israeli army during the first part of Operation Dekel, 8–14 July 1948, and remained under Martial Law until 1966. Mahmoud Darwish's family, who originated from the destroyed Arab village of al-Birwa, live in the town and Darwish was educated and raised there.

Sports and culture

The town's main football team, Hapoel Bnei Jadeidi F.C., will start the 2011-12 season in the Israeli Liga Gimel (Israeli Fifth Division).