Arabic خيام الوليد Palestine grid 211/282 Local time Monday 7:48 AM Date of depopulation 1 May 1948 | Subdistrict Safad Area 4,215 dunams
4.2 km² Current locality Lehavot HaBashan | |
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Name meaning "the tents of al-Walid" Cause(s) of depopulation Fear of being caught up in the fighting Weather 13°C, Wind S at 3 km/h, 92% Humidity | ||
Khiyam al-Walid (Arabic: خيام الوليد) was a Palestinian Arab village in the Safad Subdistrict located 25.5 kilometers (15.8 mi) northeast of Safad along the Syrian border. It was on situated on a hill 150 meters (490 ft) above sea level on the eastern edge of the Hula Valley. In 1945, there were 280 predominantly Muslim inhabitants. It was depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War.
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History
The name of the village in Arabic is translated as "the tents of al-Walid", believed to be a reference to the tents of Khaled ibn al-Walid's army which conquered the Levant from the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century. According to local tradition, within the village was tomb for a Muslim sage, Shaykh ibn al-Walid. The tomb was enclosed by a shrine that formed part of Khiyam al-Walid's mosque.
British Mandate era
In the 1931 census of Palestine the population of Madahil was 181, all Muslims, in a total of 42 houses.
In modern times, Khiyam al Walid was classified as a hamlet by the Palestine Index Gazeteer. During the British Mandate period, it had rectangular layout with its houses lined up along the road leading to the nearby village of az-Zawiya. Khiyam al-Walid expanded to the east where spring water—which was preferred over the malaria-infested marshes of Lake Hula—was available. In a 1945 survey, the village was made up of a total 4,215 dunams. Despite its entire population being Arab, 92% of its land was Jewish-owned.
Types of land use in dunams in the village in 1945:
The land ownership of the village before occupation in dunams:
1948, aftermath
According to an Israeli military report in June 1948, Khiyam al-Walid's inhabitants had fled the village on May 1 due to fears of a military attack by Haganah or other Jewish forces. It was occupied in the same relative period during the last stages of Operation Yiftach. Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi wrote of the remains of the village in 1992, saying "The site is deserted and overgrown with grass and thorns. There are a few carob trees, piles of stones, and crumbled terraces."