Arab al-Fuqara (Arabic: عرب الفقراء) was a Palestinian Arab village in the Haifa Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on April 10, 1948.[4] At that time, the land records of the village consisted of a total area of 2,714 dunams, of which 2,513 were owned by Jews, 15 owned by Arabs, and the remaining 186 dunams being public lands.
Arab al-Fuqara
عرب الفقراء/الشيخ حلو | |
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Etymology: Sheikh Helu, p.n[1] | |
1870s map
1940s map
modern map
1940s with modern overlay map
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Arab al-Fuqara Location within Mandatory Palestine | |
Coordinates: 32°27′08″N 34°54′21″E / 32.45222°N 34.90583°E | |
Palestine grid | 140/206 |
Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
Subdistrict | Haifa |
Date of depopulation | April 10, 1948[4] |
Area | |
• Total | 15 dunams (1.5 ha or 4 acres) |
Population (1945) | |
• Total | 310[2][3] |
Cause(s) of depopulation | Expulsion by Yishuv forces |
Current Localities | Hadera[6] |
The village was located 42 km southwest of Haifa, south of Wadi al-Mafjar and northwest of Hadera, in a flat, sandy area.[6]
In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described a local Mukam Sheikh Helu here, and noted a few adobe houses near, which were not noticed in the official [Government] lists.[7]
The Arab villagers were descendants of a section of the al-Balawina Bedouin tribe, whose primary territory was near Beersheba.[6] The area was generally swampy and malarial, and this limited population growth until the mid-1920s.
The gradual and legal expansion of the Jewish town Hadera reduced the free public land available to the Arab villagers, until only a thin strip of land between Hadera and Wadi al-Mafjar was retained (15 dunams),[6] where the land was considered non-cultivable.[8]
The village population in the 1945 statistics was 310, all Muslims.[2][3]
On 6 April 1948, the Haganah implemented a new policy for the coastal plains, namely of clearing the whole area of its Arab inhabitants.[9] On 10 April, the villagers of Arab al-Fuqara, together with the villagers of Arab al-Nufay'at and Arab Zahrat al-Dumayri, were ordered to leave the area.[10]
Following the 1948 war, the area was incorporated into the State of Israel and the village's land is now part of the northwestern area of Hadera.[6]