Al-Khunayzir

Al-Khunayzir (Arabic: الخنيزر), was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Baysan. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War on May 20, 1948.

Al-Khunayzir
الخنيزر
'Arab al Khuneizir[1]
Village
Etymology: Tell el Khaneizîr, the mound of the swine[2]
1870s map
1940s map
modern map
1940s with modern overlay map
A series of historical maps of the area around Al-Khunayzir (click the buttons)
Al-Khunayzir is located in Mandatory Palestine
Al-Khunayzir
Al-Khunayzir
Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 32°25′17″N 35°31′20″E
Palestine grid199/203
Geopolitical entityMandatory Palestine
SubdistrictBaysan
Date of depopulationMay 20, 1948[1]
Area
[3]
 • Total3,107 dunams (3.107 km2 or 1.200 sq mi)
Population
 (1945)
 • Total260[4][3]
Cause(s) of depopulationInfluence of nearby town's fall[1]
Current LocalitiesTirat Zvi[5]

History

In 1881, a nearby tell was named as Tell el Khaneizîr, meaning the mound of the swine, and a nearby spring was named as Ain el Khaneizîr meaning the spring of the swine.[6] خنزير means pig in Arabic.[2]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the Mandatory Palestine authorities, Kunaizir had a population of 83; all Muslims,[7] increasing in the 1931 census to 200 Muslims, in a total of 47 houses.[8]

In the 1945 statistics the population was 260 Muslims,[4] with a total of 3,107 dunams of land.[3] Of this, 36 dunams were for citrus and bananas, 1,658 for plantations and irrigated land, 256 for cereals,[9] while 34 dunams were non-cultivable land.[10]

1948, and aftermath

According to B. Morris, 'Arab al Khuneizir was abandoned by its population under the "[i]nfluence of nearby town's fall", on 20 May 1948.[1]

In 1992 it was described: "The only remaining landmarks is a cemetery on Tall Abu al-Faraj (199/203), north of the site. To the north and the west of this tell are the springs of 'Uyun Umm al-Faraj and 'Ayn al-Khanazir. Most of the village site and the land around it are covered with palm trees."[5]

References
  1. Morris, 2004, p. xvii, village #131. Also gives cause of depopulation
  2. Palmer, 1881, p. 169
  3. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 43
  4. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 6
  5. Khalidi, 1992, p. 54
  6. Palmer p.157
  7. Barron, 1923, Table IX, p. 31
  8. Mills, 1932, p. 79
  9. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 85
  10. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 135

Bibliography
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