Al-Salihiyya, Palestine

At the time of the British Mandate for Palestine, the village had a population of 1281, all Muslim except 2 Christians. They occupied a total of 257 houses, according to the 1931 census of Palestine.[9]

A visitor to the village in 1936 noted that the inhabitants, along with those in other Huleh villages, had a "pronounced negroid element" and suggested they may have originated from Sudan or from slaves purchased in Mecca and resold at Ma'an. Their dialect was close to Egyptian Arabic. The village's main industry was harvesting the papyrus groves of Lake Huleh and the manufacture of papyrus matting. The mats were either fine work for interior use or courser work for building construction. The reed huts were made weatherproof in winter by adding further layers. A roof might end up eight or nine mats thick with the walls made up of four or five layers. They kept chickens, geese and buffaloes. The arable land was made difficult to plough by an invasive low growing grass similar to couch grass, called Injeel or Najeel. Some wheat, Indian corn and millet (dura) was being grown. The villagers also caught fish, of which there was an abundance, with drag nets as well as cast nets. They also acted as guides during the duck shooting season. The writer expressed fear for their future. "The whole area has been taken over by Jewish colonists who intend in the near future to drain it and convert it into useful arable land."[10]

In the 1945 statistics the population was 1,520, all Muslims,[4] owning 4,528 dunams, while Jews owned 789 dunams, and 290 was publicly owned, according to an official land and population survey.[3] Of this, 23 dunams were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 4,230 for cereals,[11] while 94 dunams were classified as built-up areas.[12] The village had a mosque and an elementary school for boys.[13]

According to Israeli sources, the village had traditionally been ‘friendly’ towards the Yishuv.[14] In late May, 1948, the Haganah reported an argument in Salihiya between youngsters and village elders. The youngsters thought it best ‘to approach the Jews and hand over their arms and stay’. The elders, however, feared that if an Arab army nonetheless reached their area, they would be deemed traitors, ‘and the village would be destroyed.[15] According to Haganah sources: ‘They wanted negotiations [with us]. We did not show up. [They became] afraid.’[14] The village was depopulated on May 25, 1948,[1] by the Palmach's First Battalion during Operation Yiftach.[13]

Walid Khalidi described the village remains in 1992: "The village has been obliterated; no trace of it remains. Residents of the settlement of Kefar Blum cultivate the surrounding land."[13]

• 
  Al-Salihiyya (Salhyeh) marked on John MacGregor's map. January 1869
• 
  Example of a papyrus reed house in the Hula valley. c. 1910.
• 
  Hula Bedouin 1935
• 
  Al-Salihiyya, 1944 (bottom right quadrant).
• 
  Preparing papyrus for weaving.
• 
  Members of the Yiftach Brigade in the Hula with an example of local matting. 1948