Al-Samakiyya

Al-Samakiyya was a Palestinian Arab village in the Tiberias Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on May 4, 1948, under Operation Matateh. It was located 11 km northeast of Tiberias, near the Wadi al-Wadabani. The village was located at Tel Hum, which has been identified with Capernaum.^[6]

Al-Samakiyya تلحوم/السمكية
Village
Al-Samakiyya villagers, postcard from 1902
Etymology: ’Arab es Semakîyeh, the Semakîyeh (fisher) Arabs[1]
1870s map 1940s map modern map 1940s with modern overlay map A series of historical maps of the area around Al-Samakiyya (click the buttons)
Al-Samakiyya Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 32°53′02″N 35°34′41″E
Palestine grid	204/254
Geopolitical entity	Mandatory Palestine
Subdistrict	Tiberias
Date of depopulation	Not known[2]
Area [3]
• Total	10,526 dunams (10.526 km2 or 4.064 sq mi)
Population  (1945)
• Total	330 Muslims and 50 Christians connected to Capernaum ecclesiastic sites[4][3]
Current Localities	Amnun,[5] Korazim[5]

History

In 1838, Edward Robinson noted the bedawin (Bedouin) tribe of es-Semekiyeh, who kept some buildings in Abu Shusha as magazines.^[7]

British Mandate

See of Galilee at Capernaum

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, the population of Samakiyeh was 193 Muslims,^[8] increasing in the 1931 census to 290; 266 Muslims and 24 Christians,^{[clarification needed]} in a total of 60 houses.^[9]

In the 1945 statistics Es Samakiya had a population of 380; 330 Muslims and 50 Christians^{[clarification needed]},^[4] with 10,526 dunams of land.^[3] Of this, 2 dunams were used for citrus and bananas, 66 for plantations and irrigable land, 4,034 dunams for cereals,^[10] while a total of 6,424 dunams were classified as non-cultivable area.^[11]

Al-Samakiyya had an Italian monastery, a Franciscan church, and a Greek Orthodox church.^{[5][clarification needed]}

1948 war and aftermath

On 4 May 1948, Yigal Allon launched Operation Matateh ('Operation Broom'), in order to clear the area of its Bedouin inhabitants.^[2][12] The Bedouin site is listed by Benny Morris as "'Arab al Samakiya (Samakiya/Talhum)".^[2]

Historian Saleh Abdel Jawad writes that five or more villagers were killed in "indiscriminate" killings by the Haganah.^[13]

Amnun and Korazim were both established on Al-Samakiyya land in 1983.^[5]

In 1992, Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi wrote: "The village site is covered with wild vegetation, piles of basalt stones, and date palm trees. Part of the surrounding land is used as pasture, and the other part is planted with fruit and walnut trees."^[5]