Al-Buke’a 08.01.43
Translation with [comments]
[Still there today.]
Built on an ancient ruin.
Water there are 5 springs: 1. Ayn al-Balad, abundant water, pipes are joined to it and it has a water pool built inside and a water reservoir around it for watering the sheep and goats. 2. Ayn al-Tirye to the west of the village, abundant water with a pool and pipes and around it a reservoir for watering the sheep and goats. 3. Ayn al-Branya to the west of the village, a little water. 4. Ayn al-Bustan south of the village, a little water. 5. Ayn al-Warka south of the village, a little water. Due to the number of springs there are no water holes in the village.
Roads the internal paths are unpaved but good in the rainy days too. There are roads west to Tarshiha [see file] - an asphalt road, paths eastward to Beit Jan, west to Kafr Sumiya ([see file] village is north of the aqueduct road) The residents own one bus. Transport with Acre, Tarshiha and Rameh [see file].
Buildings loam, stone and lime. The new houses stone and concrete.
Wadis from the south Wadi al-Karn.
Khirbes one khirbe west of the village: Khirbat al-Hoze with remains of an ancient building.
Livestock 400 heads of cattle, 1000 goats, 2000 chickens, 6 beehives.
Land 3000 dunam plain and mountain. The greater part mafruza [divided] and a fifth musha'a [commons].
Plantations olives, 13 orange groves, fruit and tobacco. They cultivate field crops, orange and tobacco.
There are no effendis. About a hundred dunams belong to Jews. They lease to villagers. Average family plot - about 40 dunams. There are families with no land, they work for others. No new land has been developed in recent years. Have not received land from the government. A quarter of the area is irrigated with water from the springs.
Waqf 50 dunams to the Christian waqf, 70 to the Druze, 25 to the Jewish waqf [something unreadable in parenthesis, perhaps kehilat kodesh]. The village has no other land elsewhere.
Residents 1100 people. Men in the 18-48 age group - 250.
Families
1. Al-Qadi, 30 members, headed by Kamal al-Qadi.
2. Shidad, 30 members, headed by Yusuf Shidad.
3. Hana Ibrahim, 20 members, headed by Hana Ibrahim.
4. Mahul, 20 members, headed by Ibrahim Mahul.
Relations between the families and with the neighbouring villages are good.
Mukhtars
1. Ayub Ilya, mukhtar for the past 10 years, popular.
2. Husayn al-'Abdallah, appointed by the government two years ago.
3. Sa'id al-Mahmoud, appointed by the government two years ago.
Village Committee Kamal al-Qadi, chairman, Habib Mahul, Ayub Ilya, Husayn al-'Abdallah, Sa'id al-Mahmoud - members.
There is a 4 class, 75 pupil government school. The headmaster - Hana Ibrahim. The teachers: Yusuf Shidad, 'Isa al-Huri, all of the village.
Artisans there is one cobbler, one blacksmith, 4 quarrymen, 2 plasterers.
[Shops] There are 10 shops, the owners make their living from farming too.
[Employment] There are no government officials, railway workers etc. They have not moved into town.
[Guesthouses] There is one guesthouse, for the Druze, in the house of Kamal Al-Qadi. Its expenses are shared by all the Druze.
Expenses the village committee collects 20 EI mil from every person annually and uses for general things in the village.
There are no relatives of note.
Ties with the Jews to the west of the village there are 20 houses that "Arab-Jews" (of oriental origin) used to live in. During the uprising they left them. Now they have returned and work in agriculture. They are linked with the residents in all matters including leasing of land. This year the Jews leased land from Hana Ibrahim and even take their turn in guarding the village.
[Churches, Synagogue and Hilweh] There is a church of the Orthodox Christians, the priest Garyus of the village, a church for the Catholics with no priest. The caretaker - Nikola Mahul. The Druze have a hilweh; the preacher Naref al-Mahmud. The Jews have an ancient synagogue west of the village, the hacham [Rabi] Salim Bechor.
[Guards] There are 3 guards and two policemen among the villagers.
There is no guard. The village committee arranges guarding by turn.
Relations with the authorities are good. The informers are unknown.
There are no debts.
[Smuggling] There are no smugglers.
Activists during the Troubles [the Arab Revolt] Ahmad Zina and Najib 'Abadi. They organized companies of 11 people under the command of Abu Mahmud and Abu Isma'il that would set out from the village.
The army killed 4 people who were armed and in the mountains. None were killed by the terrorists. There were no harsh sentences and only light arrests.
The government confiscated only 5 rifles. The amount of arms there today is unknown.
The government fined the village 50 EIL, that were duly paid, later the government discovered that the Druze hid one of the Lebanese rebels, and fined the Druze 150 EIL that were paid immediately.
There are no deportees.