Al-Miyar (07.01.43)

Translation with [comments]

[Destroyed on 15 July 1948.]

Built upon a hill. No ruins.

Water there are no springs. Each house has a rainwater hole. Midway between Kabul [see file] and al-Miyar on the highway to the west there is a well and it serves to water the sheep and goats.

Roads the internal roads are ancient. Their condition is good also in the rainy days. There are roads north to Kabul, south to Sha'ab [see file]. There is a road from the village to Sakhnin [see file] and to Tiberias. Transport is by means of the Sakhnin-Acre bus.

Buildings stone, lime and loam. Roofs - wooden.

[Khirbes] There are no khirbes [ruins] around.

Livestock 100 heads of cattle, 1000 goats.

Land 10 thousand dunams, mafruza [divided into plots] and musha'a [commons, shared]. Plain and mountain. Soil is red and yellow. The surroundings are wood forests.

Plantations olives and fruit. They do seasonal field crops and olives.

There are no land-owning effendis. Average area per family is 40 dunams.

There are landless families. They work for other families. They have not developed new land. They have not been given land by the government. There is no irrigated land. The village has no waqf connection. It has no land elsewhere.

Residents about a 1000 in number. Number of men aged 18-48 - 200.

Families

1. Al-Namarna, 150 strong, headed by Mustafa al-Qasem.

2. Al-Shehadeh, 150 members, headed by Hamed Ali Barakat.

3. Al-Hittiya, 200 members, headed by Farid Sulieman.

4. Al-'Ivri, 50 members, headed by Salah Efendi al-'Ivri.

Relations among the families and with neighbouring villages are good.

Mukhtar Fuad Suleiman. Village committee: Mustafa al-Qasem, Hamed Ali Barakat, Fuad Suleiman and Salah Efendi al-'Ivri.

[Schools] There is no school.

Artisans 25 quarrymen, 4 well diggers. There are three shops whose owners supplement their living from agriculture.

[Employment] There are no government officials, gaffirs [security men] or recruits. There are no railway company employees etc.

There is no migration to the towns.

[Guesthouse] Each family has a private guesthouse.

[Expenditure] There is no standing arrangement for meeting expenditure, and it is levied among them in the form of donations when needed.

There are no relatives of consequences.

[Jews] No ties with Jews. The residents have sold a 1000 dunams to the Jews, mainly to the JNF [Jewish National Fund], but the land is still in Arab hands and they cultivate it.

[Mosques] There is a mosque in the centre of the village. The residents pay the Sheikh's wage. The Imam is a local.

[Guards] None of the villagers enlisted with the army or as gaffirs [security men]. In the season the residents appoint guards for the fields, the olives and the cows.

Relations with the authorities are good. The informers are not known. Do not owe money.

[Smuggling] There are no smugglers.

During the uprising [The Arab Revolt] all the villagers took part under the command of Abu Ibrahim al-Kabir and the village commander was Sheikh Isma'il of Haifa.

The army killed 5 of the villagers in a clash. The rebels murdered Sa'id Tahar and Mustafa al-A'amar, on accusation of treason.

There were no trials, only light arrests.

The government confiscated no arms: the amount of arms in the village today is unknown.

The army conducted two searches, damages were slight. The army fined the village 500 EIL that were paid in instalments.

There are no deportees.