Qira
قِيرة | |
---|---|
Village | |
Etymology: Kh. Kîreh, the ruin of pitch[1] | |
Location within Mandatory Palestine | |
Coordinates: 32°38′42″N 35°06′09″E / 32.64500°N 35.10250°E | |
Palestine grid | 159/227 |
Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
Subdistrict | Haifa |
Date of depopulation | late March 1948[2] |
Area | |
• Total | 14,062 dunams (14.062 km2 or 5.429 sq mi) |
Population | |
• Total | 410 |
Cause(s) of depopulation | Whispering campaign |
Current Localities | Yokneam Moshava, Yokneam Illit, HaZore'a |
Qira (Arabic: قِيرة) was a Palestinian Arab village, located 23 kilometers southeast of Haifa. It was locally referred to as Qira wa Qamun.[5]
Its people were Arab tenants, some of whom from the Bedouin tribes of Ka'abiye and Sa'adih. They settled the land during the late 19th century. The land of the village was owned by three Christian families from Beirut and Haifa. The land was purchased by the Yishuv in the 1920s and the villagers were gradually expelled. Yokneam Moshava and HaZore'a were built on former village land.
The occupation of Qira by pre-state Israeli forces on 1 March 1948 finished the expulsion process.[5]