Nimrin

Nimrin
Nimrin
Arabic	نمرين
Name meaning	well-watered
Subdistrict	Tiberias
Coordinates
Palestine grid	190/245
Population	320 (1945)
Area	12,019 dunams 12.0 km²
Date of depopulation	16-17 July, 1948
Cause(s) of depopulation	Fear of being caught up in the fighting
Secondary cause	Military assault by Yishuv forces
Current localities	Achuzzat Naftali, IDF ammunition depot

Nimrin was a Palestinian Arab town of 320 that was captured and depopulated by Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

History

Nimrin stood on the site of Kfar Nimra when Palestine was ruled by the Roman Empire. Its inhabitants were Jews when Saint Peter and Saint James visited the town in 30 CE.

Ottoman era

Nimrin was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century CE, and by 1596 the village had a population of 110 under the administration of the nahiya ("subdistrict") of Tiberias, part of Sanjak Safad. It paid taxes on wheat barley, wheat, olives, beehives, and goats.

A map from Napoleon's invasion of 1799 by Pierre Jacotin showed the place, named as Nemen.

In the nineteenth century, Nimrin grew to become a stone-built village of 250 Muslim people. It was described as being built on the slope of a hill, surrounded by arable land. The Ottomans founded an elementary school in the village.

British Mandate era

In 1922, Nimrin became a part of the British Mandate of Palestine and in the 1922 census of Palestine, Nemrin had a population of 273; all Muslims, increasing in the 1931 census to 316, still all Muslims, in a total of 71 houses.

The main economic sectors were farming and livestock, with grain being the most important crop, followed by vegetables. The Ottoman school was closed down during this period.

In 1945 the population consisted of 320 Arabs, and the total land area was 12,019 dunams. Of this, Arabs used 7,905 dunams for cereals, 335 for plantations and irrigable land, while 64 dunams were classified as built-up (urban) area.

1948 war, and aftermath

During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Nimrin fell into Israeli hands on July 17, 1948 after nearby Lubya was captured at the end of Operation Dekel. Its entire population of 320 (1945) fled for unclear reasons. According to Walid Khalidi, "the site and a major part of the lands are surrounded by a fence."

See also

• List of Arab towns and villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War

External links

• Welcome to Nimrin
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 6: IAA, Wikimedia commons
• Nimrin, from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
• Nimrin photos, from Dr. Moslih Kanaaneh