Zarnuqa

Occupation and Ethnic Cleansing

According to Israeli historian Benny Morris, Israeli soldiers from the Giv’ati Brigade occupied the nearly abandoned village on 27 May 1948, during Operation Barak. Atrocities committed during the occupation were documented in a letter to Al HaMishmar, the newspaper of the leftist Mapam party, by someone informed by a soldier who participated in the operation:

“The soldier told me how one of the troops opened the door of a house and fired a Sten gun burst at an elderly man, a woman, and a child, killing them instantly. He described how Arabs were rounded up and left to stand in the sun all day, hungry and thirsty, until they handed over 40 rifles. The villagers claimed they had no weapons. Eventually, they were expelled toward the village of Binna.”

At the time, The New York Times reported Israeli sources stating that Zarnuqa and al-Qubayba were occupied after four hours of fighting. Morris notes that Zarnuqa had maintained good neighborly relations with the Yishuv, yet its houses were looted and vandalized by soldiers and nearby settlers after its occupation. The village was completely destroyed in June.

In August, the neighboring Kibbutz Shiller submitted a request to the Jewish settlement authorities for permanent transfer of Zarnuqa’s lands to the kibbutz as part of its “land quota.” Morris does not confirm whether the request was granted, but notes that new immigrants were settled on the site of the destroyed village on 27 May 1949.

The Village Today

Israeli settlement housing dominates the site. Mulberry trees and cactus plants grow in the area. A few of the original village houses remain; some are occupied by Israeli Jews, while others are fenced off and used as storage facilities. One fenced house, made of concrete, features a large roofed veranda supported by two columns. The surrounding lands are now used for Israeli agriculture.

Zionist Settlements on Village Lands

In late 1948, the settlement of Zarnuqa was established on the village site. It is now a suburb of Rehovot, which had originally been founded in 1890. Later, the Gan Shlomo settlement, established in 1927, expanded to include part of Zarnuqa’s lands. The Giv’at Brenner settlement (est. 1928) and Gat Rimon settlement (est. 1933) also expanded onto the village lands. Today, both are integrated into the urban outskirts of Rehovot.