al-Kabri

The village was located in a region where the western slopes of the Galilee meet the Acre Plain. It was connected to the settlement of Nahariya by the main road leading to Acre, which in turn connected to the coastal highway leading southward. The name “al-Kabri” may be derived from the Syriac word Kasrana, meaning “abundant and large.” The Arab geographer al-Maqrizi (d. 1440) referred to it as al-Kabira (the large), and stated that its revenues were allocated in 1291 by the Mamluk ruler al-Ashraf Khalil to a religious endowment (waqf) in Cairo. The Crusaders also had a name for it.

By the late 19th century, al-Kabri was a Sunni Muslim village built of stone, with a population of around 400. The villagers cultivated the surrounding lands with fig, olive, pomegranate, mulberry, and apple trees. The village was known for its springs, such as ‘Ayn al-Maftuh, ‘Ayn Hawar, ‘Ayn al-‘Amal, and ‘Ayn Kabri. Together, these springs produced around 10 million cubic meters of water annually, making the village one of the most important sources of drinking water in Palestine and the primary one for the Acre subdistrict. Some of the water channels supplying Acre dated back to the Hellenistic period, while two canals were constructed in the 19th century by two successive governors of Acre: Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar in 1800, and Sulayman Pasha in 1841.

During the British Mandate, village homes were built of stone and cement, or of stone and mud, or reinforced concrete. The population was entirely Muslim. The village had its own mosque and a boys’ elementary school. Its economy was based on agriculture and animal husbandry. In 1944–1945, 143 dunums were planted with citrus and bananas, 14,057 dunums with grains, and 1,278 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards, including 100 dunums planted with olive trees. In the latter half of the Mandate period, some residents of al-Kabri were affiliated with political movements.

The village stood on a wide ancient site that extended southwest toward the villages of al-Tall and al-Nahr. The area had been first inhabited around 1200 BCE, when it was occupied by the Persians. Archaeological remains in the area include foundations, mosaic pieces, and rock-cut tombs. West of the village, there were remains of a square stone building and rock-cut water cisterns.

Occupation and Ethnic Cleansing of the Village
The village was occupied on the night of May 20–21, 1948, as part of the second phase of “Operation Ben-Ami.” According to the history of the Independence Party, though possibly in error, the village was thought to have fallen later in mid-July during “Operation Dekel.” Historian Benny Morris wrote that most of the village’s inhabitants had fled before its occupation, following a retaliatory attack by the Haganah, during which a number of villagers were killed. The exact number of victims is not known. The village had reportedly been considered a center for anti-Zionist forces.

Palestinian historian Nafez Nazzal conducted interviews with villagers in the 1970s, in which they confirmed that war had reached al-Kabri long before the final assault. They recalled an attack in February 1948 by a small Zionist unit on a house in the village, which was aligned with the al-Qassam forces in Jerusalem. Following that attack and the subsequent withdrawal, the villagers blocked the main road to the north, preventing Zionist passage.

On March 20, the villagers ambushed a convoy of three armored vehicles accompanying a military operation. The Arab Liberation Army refused to participate in this operation. During the clash, villagers claimed that 74 Haganah soldiers were killed. A New York Times report confirmed the incident, citing the death of 49 Zionist fighters and none from the Arab side. The convoy reportedly consisted of five trucks and one armored vehicle. This prompted the British to bomb al-Kabri. Later, during the final assault, an unknown number of villagers were captured and others were killed, according to villagers’ testimonies. Some were also killed during their displacement as they fled from the village under fire from Zionist forces.

The Village Today
Today, only a few ruined buildings remain, alongside piles of stones overgrown with thorns, weeds, and grasses. The Israeli settlement of Kabri uses the western lands of the original village site for agriculture and pasture.

Israeli Settlements on Village Lands
According to records reviewed by Benny Morris, construction began on January 10, 1949, for the settlement of Kibbutz Kabri, built on the ruins of the destroyed village. It was established on the northern part of the village site. Other settlements include Ga’aton (founded in 1945), Sa’ar (1949), Ein Ya’akov (1950), and Ma’alot (1957), all of which fall within the lands of either al-Kabri or the neighboring village of Tarshiha, which lies ten kilometers to the east.

Since the last official property map—issued during the British Mandate—combined the lands of al-Kabri and Tarshiha, it is difficult to determine with certainty which settlement stands on which village’s lands. The most recent Zionist settlement established on the lands of al-Kabri is Kfar Vradim, built in 1984.