Umm al-Faraj
March 2, 2024‘Arab al-‘Arida
March 2, 2024
Al-Zeeb was a historic Palestinian village located 13.5 km north of Acre (Akka), situated on a domed hill along the Mediterranean coast. It was built on the site of a Canaanite city named Akzib, which fell to the Assyrians in 701 BCE. Archaeological excavations reveal the city existed as early as the 18th century BCE and had been fortified by the 20th century BCE. Known to the Romans as Ecdippa and to the Crusaders as Casal or Umbert, the village has deep historical roots.
Travelers such as Ibn Jubayr (1182–1184) mentioned it as a village between Acre and Tyre, while the geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi (d. 1229) described it as a large coastal village. In the Ottoman period (1596), it had 875 residents who paid taxes on crops like wheat, barley, cotton, fruit, and livestock. By the 19th century, British traveler Buckingham described it as a small town with palm trees taller than its houses.
By the late 1800s, al-Zeeb was a stone-built village of roughly 400 Muslim inhabitants. Residents cultivated olives, figs, and mulberries. The village had a small mosque, an Ottoman-built school (1882), a health clinic, and several stone and cement houses. Agriculture and fishing were the main livelihoods. In 1944–45, villagers cultivated thousands of dunums for citrus, grains, and orchards, and averaged 16 tons of fish caught annually. There were also mechanical and animal-powered olive presses. The village contained archaeological remains such as foundations, pools, and carved tombs, and was surrounded by six nearby ruins within a 4 km radius.
Only the mosque (restored for tourism) and the mukhtar Hussein Ataya's house (now a museum) remain today. The mosque features a dome and a large arched façade. The museum contains gravestones, including one dated September 14, 1938, and various ancient remains. The site is currently used as a park and tourist area.
During Operation Ben-Ami (May 13–14, 1948), the Haganah's Carmeli Brigade invaded northwestern Palestine, targeting al-Zeeb as a strategic village. According to Haganah records, residents fled upon the Israeli troops' arrival. However, Israeli historian Benny Morris argues the village was deliberately targeted due to its role as a resistance hub.
Eyewitnesses told Palestinian historian Nafez Nazzal that villagers initially mistook the attackers—disguised in Arab keffiyehs—for friendly Arab forces. After a surprise attack and artillery Bombardment, most villagers fled. Remaining residents were forcibly transferred to al-Mazra’a, which became a collection point for displaced Palestinians in Western Galilee. The operation commander Moshe Carmel ordered the complete destruction of the village to "punish" the population and prevent their return.
In December 1948, Yosef Weitz of the Jewish National Fund noted that al-Zeeb had been leveled and remarked that perhaps it would have been more impactful to settle Jews in the original homes rather than destroy them.
In January 1949, the kibbutz Beit HaArava was founded on village ruins and later renamed Gesher HaZiv, populated by Zionist immigrants from the UK, US, and South Africa. Nearby colonies such as Sa'ar (1948) and Liman were also built on al-Zeeb and neighboring village lands.
