Barbara

The village was located on the northern edge of the coastal sand plateaus that extend parallel to the Mediterranean Sea. The center of the village was located on a relatively flat area of land. Still, some of the village’s houses were rising on curvy ground near the plateaus, and sand encroachment represented a serious problem until the 1940s when residents succeeded in stabilizing the area. The dunes were built by building houses and planting trees in appropriate places. They were located directly to the west of the coastal highway and the railway line, so they were connected to the urban centers to the north and south, and there were secondary roads linking them to neighboring villages. It seems that a village with the same name existed in that location during the Roman occupation of Palestine. The Arab geographer Mujir al-Din al-Hanbali (died in 1522) says that the village was the birthplace of Sheikh Yusuf al-Bar Barawi, a local scholar and student of the famous scholar Ahmed bin Daoud, who died in 1323 in the year 1596. Berbera was a village in the Gaza district, with a population of 402. In the late nineteenth century, the village was rectangular, surrounded by several gardens and two ponds. As for the sand creeping from the beach, it was repelled by a fence of cactus plants in the gardens. To the east were groves of olive trees, and the brick houses of Berbera were separated by sandy alleys. Its inhabitants were Muslims and had an old mosque in the middle of the village. It was built during the reign of the Ottoman Sultan Murad III and contained the shrine of Sheikh Youssef Al-Barbarawi mentioned above. In addition to the mosque, there were several shops in the center of the village and a primary school. It was founded in 1921 and had 252 students in 1947.

Agricultural land surrounded the village, and its grapes, which were considered among the best in Palestine, were sold in many coastal towns and villages. In addition, its residents grew almonds, figs, olives, citrus fruits, guava, watermelon, cantaloupe, and grains. Fruit trees were concentrated in the western part of the village and grains were in the eastern part. A total of 132 dunums were allocated to citrus and bananas, 9,613 dunums for grains, and 2,952 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards. Most of the agriculture was rain-fed. Some wells were dug to a depth of 35-40 meters to irrigate citrus trees and vegetables. Berbera was also famous for its long rugs (mazawd), which were woven by women.

Occupying the village and ethnically cleansing it

Berbera had witnessed clashes since the first weeks of the war. In the first half of January 1948, people from a Jewish bus that was passing through the village opened fire on its residents without causing any casualties, at seven o’clock in the morning on January 12, according to a report in the newspaper (Felesteen), a fire was fired on the village. And breaking the glass in the (empty) school. Another attack occurred in April 1948, which was mentioned in one of the reports of the Sudanese commander of the irregular Arab forces in the Gaza region, Tariq Al-Afriqi. When the village residents were working in their fields on April 10, they were exposed to fire that the village fired at the residents of a neighboring Jewish colony, wounding one of them, and he responded. The defenders of the village were on fire, and a battle took place that lasted two hours. The reports did not mention any casualties among the village residents, who said they saw members of the Jewish forces carrying their dead and wounded during their withdrawal.

During the second truce in the war, the Israeli government approved a plan aimed at linking Israeli forces in the Negev with forces stationed to the north of them, in the area south of Ramla. This operation was initially called Operation Ten Plagues, but Smith later called it Operation Yoav. Barbara fell during this operation (see also Demret Isdud and Hamama in the Azza District, and Beit Habrin in the Hebron District).

To begin Operation Yoav, the Israeli army mobilized the Givati, HahaGev (Negev), and Yiftah brigades in the interior area that had fallen into its hands to the east of the coast, the coastal strip up to Ashdod in the north, and as soon as the second truce ended on October 15, the Israeli forces harassed the forces. The Egyptian forces fired on an Israeli supply convoy and then carried out violent artillery shelling and air strikes. Israeli historian Benny Morris wrote that to (soften) the villages before occupying them, the Israeli army used artillery on a much larger scale than any previous attack, in addition to air strikes with bombers and fighter bombers.

On October 15, the United Press International Agency reported that, in addition to Gaza and Majdal, aircraft had fired on and bombed Berbera on the same day. At the end of the operation, the Israeli forces were able to defeat the Egyptian forces on the southern front and occupied most of the villages of the Gaza District. At that time, Israeli military activity had “brought despair into the souls of the population,” according to what an Israeli intelligence officer said at the time, and the artillery shelling and aerial bombardment had left their mark on the souls of the population in an area that was not psychologically prepared and did not have any shelters against air strikes.

Barbara fell at the end of this operation on November 4-5, 1948, shortly after the fall of Majdal. As for the residents, they were expelled from it or fled under the weight of the fire of war.

The village today

All that remains are the crumbling walls and the rubble of houses covered with thorns and thorns. Large eucalyptus and sycamore trees also grow on the site cactus plants, and some of its ancient alleys are still clearly visible. An area of its site is used as a dumping ground for waste and wrecked cars. As for the neighboring lands, Israeli farmers cultivate corn.

Zionist settlements on village lands

Two colonies were built on village lands. The settlement of Mafkeim (110114) was established on January 12, 1949, directly south of the village, to prevent its residents from returning. As for Talmi Yaffe (113114), which was established in 1950, it is to the southeast of the site. The colony of Ghia (112115) was built in the same year to the northeast of the site and is close to the village lands but on them and the lands of the neighboring village of Al Jiyeh.