Kafra (), was a Palestinian Arab village located 10.5 kilometres north of Baysan. Built along both sides of the Wadi Kafra, the village had been known by this name since at least the time of the Crusades.Khalidi, 1992, p. 52 It was depopulated by the Israel Defense Forces during the 1948 Palestine War on May 16, 1948.
History Adolf Neubauer connected it with a place mentioned in the Talmud, called Kefra.Neubauer, 1868, p. 277Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 100
The archaeological discoveries in Kafra include a stele inscribed in Hebrew or Aramaic, with the name "Zebediah son of Zuzi," written using the Jewish script. Discovered near an unexcavated building, believed to a synagogue with a mosaic, the stele is currently housed in the Sturman Museum at Ein Harod.
The Crusaders spelled it Cafra.
Ottoman era In 1870/1871 (1288 AH), an Ottoman census listed the village in the nahiya (sub-district) of Shafa al-Shamali.
In 1875, Victor Guérin visited and found many basalt ruins, but the village itself was deserted.Guérin, 1880, p. 128
In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described the village as being "a ruined village with traces of antiquity. Dr. Tristram mentions it as inhabited in 1866, and containing drafted masonry, but the ruins do not appear important."Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 119
British mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the Mandatory Palestine authorities, Kafra had a population of 273; all Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table IX, p. 31 increasing slightly in the 1931 census to 298; all Muslims except 1 Christian, in a total of 81 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 79
In the 1945 statistics, the population was 430 Muslims, with a total of 9,172 dunams of land. Of this, 36 dunams were for plantations and irrigated land, 7,284 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 85 while 18 were built-up land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 134
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External links Welcome To Kafra Kafra, Zochrot Survey of Western Palestine, Map 9: IAA, Wikimedia commons