Al-Ghubayya al-Tahta (Arabic: غبية التحتا) was a Palestinian Arab village in the Haifa Subdistrict, located 28 km southeast of Haifa. It was depopulated during the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on April 8, 1948, under the Battle of Mishmar HaEmek.
The village was partly inhabited by Turkmens.
History
Al-Ghubayya al-Tahta shared an elementary school founded by the Ottomans in 1888 with the villages of al-Ghubayya-al-Fawqa and al-Naghnaghiyya. The school was closed during the British Mandate rule.
British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Ghabba al-Tahta had a population of 79 Muslims.Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Haifa, p. 33 In the 1931 census, the two al-Ghubayya village were counted together, the total population was 200 Muslims, in 38 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 90
In the 1945 statistics the population was counted with the neighbouring Al-Ghubayya al-Fawqa and al-Naghnaghiyya, and together they had a population of 1,130 Muslims, with a total of 12,139 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 209 dunams were for plantations and irrigable land, 10,883 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 90 while a total of 1,047 dunams were non-cultivable land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 139
In addition to agriculture, residents practiced animal husbandry which formed was an important source of income for the town. In 1943, they owned 140 heads of cattle, 10 goats over a year old, 27 horses, 19 donkeys, 523 fowls, and 116 pigeons.
1948 and aftermath On 8 and 9 April 1948, the Haganah raided al-Ghubayya al-Fawqa, al-Ghubayya-al-Tahta and Khirbet Beit Ras, and proceeded to blow them up in the following days.Morris, 2004, p. 242; note #598; Morris, 2004, p. 296
References
Bibliography
al-Qawuqji, F. (1972): Memoirs of al-Qawuqji, Fauzi in Journal of Palestine Studies "Memoirs, 1948, Part I" in 1, no. 4 (Sum. 72): 27-58., dpf-file, downloadable "Memoirs, 1948, Part II" in 2, no. 1 (Aut. 72): 3-33., dpf-file, downloadable
External links Welcome To al-Ghubayya al-Tahta al-Ghubayya al-Tahta, Zochrot Survey of Western Palestine, Map 8: IAA, Wikimedia commons al-Ghubayya al-Tahta from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center from Dr. Moslih Kanaaneh , by Umar Ighbariyye, 20.3.2010, Zochrot