Khirbat al-Zababida (Arabic: خربة الزبابدة, the Ruin of the People of Kafr Zibad) was a Palestinian Arab village in the Tulkarm Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War on May 15, 1948. It was located southwest of Tulkarm, south of Wadi al-Faliq. Khirbat al-Zababida was mostly destroyed except for four deserted houses. History In the 1860s, the Ottoman authorities granted the village of Kafr Zibad an agricultural plot of land called Ghabat Kafr Zibad in the former confines of the Forest of Arsur (Ar. Al-Ghaba) in the coastal plain, west of the village.Marom, Roy, "The Contribution of Conder's Tent Work in Palestine for the Understanding of Shifting Geographical, Social and Legal Realities in the Sharon during the Late Ottoman Period", in Gurevich D. and Kidron, A. (eds.), Exploring the Holy Land: 150 Years of the Palestine Exploration Fund, Sheffield, UK, Equinox (2019), pp. 212-231 This formed the foundation for Khirbat Zababida, In 1870, Victor Guérin noted it as an old, rather ruined hamlet, named Kharbet el-Belakieh. It was located on a small hill, and had a path leading to a harbour, where water melons were being shipped out.Guérin, 1875, p. 383
In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) found at Kh. ez Zebabdeh "a small modern ruined village".Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p.141 British Mandate era By 1944/45 the village jurisdiction was 10,879 dunams, of which 4,626 (43 percent) was Arab owned, 4,884 (45 percent) was Jewish owned, and 1,369 (12 percent) was publicly owned.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 75 Of this, Arabs used 344 dunums of land used for citrus and bananas, 3,839 dunums to cereals, 215 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 95 while a total of 1,750 dunams were classified as uncultivable areas.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 176 The Jewish kibbutz of Yakum was established in 1947 on village land.
1948, aftermath Ga'ash was established in 1951, also on village land.
In 1992 the village site was described: "The site is deserted and overgrown with wild vegetation and trees. All but four of the houses have been destroyed. These four houses still have intact roofs. Three of them were made of cement bricks, and one of hard igneous stone. Iron girders from five destroyed houses protrude from piles of stones.[..] A picnic site has been built for Kibbutz Yaqum on the edge of a natural pond."
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External links Welcome To al-Zababida, Khirbat, Palestine Remembered Khirbat al-Zababida, Zochrot Survey of Western Palestine, Map 10: IAA, Wikimedia commons