Al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya

Remains of a winepress and a hypocausts, belonging to a bathhouse, both dating to the late Roman era, have been excavated here.Eisenberg-Degen, 2016, [http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=24951&mag_id=124 Es-Sawafir el-Gharbiya]

Two cemeteries from the Byzantine era, together with many ceramic remains from fifth–seventh centuries CE have been excavated.Baumgarten, 2005, [http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=82&mag_id=110 Es-Sawafir el-Gharbiya] Two pool areas, building remains, and parts of a potter's wheel, all dating to the Byzantine era have also been found. A Greek inscription has been found on a limestone slab,Dauphin, 1998, p. 869 and the remains of a wall, with numerous pottery sherds, dating to the Byzantine period (fifth–sixth centuries CE).Fraiberg, 2014, [http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=10609&mag_id=121 Es-Sawafir el-Gharbiya]

12 century Crusader church endowments and land deeds mention Latin settlement in Zeophir/al-Sawāfīr. However, it is not clear which village of three Sawafirs these records pertain to.{{Cite journal |last1=Marom |first1=Roy |last2=Taxel |first2=Itamar |date=2023-10-01 |title=Ḥamāma: The historical geography of settlement continuity and change in Majdal 'Asqalan's hinterland, 1270–1750 CE |journal=Journal of Historical Geography |volume=82 |pages=49–65 |doi=10.1016/j.jhg.2023.08.003 |issn=0305-7488|doi-access=free }}

Pottery sherds from the Mamluk era has also been found.

Al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 with the rest of Palestine, and by the 1596 Daftar, the village formed part nahiya (subdistrict) of Gaza under the liwa' (district) of Gaza with a population of 43 households, or an estimated 237 people. All were Muslims. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% on a number of crops, including wheat, barley, summer crops, vineyards, fruit trees, as well as on goats, beehives; a total of 8,500 Akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 149Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 149, as estimated in Khalidi, 1992, p. 133

In 1838 the three Sawafir villages were noted located in the Gaza district. The western village was noted as "in ruins or deserted,” while the two others were noted as being Muslim.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/118/mode/1up 118]Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 2, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearc00smitgoog#page/n392/mode/1up 370]

In 1863 Victor Guérin found in this village a koubbeh consecrated to a Sheikh Muhammed. He noted that many antique building blocks were used in this sanctuary.Guérin, 1869, p. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongog02gu#page/82/mode/1up 82]

In 1882 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described it as one of three Suafir adobe villages. Each had small gardens and wells.Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp02conduoft#page/413/mode/1up 413]

According to the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya had a population of 572 inhabitants, all Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Gaza, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n10/mode/1up 8] increasing in the 1931 census when it had an all-Muslim population of 723 in 134 houses.Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 6]

By the 1945 statistics, this had increased to 1,030 Muslims, with a total of 7,523 dunams of land. Of this, 585 dunums were for plantations or irrigable land, 6,663 dunums were for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Gaza/Page-088.jpg 88] while 585 dunams were classified as un-cultivable land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Gaza/Page-138.jpg 138]

al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya had shared a school with the other two Sawafir villages, and in 1945 it had an enrollment of about 280.Khalidi, 1992, p. 132

File:Al-Sawafir.jpg

File:Sawafir 1945.jpg

In early May, 1948, the inhabitants of the three Al-Sawafir villages were ordered not to flee, by the Al-Majdal National Committee.Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA179 179]

On May 18, the Givati Brigade for a second time conquered Al-Sawafir al-Sharqiyya together with Al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya. Their operational orders were: "To conquer the villages, to cleanse them of inhabitants (women and children should [also] be expelled), to take several prisoners....[and] to burn the greatest number of houses."Morris, 2004, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA257 257], [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA306 306] The Givati troops torched and blew up several houses, however, after they withdrew, the Palestinian villagers returned. At the 23 May 1948, Israeli reports say that at all the three Al-Sawafir villages the inhabitants slept in the fields at night, but returned to work in the villages by day.Morris, 2004, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA257 257]-258 By late June, both Al-Sawafir al-Sharqiyya and Al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya were again "full of Arabs."

Following the war the area was incorporated into the State of Israel, with the villages of Merkaz Shapira and Masu'ot Yitzhak established on Al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya land.

{{Reflist|25em}}

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• {{cite book|title=Village Statistics, April, 1945 |url=http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nli/Hebrew/library/Pages/BookReader.aspx?pid=856390|author=Department of Statistics|year=1945|publisher=Government of Palestine}}
• {{cite journal|last1= Eisenberg-Degen |first1=Davida |date= 2016-04-05 |url=http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=24951&mag_id=124 |title=Es-Sawafir el-Gharbiya Preliminary Report |publisher=Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel |number=128}}
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• {{cite book|title=All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_By7AAAAIAAJ |first=W.|last=Khalidi|author-link=Walid Khalidi|year=1992|location=Washington D.C.|publisher=Institute for Palestine Studies|isbn=0-88728-224-5}}
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{{Refend}}

• [https://www.palestineremembered.com/Gaza/al-Sawafir-al-Gharbiyya/index.html Welcome To al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya]
• [http://www.zochrot.org/village/view?id=49330 al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya], Zochrot
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 16: [http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8378 IAA], [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.16.jpg Wikimedia commons]
• [http://alnakba.org/villages/gaza/sgharbiyya.htm al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya], from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center

{{Palestinian Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Al-Sawafir Al-Gharbiyya}}

Category:Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War

Category:District of Gaza