Kafr Qasim

The town's area was populated in ancient times, based on remains from the Middle Paleolithic period found in the Qesem Cave.Khalaily, 2005, [http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=244&mag_id=110 Kafr Qasim (East)] Cisterns, a winepress and terraced fields have also been documented,Zbenovich et al., 2005, [http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=86&mag_id=110 Kafr Qasim, Development Survey] together with remains from the Byzantine era.Tendler, 2015, [http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=16741&mag_id=122 Kafr Qasim (East)]

Kafr Qasim is identified with Kefar Kesem ({{langx|he|כפר קסם}}), a site mentioned in the Tosefta as home to a pagan holy tree.{{Cite journal |last=Avi-Yonah |first=Michael |date=1976 |title=Gazetteer of Roman Palestine |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43587090 |journal=Qedem |volume=5 |pages=72 |issn=0333-5844}}

In 1838, during the Ottoman period, it was noted as a Muslim village, Kefr Kasim, in Jurat Merda, south of Nablus.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/126/mode/1up 126]

Charles van de Velde visited the site in 1851–52, noting "the many ancient stones used in the construction of the present houses and many other remains indicating an ancient site."van der Velde, 1858, p. [https://archive.org/stream/memoirtoaccompa00veldgoog#page/n118/mode/1up 109]

In 1870 Victor Guérin visited the village, which he called Kafr Kasim. He found the place to be "the site of a more ancient town, as is shown by cisterns and the mass of rubbish found outside the present village".Guérin, 1875, p. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr04gugoog#page/n166/mode/1up 141], as cited in Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp02conduoft#page/324/mode/1up 324] The village had about four hundred inhabitants.Guérin, 1875, p. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr04gugoog#page/n166/mode/1up 141]

In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described the village as being of moderate size, with buildings constructed principally of adobe, on low hill in open ground. The survey also noted the existence of a rock-cut tomb to the south of the village.Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp02conduoft#page/285/mode/1up 285]

In 1917, during World War I, Kafr Qasim (together with the rest of the area) was captured from the ruling Ottoman Empire by the British Army and was later placed under the British Mandate of Palestine.

In the 1922 census of Palestine Kufr Quasem had a population of 661, all Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Nablus p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n28/mode/1up 26] increasing in the 1931 census to 989, still all Muslims, in a total of 241 houses.Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 64]

In 1945 the population of Kafr Qasim was 1,460, all Muslims,Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p21.jpg 21] who owned 12,765 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Tulkarm/Page-075.jpg 75] 239 dunams were for citrus and bananas, 491 were plantations and irrigable land, and 8,980 were planted with cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Tulkarm/Page-126.jpg 126] while 58 dunams were built-up (urban) land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Tulkarm/Page-176.jpg 176]

File:Kfar Qasim 1941.jpg

File:Reuven_Rivlin_with_Adel_Badir_(9781).jpg at City Hall in 2018|255px]]

Israeli military advances came to a halt at Kafr Qasim during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. In 1949, Israel annexed the town in accordance with the 1949 Armistice Agreements.

On October 29, 1956, on the eve of the joint Israeli, French and British invasion of Egypt, Israel moved up the time of the local curfew as it was concerned that nearby Jordan would enter the fighting.Spencer C. Tucker, Priscilla Roberts, 2008, [https://books.google.com/books?id=YAd8efHdVzIC&pg=PA567 The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Political, Social, and Military History, p. 567] After the curfew started, a platoon of Israeli border police who had been sent to the area encountered and killed 49 villagers returning to Kafr Qasim from their work in the fields. Though the village head had been informed a half an hour before the military curfew started, he informed the Israeli commander that the fellahin and shepherds could not be notified in time that the curfew had been imposed.Baruch Kimmerling,[https://books.google.com/books?id=6NRYEr8FR1IC&pg=PA195 The Palestinian People:A History,] Harvard University Press 2009 p.195. The incident became known as the Kafr Qasim massacre. In October 2021, the President of Israel Isaac Herzog made an official apology for the 1956 massacre, on behalf of the state.{{cite news | url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israel-s-president-apologizes-for-1956-kafr-qasem-massacre-1.10336899 | title=Israel's President Apologizes for 1956 Kafr Qasem Massacre | newspaper=Haaretz }}

In 1959, the town was granted local council status by the Israeli Interior Ministry.

Sheikh Abdullah Nimar Darwish started the Islamic Movement. Israeli parliamentarian Sheikh Ibrahim Sarsur, a native of Kafr Qasim, served for a decade on the town council and heads the southern faction of the Islamic Movement of Israel since 1999. In December 2007, President Shimon Peres formally apologised for the Kafr Qasim massacre.[http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/937116.html President Peres apologizes for Kafr Qasem massacre of 1956] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805232431/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/937116.html |date=2009-08-05 }} Haaretz, 21 December 2007

In 2007 development plans for the industrial and logistical area Lev HaAretz were approved. Development started in 2008.{{Cite web|url=https://qec.org.il/industry/|title = Industry – החברה הכלכלית כפר קאסם}} Steimatzky is one of many companies who moved into this area. Also in 2008, the Ministry of the Interior announced that Kafr Qasim would become a city.{{Cite web |url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/953568.html |title=Majadele: New Arab city will bolster our sense of belonging |access-date=2008-02-12 |archive-date=2010-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100210102415/http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/953568.html |url-status=dead }}

According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had 21,100 mostly Muslim inhabitants at the end of 2012.{{cite web|url=http://www.citypopulation.de/Israel.html|publisher=Israel Central Bureau of Statistics|title=Table 3 - Population of Localities Numbering Above 1,000 Residents and Other Rural Population|date=2008-06-30|access-date=2014-04-12}} There are 936 females for every 1,000 males. The population increases at an annual rate of 2.7%.

The social-economic rank of the town is relatively low (3 out of 10). Only 50.2% of 12th graders were eligible for graduation (Bagrut) certificates in 2000. The average monthly wage in 2000 was 3,633 NIS, as opposed to the national average of 6,835 NIS at that time.

File:Bodek Architects Kfar Qassem Football Stadium.jpg Designed by Moti Bodek Architects]]

Kafr Qasim served as the primary filming location for the Israeli political thriller television series Fauda.

F.C. Kafr Qasim plays in the Leumit League (second division). Following their promotion to the national league, it plays home matches at the Lod Municipal Stadium in Lod. A new stadium is under construction.

{{main category|People from Kafr Qasim}}

• Walid Badir, Israeli international footballer
• Abdullah Nimar Darwish, founder of the Islamic Movement in Israel
• Issawi Frej, Knesset member
• Samah Mar'ab, international footballer
• Rubel Sarsour, Israeli international footballer
• Ibrahim Sarsur, Knesset member

• Arab localities in Israel
• Kafr Qasem Sign Language

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book

| editor =Barron, J. B. | title = Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922

|url=https://archive.org/details/PalestineCensus1922 |publisher = Government of Palestine

| year = 1923}}

• {{cite book

|last1=Conder|first1=C.R.|author-link1=Claude Reignier Conder

|last2=Kitchener|first2=H. H.|author-link2=Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener

|year=1882

|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp02conduoft

|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology|location=London|publisher=Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund

|volume=2}}

• {{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 book

|last=Guérin|first=V.|author-link=Victor Guérin

|title=Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine

|url=https://archive.org/details/descriptiongogr04gugoog

|volume=2: Samarie, pt. 2|year=1875|publisher= L'Imprimerie Nationale|location=Paris

|language=fr}}

• {{cite book

|title=Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine

|url=http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html

|first=S.|last=Hadawi|author-link=Sami Hadawi

|year=1970|publisher=Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center}}

• {{cite journal

|last1=Khalaily|first1=Hamudi

|date= 2005-10-02

|url=http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=244&mag_id=110

|title= Kafr Qasim, (East)

|journal=Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel

|number=117}}

• {{cite book

|editor = Mills, E.

|title = Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas |url=https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas | publisher = Government of Palestine | location = Jerusalem

| year = 1932}}

• {{cite book

|last=Palmer|first=E. H.|author-link=Edward Henry Palmer

|year=1881|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp00conduoft

|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer

|publisher=Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund}}

• {{cite book

|last1=Robinson|first1=E.|author-link1=Edward Robinson (scholar)

|last2=Smith|first2=E.|author-link2=Eli Smith

|year=1841|url=https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearch03robiuoft |title=Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838| location=Boston|publisher=Crocker & Brewster

|volume=3}}

• {{cite journal

|last1=Tendler|first1=Avrohom S.

|date= 2015-04-14

|url=http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=16741&mag_id=122

|title= Kafr Qasim, (East)

|journal=Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel

|number=127}}

• {{cite book

|last=Velde, van de |first=C. W. M. |author-link=Charles William Meredith van de Velde

|year=1858

|url=https://archive.org/details/memoirtoaccompa00veldgoog

|title=Memoir to Accompany the Map of the Holy Land | location=Gotha

|publisher=Justus Perthes}}

• {{cite journal

| last1=Zbenovich|first1=Vladimir

| last2=Barda |first2= Leticia

| last3 = Haiman |first3=Mordechai

|date= 2005-03-10

|url=http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=86&mag_id=110

|title= Kafr Qasim, Development Survey

|journal=Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel

|number=117}}

{{refend}}

• [http://kfar-qasem.muni.il/ Kfar-Qasem municipality website]
• [http://www.kufur-kassem.com/home.html Kufur-Kassem home page]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070310142547/http://www.kafr-qassem.net/ Kufur-Kassem official home page]
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 14: [https://web.archive.org/web/20180928072721/http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8376 IAA], [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.14.jpg Wikimedia commons]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071008001835/http://www.kafr-qassem.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=47&Itemid=90 the village location]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071008001613/http://www.kafr-qassem.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22&Itemid=55 Material in English]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071008004811/http://www.kafr-qassem.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=54 Material in Hebrew כפר קאסם בעברית]
• [http://www.palestineremembered.com/GeoPoints/Kafr_Qasem_1267/index.html Welcome To Kafr Qasem]

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