Iqrit
Iqrit (Arabic: إقرت or إقرث, Iqrith) was a Palestinian Christian village, located 25 kilometres (16 miles) northeast of Acre. Originally allotted to form part of an Arab state under the proposed 1947 UN Partition Plan, it was seized and depopulated by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and their territory later became part of the new State of Israel. All of its Christian inhabitants were forced to flee to Lebanon or the Israeli village of Rameh, and, despite the promise that they would be returned in two weeks' time, the villagers were not allowed to return. In 1951, in response to a plea from the Iqrit villagers, the Israel Supreme Court ruled that the former residents of Iqrit be allowed to return to their homes. However, before that happened, the IDF, despite awareness of the Supreme Court decision, destroyed Iqrit. Descendants of the villagers maintain an outpost in the village church, and bury their dead in its cemetery. All attempts to cultivate its lands are uprooted by the Israel Lands Administration.
Iqrit
إقرث Iqreet, Akrith | |
|---|---|
Village | |
Saint Mary's Church in Iqrit | |
| Etymology: from personal name | |
1870s map
1940s map
modern map
1940s with modern overlay map
A series of historical maps of the area around Iqrit (click the buttons) | |
Iqrit Location within Mandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates: 33°04′32″N 35°16′31″E | |
| Palestine grid | 176/275 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Acre |
| Date of depopulation | early November 1948 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 21,711 dunams (21.711 km2 or 8.383 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
| • Total | 490 |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Expulsion by Yishuv forces |
| Current Localities | Shomera, Even Menachem, Goren Gornot ha-Galil |