Kafr Bir'im
Kafr Bir'im, also Kefr Berem (Arabic: كفر برعم, Hebrew: כְּפַר בִּרְעָם), was a former village in Mandatory Palestine, located in modern-day northern Israel, 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) south of the Lebanese border and 11.5 kilometers (7.1 mi) northwest of Safed. The village was situated 750 meters (2,460 ft) above sea level. "The village stood on a rocky hill only a little higher than the surrounding area and faced north and west."
Kafr Bir'im
كفر برعم Kefr Berem | |
|---|---|
The church of Kafr Bir'im | |
| Etymology: The village of Bir'im | |
1870s map
1940s map
modern map
1940s with modern overlay map
A series of historical maps of the area around Kafr Bir'im (click the buttons) | |
Kafr Bir'im Location within Mandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates: 33°02′37″N 35°24′51″E | |
| Palestine grid | 189/272 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Safad |
| Date of depopulation | early November 1948 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 12,250 dunams (12.25 km2 or 4.73 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
| • Total | 710 |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Expulsion by Yishuv forces |
| Current Localities | Bar'am National Park, Bar'am Dovev |
In ancient times, it was a Jewish village known as Kfar Bar'am. It was an Arab village during the Middle Ages. In the early Ottoman era it was wholly Muslim. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was noted as a Maronite Christian village. A church overlooking it at an elevation of 752 meters (2,467 ft) was built on the ruins of an older church destroyed in the earthquake of 1837.
In 1945, 710 people lived in Kafr Bir'im, most of them Christians. Prior to 1948, "A secondary road linked [Kafr Bir'im] to a number of villages in the west and east and led to the coastal highway and the highway to Safad."
The villagers were expelled during the Nakba. A few years later, on September 16, 1953 the village was destroyed by the Israeli Air Force, in order to prevent the villagers' return and in defiance of an Israeli Supreme Court decision recognizing the villager's right to return to their homes. By 1992, the only standing structure was the church and belltower.
The village of Iqrit had the same fate.