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Israeli period: Logic

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{{For|the Hebrew letter|samekh}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Samakh
| native_name = سمخ
| native_name_lang = ar
| other_name = Samach
| settlement_type =

| image_skyline = Samakh1b.jpg
| imagesize = 250
| image_caption = Samakh from the air, 1931
| etymology = "fish"<ref>Irby and Mangles, 1823, p. [https://archive.org/stream/travelsinegypta01barkgoog#page/n350/mode/1up 296]</ref> or "gum"<ref>Palmer, 1881, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00conduoft#page/50/mode/1up 50], [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00conduoft#page/133/mode/1up 133]</ref>

| pushpin_map = Mandatory Palestine | pushpin_map_caption = Location within [[Mandatory Palestine]] | image_map = {{Historical map series|default=2|date1=1870s|date2=1940s|date3=modern|date4=1940s with modern overlay|width=225}} | map_caption = A series of historical maps of the area around Samakh, Tiberias (click the buttons)
| pushpin_mapsize = 200
| coordinates = {{coord|32|42|18|N|35|35|15|E|type:city_region:PS|display=inline,title}}
| grid_name = [[Palestine grid|Palestine grid]]
| grid_position = 205/234

| subdivision_type = [[Geopolitical entity]]
| subdivision_name = [[Mandatory Palestine]]
| subdivision_type1 = [[Districts of Mandatory Palestine|Subdistrict]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Tiberias Subdistrict, Mandatory Palestine|Tiberias]]

| established_title1 = Date of depopulation
| established_date1 = 28 April 1948<ref>Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PR17 xvii], village# 103. Also gives the cause of depopulation.</ref>
| established_title2 = Repopulated dates

| area_footnotes = <ref name=Hadawi72/>
| unit_pref = dunam
| area_total_dunam = 9,265

| population_as_of = 1945
| population_total = 3,460<ref name=1945p12>Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [http://cs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p12.jpg 12]</ref><ref name=Hadawi72>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Tiberias/Page-072.jpg 72]</ref>

| blank_name_sec1 = Cause(s) of depopulation
| blank_info_sec1 = Military assault by [[Yishuv]] forces
| blank3_name_sec1 = Current Localities
| blank3_info_sec1 = [[Ma'agan]]<ref>Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PR22 xxii], settlement # 144</ref><ref name="khalidi538" /> [[Tel Katzir]]<ref name="khalidi538" /> [[Masada (kibbutz)|Masada]],<ref name="khalidi538" /> [[Sha'ar HaGolan]]<ref name="khalidi538" />
}}
[[File:Handley Page H.P.42 Hanno 2.jpg|thumb|right|280px|[[Handley Page]] H.P.42, British four-engined long-range biplane airliner of [[Imperial Airways]], at Samakh, October 1931.]]
[[File:Samach.jpg|thumb|right|280px| The mosque at Samakh, between [[World War I|WWI]] and [[World War II|WW2]]]]
'''Samakh''' ({{langx|ar|سمخ}}) was a [[Palestinian people|Palestinian Arab]] village at the south end of [[Lake Tiberias]] (the Sea of Galilee) in [[Ottoman Galilee]] and later [[Mandatory Palestine]] (now in [[Israel]]). It was the site of [[Battle of Samakh (1918)|battle in 1918]] during [[World War I]].

In the 19th century, [[Maghrebi Arabs|Algerian]] migrants settled in Samakh, transforming it into one of the largest Algerian concentrations in the district.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Ahmad Abbasi |first=Mustafa |date=2007 |title=הקהילה האלג'יראית בגליל משלהי השלטון העות'מני עד שנת 1948 |journal=אופקים בגיאוגרפיה |volume=68/9 |pages=56–62}}</ref> Between 1905 and 1948, the town was an important stop on the [[Jezreel Valley railway]] and [[Hejaz railway]], being the last effective stop in the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate of Palestine]] (the station at [[Al-Hamma, Tiberias|al-Hamma]] was geographically isolated). It had a population of 3,320 [[Arab]] [[Muslim]]s and [[Arab Christian]]s in 1945.<ref name="un">Appendix B - Non-Jewish Population within the Boundaries Held by the Israel Defence Army on 1.5.49 - as on 1.4.45, in accordance with Government of Palestine, ''Village Statistics, April, 1945'', p. [http://domino.un.org/pdfs/AAC25ComTech7Add1.pdf 7] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120609143136/http://domino.un.org/pdfs/AAC25ComTech7Add1.pdf |date=2012-06-09 }}</ref>

The town's inhabitants fled after [[Haganah]] forces captured the town on 3 March 1948, and the remainder left in the wake of an assault by the [[Golani Brigade]] against the [[Military of Syria|Syrian army]] on 18 April 1948. Most of the former residents became [[Internally Displaced Palestinians|internally displaced refugees]] in the [[Arab]] city of [[Nazareth]].<ref name="PR">{{Cite web|title=Welcome to Samakh|publisher=Palestine Remembered|access-date=2007-12-04|url=http://www.palestineremembered.com/Tiberias/Samakh/index.html}}</ref> Today, the [[Tsemah Junction|Tzemah Industrial Zone]] and part of [[kibbutz]] [[Ma'agan]] are on the site of the former village.

==Location==
The village was on flat land in the [[Jordan Valley (Middle East)|Jordan Valley]], on the southernmost shore of [[Lake Tiberias]], only a short distance east of the point where [[River Jordan]] exits from the lake. Samakh was the largest village in the Tiberias district in terms of area and population and was a major transportation link. A station served the village on the railroad line that ran on the [[Jezreel Valley railway]], an extension of the [[Hejaz Railway]]. This railway station was the border station between the British Mandate of Palestine and the French Mandate of Syria.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schayegh |first1=Cyrus |title=The Middle East and the Making of the Modern World |date=2018 |publisher=Harvard University Press |pages=169-170 |url=https://catalogue.leidenuniv.nl/permalink/31UKB_LEU/1knc4sp/alma9939718264502711}}</ref> It lay on a highway that ran along the lake shore and led to the city of [[Tiberias]] in the northwest. Sailing routes on Lake Tiberias also linked Samakh with Tiberias's harbour.<ref name="khalidi537" />

==History==
===Ottoman era===
In the late [[Ottoman Syria|Ottoman]] era, [[Pierre Jacotin]] named the village ''Semak'' on his map from 1799.<ref>Karmon, 1960, p. [http://www.jchp.ucla.edu/Bibliography/Karmon,_Y_1960_Jacotin_Map_(IEJ_10).pdf 167] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222063351/http://jchp.ucla.edu/Bibliography/Karmon,_Y_1960_Jacotin_Map_(IEJ_10).pdf |date=2019-12-22 }}</ref> Most houses were built of [[adobe]], but some were built of the black ([[basalt]]) stone that was abundant in the [[Golan]] area near Samakh.<ref name="khalidi537">Khalidi, 1992, p. 537</ref> [[Johann Ludwig Burckhardt]], a [[Swiss people|Swiss]] traveler to [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] who saw the village (which he called ''Szammagh''), in 1812, described it as a collection of thirty or forty mud houses alongside more costly houses built of black stone. He said about 100 [[faddan]]s (1 fadda = 100–250 [[dunam]]s) were cultivated in the immediate vicinity.<ref>Burckhardt, 1822, [https://archive.org/stream/b22017355#page/275/mode/1up 275]</ref><ref>Also cited in Khalidi, 1992, p. 537</ref>

In 1838 [[Edward Robinson (scholar)|Edward Robinson]] also found the village to contain 30-40 adobe huts, and a few built of black stone.<ref>Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/262/mode/1up 262], [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/264/mode/1up 264]</ref>

In 1875, [[Victor Guérin]] found the village to be divided into two parts, and built of adobe bricks or volcanic stones.<ref>Guérin, 1880, p. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr01unkngoog#page/n322/mode/1up 309]</ref> In 1881, the [[Palestine Exploration Fund|PEF]]'s ''[[PEF Survey of Palestine|Survey of Western Palestine]]'' described it as a village of 200 inhabitants who cultivated the surrounding plain.<ref>Conder and Kitchener, SWP I, 1881, [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp01conduoft#page/361/mode/1up p.361]. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 537</ref>

[[Gottlieb Schumacher|G. Schumacher]], who visited the site in 1883, described the village as being inhabited mostly by people who immigrated there from [[Algiers]].<ref>Schumacher (1888), p. [https://archive.org/details/jaulnsurveyedfo00schugoog/page/n261/mode/1up?q=Semakh 238]</ref>

Samakh was the location of one of the first airfields in Palestine, built by the Turks (with German assistance) in 1917 for military use.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.israelairlinemuseum.org/el-al-israels-flying-star/chapter-1-from-flying-camels-to-flying-stars-israel-reborn/|title=Chapter 1 – from Flying Camels to Flying Stars: Israel Reborn (1917-1948) | Israel Airline Museum|date=5 August 2016 }}</ref>

====Battle of Samakh====
{{main|Battle of Samakh}}
The village and its railway station were the site of a battle between British/Australian and German/Turkish forces in [[World War I]]. The battle ended in an Allied victory and opened up the way to [[Damascus]] for [[Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby|General Allenby]]'s troops. It was described by [[Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell|Field Marshal Wavell]] as the most fierce and cruel battle in the Palestinian theater.<ref>{{Citation|issue= 6|title=HaRakevet|author=Ben Rehav, Uri|date=December 1989|pages=13–15}}</ref>

===British Mandate era===
[[File:DeganiaRegion.png|thumb|Samakh region in historical perspective.]]
During the British Mandate era Samakh grew in importance, because of its railway station at the border of Palestine to Syria. The railway station was on the way between Haifa and Damascus. Through the increased prices for transporting the Goods fabricated in Damascus to Beirut, Haifa became the preferred export destination of Damascene merchants. From there the products could be shipped all over the world. In Samakh those products got checked and the customs raised while the passports got controlled in the pass office of the railway line. Many merchants were coming together in Samakh and that is why in 1923 a restaurant was opened there.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schayegh |first1=Cyrus |title=The Middle East and the Making of the Modern World |date=2018 |publisher=Harvard University Press |pages=169-170 |url=https://catalogue.leidenuniv.nl/permalink/31UKB_LEU/1knc4sp/alma9939718264502711}}</ref>

====1920 events====
{{main|Samakh raid (1920)}}

====Growth====
In the [[1922 census of Palestine]], conducted by the [[Mandate for Palestine|British Mandate authorities]], Samakh, together with [[Al-Hamma, Tiberias|Al-Hamma]], had a total population of 976. Of these, 922 were [[Muslims]], 28 [[Jews]], one follower of the [[Baháʼí Faith]] and 25 [[Christians]];<ref name="Census1922">Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Tiberias, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n41/mode/1up 39]</ref> where the Christians were 6 Orthodox, 1 Roman Catholic, 2 Melkite, 11 Armenian and 5 Anglican.<ref>Barron, 1923, Table XVI, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n53/mode/1up 51]</ref> In the [[1931 census of Palestine|1931 census]] the population had increased to 1900; 4 Druse, 76 Christians, 40 Jews and 1780 Muslims, in a total of 480 houses.<ref name="Census1931">Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 84]</ref>
[[File:דגניה - מבט מלמעלה-JNF022270.jpeg|thumb|Samakh 1925, [[Degania Alef|Degania]] in foreground]]
In 1923 a local council was created, which still administered Samakh by 1945. The council's expenditure grew steadily, from P£310 in 1929 to P£1,100 in 1944.<ref>''Survey of Palestine'' (1945) 1:138-39. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 537</ref>

In 1929–1935, the airfield in Samakh was used for [[Imperial Airways]] passenger services as a stop en route to [[Baghdad]] and further to [[Karachi]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://airandspace.si.edu/webimages/collections/full/A19900559000cp02.jpg | title=KLM Royal Dutch Airlines | format=JPG | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230514222138/https://airandspace.si.edu/webimages/collections/full/A19900559000cp02.jpg | archive-date=2023-05-14 }}</ref> Difficult weather conditions in the area led to destruction of a ''[[Handley Page H.P.42|Hannibal]]'' aircraft, and to relocation of the passenger services to [[RAF Gaza|Gaza]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4d-3AAAAQBAJ&q=samakh&pg=PA291|title = Syrian Desert|isbn = 9781136192715|author1 = Grant|date = 5 September 2013| publisher=Routledge }}</ref>

In the [[Village Statistics, 1945|1944/45 statistics]], the population of Samakh had increased to 3,320 Muslims, 130 Christians and 10 of other faiths, a total of 3,460 persons.<ref name=1945p12/> The majority of the population belonged to the settled [[Bedouin]] tribes of the 'Arab al-Suqur and 'Arab al-Bashatiwa. The village had two schools, one for boys and another for girls. Their chief crops were bananas and grain; in 1944/45 8,523 dunums were planted in cereals,<ref name="khalidi537" /><ref name=Hadawi123>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Tiberias/Page-123.jpg 123]</ref> while 239 dunams were built-up (urban) land.<ref name=Hadawi172>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Tiberias/Page-173.jpg 173]</ref>

====1948 events====
The village was captured by the [[Haganah]] in the [[1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine]], along with the British border guard base nearby, and became a military outpost.

===Israeli period===
Samakh that changed hands twice in the [[Battles of the Kinarot Valley]], between the Haganah and the [[Syrian Army]]. On May 21, 1949, after the Syrian retreat, the Haganah set up a position in Samakh.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Carta's Atlas of Israel|year=1978|publisher=[[Carta (publisher)|Carta]]|location=[[Jerusalem]], [[Israel]]|editor=Evyatar Nur|author=Wallach, Jeuda|author2=Lorch, Netanel |author3=Yitzhaki, Aryeh |title=Battles of the Jordan Valley|pages=14–15|volume=2 - The First Years 1948–1961|language=he}}</ref>

[[Walid Khalidi]] wrote in 1992, that the structure remaining of Samakh was the ruins of the railway station and a water reservoir. The members of [[Degania Alef]] kibbutz built a public park, a petrol station, and factories known as the Tzemah Factories on the village site.<ref name="khalidi538">Khalidi, 1992, p. 538</ref> The [[Kinneret College]] is also located there.

The [[Tzemah Junction]] developed next to the site of Samakh. It connects [[Highway 90 (Israel–Palestine)|Highway 90]], which follows the western shore of the lake, with [[Highway 92 (Israel)|Highway 92]], which follows the eastern shore and also branches off east of the junction into [[Highway 98 (Israel)|Highway 98]], which leads up the Golan Heights. Near the road junction is the {{ill|Tzemach regional center|he|צמח (מרכז אזורי)}}, with a public beach, a sprawling [[shopping centre]], an industrial area and so forth.

The [[kibbutz]]im [[Masada (kibbutz)|Masada]] and [[Sha'ar HaGolan]] were established southeast of the village site in 1937, and have since expanded onto lands within Samakh's former jurisdiction. Both [[Ma'agan]] and the nearby kibbutz [[Tel Katzir]] were built on Samakh's land in 1949. The kibbutzim Deganya Alef and [[Deganya Bet]] are also close to Samakh's location, but not on land that belonged to the village.<ref name="khalidi538" />

==See also==
*[[Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel]]

==References==
{{reflist|25em}}

==Bibliography==
{{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|last=Burckhardt|first=J.L.|author-link=Johann Ludwig Burckhardt|title=Travels in Syria and the Holy Land|url=https://archive.org/details/b22017355|year=1822|publisher=J. Murray|location=London}}
*{{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=1881|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp01conduoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology|location=London|publisher=[[Palestine Exploration Fund|Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund]]|volume=1}}
*{{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/descriptiongogr01unkngoog|volume=3: Galilee, pt. 1|year=1880|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 book|last1=Irby|first1=C.L.|author-link1=Charles Leonard Irby|last2=Mangles|first2=J.|author-link2=James Mangles (Royal Navy officer)|year=1823|url=https://archive.org/details/travelsinegypta01barkgoog|title=Travels in Egypt and Nubia, Syria, and Asia Minor; during the years 1817 & 1818|location=London|publisher=Printed for Private Distribution by T. White & Co.}}
*{{cite journal | author = Karmon, Y. | title = An Analysis of Jacotin's Map of Palestine | url = http://www.jchp.ucla.edu/Bibliography/Karmon,_Y_1960_Jacotin_Map_(IEJ_10).pdf | journal = Israel Exploration Journal | volume = 10 | issue = 3,4 | year = 1960 | pages = 155–173; 244–253 | access-date = 2015-04-13 | archive-date = 2019-12-22 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191222063351/http://jchp.ucla.edu/Bibliography/Karmon,_Y_1960_Jacotin_Map_(IEJ_10).pdf | url-status = dead }}
*{{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}}
*{{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 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C |first=B. |last=Morris |author-link=Benny Morris |year=2004 |title=The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited |isbn=978-0-521-00967-6 |publisher=Cambridge University Press }} (pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA132 132], [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA177 177], [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA186 186], [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA260 260], [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA269 269], [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA372 372])
*{{cite book|title=The Amazing Spread of Christianity|first1=Lawrence|last1=Murray |year=1997|publisher=St. Jude Press|isbn=0-9722149-2-5}}
*{{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=[[Palestine Exploration Fund|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 book|first1=G.|last1=Schumacher|author-link1=Gottlieb Schumacher|title=The Jaulân: surveyed for the German Society for the Exploration of the Holy Land|url=https://archive.org/details/jaulnsurveyedfo00schugoog/page/n7/mode/2up|year=1888|location=London|publisher=Richard Bentley & Son}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.palestineremembered.com/Tiberias/Samakh/index.html Welcome to Samakh]
*[http://www.zochrot.org/en/village/49339 Samakh], [[Zochrot]]
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 6: [http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8369 IAA], [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.06.jpg Wikimedia commons]
*[http://www.alnakba.org/villages/tiberias/samakh.htm Samakh], from the [[Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center]]
*[http://nabataea.net/samakh.html Samakh Railway Station]
{{Palestinian Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War}}

[[Category:Arab villages depopulated prior to the 1948 Arab–Israeli War]]
[[Category:District of Tiberias]]
[[Category:Sea of Galilee]]

Samakh, Tiberias - Revision history

imported>Arminden: /* Israeli period */Logic