Burayka was a Palestinian Arab village in the Haifa Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on May 5, 1948. It was located 29 km south of Haifa.
History The Crusaders called the place for Broiquet.Khalidi, 1992, p. 155 In 1265, Burayka was among the villages and estates sultan Baibars allocated to his amirs after he had expelled the Crusaders. Half of the income from Burayka went to his emir Jamal al-Din Musa b. Yaghmur, the other half to emir 'Alam al-Din Sanjar al-Hilli al-Ghazzawi.Ibn al-Furat, 1971, pp. 82, 209, 249 (map) Ottoman era In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it as "a small village on a hill-top, with a well to the north, and wooded country round."Conder and Kitchener, 1882, p. 41 A population list from about 1887 showed that Bureikeh had about 115 inhabitants, all Muslim.Schumacher, 1888, p. 180 A school, founded in 1889 during the Ottoman period, was located in the village, but was closed during the British Mandate period. British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Ibraikeh had a population of 249, all Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Haifa, p. 34 increasing in the 1931 census to 237, still all Muslims, in 45 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 89
In the 1945 statistics the village had a population of 290 Muslims, and a land area of 11,434 dunams. Of this, Arabs had a total of 1,864 dunams (16 percent), and 78 dunams were for plantations and irrigable land, 1,538 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 89 and 15 dunams were built-up (urban) land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 139 Meanwhile, 9,384 dunams (82 percent) were owned by Jews.
1948, aftermath Initially, the villagers did not want to take part in the war, and they opposed garrisoning ALA militiamen in their village.Morris, 2004, p. 97
According to Yishuv sources, the AHC had in early March, 1948, ordered the villagers to evacuate, so that it could serve as a base for Arab irregular forces, However, most of the villagers seems to have stayed in the village at this stage.Morris, 2004, p. 130 The village was finally depopulated in early May, in the aftermath of the Battle of Mishmar HaEmek, when IZL attacked the remaining villages in the area with mortar fire.Morris, 2004, p. 243
Today, a civilian explosives factory is located on the site.
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Bibliography
External links Welcome To Burayka Burayka, Zochrot Survey of Western Palestine, Map 8: IAA, Wikimedia commons