Al-Ghubayya al-Fawqa (Arabic: الغبية الفوقا) was a Palestinian Arab village in the Haifa Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on April 8, 1948, during the Battle of Mishmar HaEmek. It was located 28 km southeast of Haifa.
The village was partly inhabited by Turkmens.
History During the early Ottoman era, in 1596 the village appeared under the name of Gubayya in the tax registers, being part of the nahiya (subdistrict) of Sahil Atlit in the Sanjak (district) of Lajjun. It had a population of 39 households; an estimated 215 people, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, goats and beehives, and water buffaloes; the taxes totalled 21,690 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 157Khalidi, 1992, p. 160
Al-Ghubayya al-Fawqa shared an elementary school built by the Ottomans in 1888 with the nearby villages of al-Ghubayya-al-Tahta and al-Naghnaghiyya. The school was later closed during the British Mandate period. The village had its own mosque.
British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Ghabba al-Fuqa had a population of 41 Muslims.Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Haifa, p. 33 In the 1931 census, the two al-Ghubayya village were counted together, and the total population was 200 Muslims, in 38 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 90
In the 1945 statistics the population was counted with the neighbouring al-Ghubayya-al-Tahta and al-Naghnaghiyya, and together they had a population of 1,130 Muslims, with a total of 12,139 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 209 dunams were for plantations and irrigable land, 10,883 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 90 while a total of 1,047 dunams were non-cultivable land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 139
In addition to agriculture, residents practiced animal husbandry which formed was an important source of income for the town. In 1943, they owned 104 heads of cattle, 32 horses, 23 donkeys, 500 fowls, and 64 pigeons.
1948 and aftermath On 8 and 9 April 1948, the Haganah raided al-Ghubayya al-Fawqa, al-Ghubayya-al-Tahta and Khirbet Beit Ras, and proceeded to blow them up in the following days.Morris, 2004, p. 242; note #598; Morris, 2004, p. 296 The report on 9 April from the Golani Brigade stated that they were "preparing to destroy the villages when we evacuate them".Morris, 2004, p. 346; note #28; Morris, 2004, p. 397 They destroyed al-Ghubayya al-Fawqa the following night.Morris, 2004, p. 346; note #29; Morris, 2004, p. 397
Following the war the area was incorporated into the State of Israel. By 1992 the kibbutz of Mishmar HaEmek was using some of al-Ghubayya al-Fawqa's former land as pastures.
References
Bibliography
al-Qawuqji, F. (1972): Memoirs of al-Qawuqji, Fauzi in Journal of Palestine Studies "Memoirs, 1948, Part I" in 1, no. 4 (Sum. 72): 27-58., dpf-file, downloadable "Memoirs, 1948, Part II" in 2, no. 1 (Aut. 72): 3-33., dpf-file, downloadable
External links Welcome To al-Ghubayya al-Fawqa al-Ghubayya al-Fawqa, Zochrot Survey of Western Palestine, Map 8: IAA, Wikimedia commons al-Ghubayya al-Fawqa, from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center , from Dr. Moslih Kanaaneh Remembering al-Ghubayyat, booklet about the al-Ghubayyat villages, 03/2010 Tour to the al-Ghubayyat villages, by Umar Ighbariyye, 20.3.2010, Zochrot