Mu'awiya (village)
Mu'awiya
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Aerial photo of Mu'awiya
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 Mu'awiya
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| Coordinates: 32°31′45″N 35°6′11″E / 32.52917°N 35.10306°ECoordinates: 32°31′45″N 35°6′11″E / 32.52917°N 35.10306°E | |
| District | Haifa |
| Founded | 19th century |
| Area | |
| • Total | 613 dunams (61.3 ha or 151 acres) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 3,100 |
Mu'awiya (Arabic: معاوية, Hebrew: מועאוויה) is an Arab village in Israel's Haifa District. The village is in the Wadi Ara area of the northern Triangle and lies between Kfar Kara and Umm el-Fahm. The village has around 3,100 residents. Since 1996, it has been under the jurisdiction of the Basma local council. The village is divided into two neighborhoods: eastern and western. The residents of the village belong to two clans: Ighbarieh and Mahmid.
Mu'awiya was established in the mid 19th century by villagers from nearby Umm El-Fahm. The village was named after a sheikh called Mu'awiya, whose tomb lies between the two parts of the village.
In the 1931 census Mu'awiya had 141 people in 30 houses and in the 1945 census the population of Mu'awiya was counted with that of Umm al-Fahm.
During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War the village and the surrounding area came under Iraqi control. In March 1949 Jordanian forces replaced the Iraqi forces in Wadi Ara. During the war refugees from the villages of Sabbarin, Khubbayza, Al-Kafrayn and Al-Butaymat setteled in the village. On 3 April 1949 Israel and Jordan signed the 1949 Armistice Agreements, in which Israel would receive the Wadi Ara area. On 20 April 1949, Mu'awiya was taken by Israeli forces and was later annexed to Israel along with the rest of the Wadi Ara villages. The Israeli army ordered the 500 residents to leave the village for a few hours, but then demolished the entire village. The villagers appealed the military governor of Umm El-Fahm, who said the action was illegal and that he will bring the matter to the Knesset. Eventually the villagers were allowed to return in mid 1950 but they received no compensation and much of the village land was confiscated. Many villagers suffered from confiscation many agricultural lands and had to find work outside of the village. Most of the agricultural lands were converted to olive trees.
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Wikipedia