Talk:Birya

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Confusing history[edit]

This article is missing a lot of information that is needed to understand it. Which of these is relevant is unclear.

  • Birya Fortress is about 1.6km from where Birya is today.
  • A 1954 map of the Survey of Israel shows "Biriya" at its present location with lots of scattered buildings, spread out SE of the tightly built-up area of the former Arab village of Biriyya. Since those buildings were not present on pre-1948 maps and the Arab village was depopulated in 1948, those buildings must be post-1948. Compared to the earlier maps, the village name has been moved to where the scattered buildings are shown.
  • The settlement list in the 1952 Yearbook of Israel lists Biriya has a "Workers Smallholders' Settlement" with population 120 on 8.11.48 and 210 on 31.12.51.
  • The article says that the modern town was founded in 1971. If so, what happened between 1954 and 1971? Did it disappear and get founded again?
  • The Arab village is not even mentioned, even though the present town actually includes the location of the Arab town. It was just across the road from where the synagogue is now.

Zerotalk 02:12, 1 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Missing history[edit]

Region to the north of Safed, Israel, in 1954.

Birya was founded in Jan 1945 at Birya Fortress (not "near" the fortress, but in the fortress and its out-buildings). The residents were religious Palmach members and the purpose was military (not settlement). In 1948/1949, the settlement at Birya fortress was abandoned. Meanwhile, the Arab village of Biriya, 1.6km to the SW (see the map) was depopulated and that location was settled by Jews. This new community was counted by the government as a continuation of the Birya Fortress settlement. I can document its existence until about 1960, then I lose the trail. The article says without source "Modern Birya was founded in 1971." What does that mean? Did it stop and then start again? Zerotalk 11:24, 22 June 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I've looked up the sources I could find online. Most of them are reliable but not enough in my opinion. Anyway, the fortress was abandoned during the 1948 war and was resettled in 1949 as a Kfar Avoda (Labor Village?). It was abandoned again in 1950 (according to the Hebrew Wikipedia) and the settlers joined Ein Tzurim. The place served as an immigrant camp for several years and was abandoned sometime after 1950 (according to the Hebrew Wikipedia). In 1971 the fortress was renovated and opened as an exhibition. That same year, the current settlement of Birya was established as a moshav. I don't really trust the sources I've found. The absolute majority of the sources, and the most reliable ones, talk only about the Birya from British times.--Bolter21 (talk to me) 10:46, 24 June 2020 (UTC)[reply]
@Bolter21: Thanks. There was a lot of building around the "new" location between 1948 and 1958, as shown on hi-res Israeli maps. They show the name "Biriya" there too and show no name at all at Birya Fortress. Same with a lower-res map of the Survey of Israel ("Compiled & Drawn in 1961, partly revised in 1964"). So the evidence is that the new location was called Biriya during that time. I guess that its status could have changed to a moshav under new management in 1971(??). Is there a moshav website? I find them somewhat unreliable but there could be a useful clue. Zerotalk 12:20, 24 June 2020 (UTC)[reply]
No there isn't. They barely even have a Facebook page, which is common for a young and religious settlement in Israel. As I've said, there's almost no information about the moshav from 1971. It seems most of their history comes from the 1940s and the Talmudic era and they have no interest in recording any contemporary history. It is a new moshav so they don't have story to tell that is interesting on the national level, and unlike the kibbutzim, they don't care much about the history of the settlement, but rather its national and religious significance. What a shame. Annoying enough, "Birya" in Hebrew is written in the same way as "by a gunshot" (BeYeriya) so if I open up a historical press engine search, it finds thousands of suicide reports from every year, which is quite depressing. Searched in a book engine and found a ton of information up until 1949, but nothing afterwards.--Bolter21 (talk to me) 20:26, 24 June 2020 (UTC)[reply]
  • In 1948, when Biriyya was depopulated - it was both Palestinian Arab Biriyya depopulated and nearby Palestinian Jewish Biriya depopulated. What is the reason we have two Biriy/yas - one for Arab and one for Jewih? It is the same location name for both, on the spot of the antique Biriya; Were they separate administrative locations in British times? (probably impossible to prove since the last British census was 1945, before permanent Jewish settlement in Biriya/Biriyya).GreyShark (dibra) 05:05, 25 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]
  • Another point - through history there seems to be a single Biriya/Biriyya location:
In Classic era - a Jewish village
In Middle Ages - unknown (Joseph Karo lived there, but little info)
In Early Ottoman Era - mixed Muslim and Jewish village
In late Ottoman Era - Arab Muslim village (some lands owned by Jews, but no Jewish residents)
In early British Mandate - Arab Muslim village (Jews try to settle in 1922, but abandon the land)
In late British Mandate - Arab Muslim village and nearby Jewish outpost (since 1946), in 1948 both depopulated
In early Israeli period - non-continuous Jewish presence in Biriya in 1950s
In 1960s or 1970s - modern Moshav administratively founded (not clear which year exactly)
What is clear - infomation missing, but there seems to be a single location with non-continuous history of settlement by various communities.GreyShark (dibra) 05:05, 25 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Correction - Joseph Karo resided in Biriya/Biriyya in 1555, which is early Ottoman. The Jewish population abandoned the village in late 16th century according to KKL site info [1], not clear what happened to the Muslims.GreyShark (dibra) 05:13, 25 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Are Birya and Birya Fortress the same location? The separation was 1.6km. As I understand it, all of the history except the 1945-1948 Palmach outpost and modern tourist attraction at Birya Fortress refers to the location of the Arab village. At the moment there are four relevant articles Birya, Biriyya, Birya Fortress and Birya affair but it is hard to justify more than two. I suggest that the first two be combined and the last two combined (the Birya affair took place at Birya Fortress). Figuring out what if anything happened in 1971 would be helpful. I note that the Israeli government lists the foundation year of "Biriyyah" as 1945, which is when Birya Fortress started and same as what the 1952 yearbook said. I also notice this in Encyclopedia Judaica: "In September 1948, a new religious kibbutz took over the site and was replaced in 1949 by a moshav founded by immigrants from Tripolitania (Libya). The moshav supported some hill farming, but most of its inhabitants worked in Safed and elsewhere." (no source given) This adds confusion because it isn't clear which of the two sites are being referred to (possibly one of each). Zerotalk 05:34, 25 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]
I agree - too many articles. I tend to combine Biriya, Biriyya and Biriya Fortress into one article about location, while leaving Byria affair intact as a notable event (though i don't mind double checking its notability).GreyShark (dibra) 16:20, 25 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Another bit of missing history is that there was a major land dispute here. From memory: a British settlement officer signed off on a large tract of land (3,400 dunums) as having been purchased by PICA in 1895. The Arabs of Birya appealed to the courts and the Court of Appeal ruled that only a much smaller tract (400 dunums) had been purchased.(Palestine Post, March 17, 1946, p2) The Jewish Agency then appealed to the High Court of Palestine, at the same time seeking leave (which was guaranteed) to appeal to the Privy Council if the High Court ruled against them. In the time I allowed myself, I was not able to find out what the High Court decided or even if they accepted the case. Somewhere there is a catalogue of all High Court cases, but I don't have it. Now I come to think of it, High Court cases usually take a long time and the two years until the end of the Mandate might not have been long enough. Zerotalk 06:34, 25 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

To editor Greyshark09: Here is a document regarding villages founded in the 1948-1949 period. Is there anything of use regarding Birya? Zerotalk 14:01, 25 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

It is not serchable so requires reading it through. Perhaps User:Bolter21 could help here?GreyShark (dibra) 16:20, 25 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Quite busy. If I'll have time I'll take a look.--Bolter21 (talk to me) 21:52, 25 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]
New settlements in Israel 1948–1949

To editor Bolter21:To editor Greyshark09: Here is a searchable version. Due to the typewritten Hebrew, the OCR has plenty of errors. I see ביריה on p15(#3) and p18(#2). In both cases it says "3km north-east of Safed", which matches Birya Fortress much better than the Arab village. Also, is בירוה on p10(#8) a typo for the same place? Unfortunately I think there is precious little information about Birya here, but this document could be useful regarding the 56 localities described starting on p21. Zerotalk 06:36, 26 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

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