The depopulated village of Indur / District of Nazareth

Key Facts About Indur

• Subdistrict: Nazareth.
• Distance from Nazareth: approximately 10.5 kilometers southeast.
• Average elevation: approximately 175 meters above sea level.
• Population in 1944/1945: 620.
• Estimated population in 1948: 719 according to Palestine Remembered.
• Total land area: 12,444 dunums.
• Date of occupation: 24 May 1948 according to Walid Khalidi/PalQuest.
• Military formation: Golani Brigade.
• Post-1948 Israeli settlements on village land: none.

Location of Indur

Indur stood on the lower northeastern slopes of Mount al-Dahi, facing north toward the broad Marj ibn 'Amir plain.

The village was several kilometers from a highway connecting the Tiberias and Nazareth areas. The pipeline of the British-owned Iraq Petroleum Company passed approximately half a kilometer north of the village.

The surrounding landscape combined mountain slopes with flatter agricultural land overlooking the plain.

Neighboring Villages and Localities

Indur lay among a number of Palestinian villages and localities in the Nazareth and Marj ibn 'Amir area, including:

• Dabburiyya to the north.
• Iksal to the northwest.
• Nin to the west.
• al-Dahi to the southwest.
• Na'ura to the south.
• Tamra to the southeast.
• Kafr Misr to the east.
• Mount Tabor to the northeast of the village area.

The Name and Ancient History of Indur

Walid Khalidi suggests that the name Indur probably preserved that of the ancient Canaanite town of 'Ayn Dur, or Endor, a name associated with the meaning “spring of the sanctuary.”

'Ayn Dur appears in the biblical account concerning Saul's consultation with a diviner before his battle with the Philistines.

The precise location of the ancient town has not been conclusively established. Khalidi notes that it may have stood at the site of Indur itself or at nearby Tall al-'Ajjul or Khirbat al-Safsafa.

The locality was known as Endor during the Crusader period.

Indur in the Ottoman Period

In 1596, Indur was recorded in the nahiya of Shafa within the liwa' of Lajjun and had an estimated population of approximately twenty-two.

The inhabitants paid taxes on crops including wheat, barley, and olives, as well as on goats, beehives, and other forms of property and production.

The Built Environment of Indur

In the late nineteenth century, Indur was described as an adobe-built village situated against a steep hillside, with several small caves in the higher ground nearby.

During the British Mandate, the village consisted of a winding chain of houses whose layout followed the contours of the hillside.

Houses were constructed of stone and cement or stone and mud. The built-up area covered approximately 29 dunums according to the 1944/1945 statistics.

Population of Indur

The 1922 Census of Palestine recorded 311 inhabitants in Indur, including 310 Muslims and one Christian.

By the 1931 census, the population had increased to 445, including 444 Muslims and one Christian, living in 75 houses.

The Government of Palestine's 1944/1945 statistics recorded 620 inhabitants, all classified as Muslims.

The figures of 719 inhabitants for 1948 and 4,417 refugees for 1998 published by Palestine Remembered are later demographic estimates rather than official Government of Palestine censuses.

Number of Houses in Indur

The 1931 Census of Palestine recorded 75 houses in Indur.

The figure of 121 houses for 1948 published by Palestine Remembered is a later estimate rather than the result of an official census conducted that year.

Shaykh Tawfiq Ibrahim and the 1936–1939 Revolt

Shaykh Tawfiq Ibrahim was one of the most prominent people from Indur and took part in Palestinian resistance to British rule.

He was one of the leaders of the 1936–1939 Palestinian Revolt and an associate of Shaykh Izzeddin al-Qassam, whose death while fighting British forces in 1935 was one of the developments preceding the outbreak of the revolt the following year.

Education in Indur

An elementary school was established in Indur during the Ottoman period. Children from neighboring Nin also attended the school.

The British Mandate authorities subsequently closed it.

The principal sources used here do not provide a securely documented founding year or enrollment figure, and no unsupported date is therefore assigned to the school.

Water Sources in Indur

Palestinian local documentation describes Indur as relatively well supplied with natural water sources.

One of the principal sources was 'Ayn al-Dalafa, located inside a cave south of the village and remembered for its clear, fresh water. 'Ayn al-Safsaf was another local water source.

These names are presented as part of the Palestinian local documentation of the village.

Land Ownership in Indur

The Government of Palestine's 1944/1945 statistics recorded a total land area of 12,444 dunums for Indur, with no Jewish land ownership recorded.

The Arabic Palestine Remembered table uses the categories “Palestinian,” “Transferred to Zionists,” and “Masha'.” These terms are retained below as that source's terminology. The official Government of Palestine categories for the same figures were “Arab” and “Public.”

Land Use in Indur in 1944/1945

A total of 10,479 dunums was cultivated or classified as cultivable, consisting of 10,382 dunums of Arab land and 97 dunums of public land.

Cereals occupied 10,061 dunums, including 9,964 dunums of Arab land and 97 dunums of public land. Plantations and irrigable land covered 394 dunums, while citrus and bananas occupied another 24 dunums.

Non-cultivable land totaled 1,936 dunums, consisting of 3 dunums of Arab land and 1,933 dunums of public land. The built-up area covered 29 dunums of Arab land.

Approximately 180 dunums within the plantation and irrigable category were planted with olive trees. The olive-grove figure is therefore a subset of the plantation category and should not be added again to the total agricultural area.

Economic Life in Indur

Grain cultivation formed the foundation of Indur's economy, with wheat, barley, and other cereals occupying the overwhelming majority of its cultivated land.

The villagers also grew olives, citrus, fruit trees, and vegetables and engaged in animal husbandry.

Ottoman tax records show that wheat, barley, olives, goats, and beehives formed part of the village economy as early as the sixteenth century.

Archaeological Remains in Indur

The remains in and around Indur indicate a long history of settlement in the area.

Walid Khalidi records rock-cut cisterns, silos, and tombs, as well as abandoned older houses whose ruins stood close to the inhabited village before the Nakba.

Nearby Khirbat al-Safsafa and Tall al-'Ajjul were also significant archaeological sites, and either one of them or Indur itself may have been associated with the location of ancient 'Ayn Dur.

The Fall of Baysan and the Military Context

The region east and southeast of Indur underwent major military changes in May 1948, particularly with the assault on Baysan and the surrounding Palestinian villages.

The Haganah's Golani Brigade carried out Operation Gideon between 10 and 15 May 1948. The offensive resulted in the occupation of the Baysan Valley and the displacement of inhabitants from numerous Palestinian communities.

Indur itself was not occupied within the formal dates of Operation Gideon. Walid Khalidi and PalQuest date its occupation to 24 May, nine days after the operation ended.

It is therefore more precise to place the capture of Indur within the continuation of Golani military activity following the fall of Baysan rather than categorically describing it as part of Operation Gideon.

Was Indur Occupied During Operation Erez?

Some Palestinian local databases list “Erez” in the military-operation field associated with Indur. However, this attribution does not appear in Walid Khalidi's principal account as presented by PalQuest, and the accompanying local narratives do not explain the basis for the classification.

The principal source used here instead connects Indur's fall with the continuation of Golani Brigade operations following the occupation of the Baysan Valley, without assigning the village's capture to an operation named Erez.

For that reason, this article does not identify Operation Erez as the confirmed military operation responsible for the occupation of Indur.

The Occupation of Indur on 24 May 1948

Walid Khalidi and PalQuest record that Indur came under Israeli control on 24 May 1948.

The source suggests that the inhabitants may have left as a result of a military assault and under the influence of the fall of nearby Baysan and the wider collapse of Palestinian control in the neighboring valley.

Although most of the Baysan Valley had already been occupied by the Haganah before 15 May, the Golani Brigade continued military activity in the area during the second half of May and into early June, described in the Israeli source cited by Khalidi as “cleansing and defending” the area.

Israeli military-account details are presented here through the Palestinian intermediary sources Walid Khalidi and PalQuest rather than through independent reliance on Israeli sources.

The Displacement of Indur's Inhabitants

The principal sources do not provide a single detailed Palestinian account reconstructing every stage of the villagers' departure, but they clearly connect the depopulation of Indur with the military developments in the surrounding region.

An Israeli intelligence report dated 30 June 1948 and published through the PalQuest archive lists Indur under 24 May and associates the villagers' departure with the Baysan–Gesher front. It records the Nazareth area as their destination.

The displacement of Indur can therefore be understood within the combined context of direct military pressure on the village, the earlier fall of Baysan, and the continuation of Golani Brigade operations across the area.

Israeli Settlements and Indur's Lands

According to Walid Khalidi and PalQuest, no new Israeli settlement was established on Indur's village lands after its depopulation.

Davrat lies immediately west of the former village site. It was founded in 1946, before the Nakba, on the boundary between the lands of Indur and those of Dabburiyya.

Davrat is therefore not classified here as a post-1948 settlement established on Indur's lands.

The Site of Indur After the Nakba

According to Walid Khalidi's historical field description, many partially ruined walls remained standing on the former village site.

Date palms, doum palms, fig trees, and almond trees grew on the village lands.

The surrounding flat land was cultivated, while the hilly areas were used for grazing.

This description is based on fieldwork conducted for Walid Khalidi's All That Remains and should not necessarily be treated as an updated field survey of the site today.

Sources

• PalQuestPalQuest – Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question: Indur
• PalQuestPalQuest – Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question: Operation Gideon
• PalQuestPalQuest: Israeli Intelligence Report on the Depopulation of Palestine, 30 June 1948
• Palestine RememberedPalestine Remembered: Indur – Nazareth District
• Palestine RememberedPalestine Remembered: Indur in Walid Khalidi's All That Remains
• palqura.comPalestinian Villages Encyclopedia: Indur / 'Ayn Dur
• pal48.psFilastunna: The Depopulated Village of Indur
• pcbs.gov.psPalestinian Central Bureau of Statistics: Historical Censuses and Reports