Kafr Qasim (Arabic: كفر قاسم, Hebrew: כַּפְר קָאסִם), also spelled as Kafr Qassem, Kufur Kassem, Kfar Kassem and Kafar Kassem, is an Arab city in Israel. It is located about 20 km (12 mi) east of Tel Aviv, on the Israeli side of the Green Line separating Israel and the West Bank, in the southern portion of the "Little Triangle" of Arab-Israeli towns and villages. In 2022 its population was 25,285.[1] The town was the site of the Kafr Qasim massacre, in which the Israel Border Police killed 49 civilians on October 29, 1956. On February 12, 2008, Israeli Minister of the Interior Meir Sheetrit declared Kafr Qasim a city in a ceremony held at the town.[3]
History
The town's area was populated in ancient times, based on remains from the Middle Paleolithic period found in the Qesem Cave.[4]Cisterns, a winepress and terraced fields have also been documented,[5] together with remains from the Byzantine era.[6]
Kafr Qasim is identified with Kefar Kesem (Hebrew: כפר קסם), a site mentioned in the Tosefta as home to a paganholy tree.[7]
Ottoman Empire
In 1838, during the Ottoman period, it was noted as a Muslim village, Kefr Kasim, in Jurat Merda, south of Nablus.[8]
Charles van de Velde visited the site in 1851–52, noting "the many ancient stones used in the construction of the present houses and many other remains indicating an ancient site."[9]
In 1870 Victor Guérin visited the village, which he called Kafr Kasim. He found the place to be "the site of a more ancient town, as is shown by cisterns and the mass of rubbish found outside the present village".[10] The village had about four hundred inhabitants.[11]
In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described the village as being of moderate size, with buildings constructed principally of adobe, on low hill in open ground. The survey also noted the existence of a rock-cut tomb to the south of the village.[12]
In 1945 the population of Kafr Qasim was 1,460, all Muslims,[15] who owned 12,765 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey.[16] 239 dunams were for citrus and bananas, 491 were plantations and irrigable land, and 8,980 were planted with cereals,[17] while 58 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[18]
Kafr Qasim in 1941
Israel
Mayor Adel Badir and President Reuven Rivlin at City Hall in 2018
On October 29, 1956, on the eve of the joint Israeli, French and British invasion of Egypt, Israel moved up the time of the local curfew as it was concerned that nearby Jordan would enter the fighting.[19] After the curfew started, a platoon of Israeli border police who had been sent to the area encountered and killed 49 villagers returning to Kafr Qasim from their work in the fields. Though the village head had been informed a half an hour before the military curfew started, he informed the Israeli commander that the fellahin and shepherds could not be notified in time that the curfew had been imposed.[20] The incident became known as the Kafr Qasim massacre. In October 2021, the President of Israel Isaac Herzog made an official apology for the 1956 massacre, on behalf of the state.[21]
In 2007 development plans for the industrial and logistical area Lev HaAretz were approved. Development started in 2008.[23]Steimatzky is one of many companies who moved into this area.[23] Also in 2008, the Ministry of the Interior announced that Kafr Qasim would become a city.[24]
Demographics
According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had 21,100 mostly Muslim inhabitants at the end of 2012.[25] There are 936 females for every 1,000 males. The population increases at an annual rate of 2.7%.
The social-economic rank of the town is relatively low (3 out of 10). Only 50.2% of 12th graders were eligible for graduation (Bagrut) certificates in 2000. The average monthly wage in 2000 was 3,633 NIS, as opposed to the national average of 6,835 NIS at that time.
Zbenovich, Vladimir; Barda, Leticia; Haiman, Mordechai (2005-03-10). "Kafr Qasim, Development Survey". Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel (117).
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