Kafr Bir'im

Kafr Bir'im كفر برعم Kefr Berem
The church of Kafr Bir'im
Etymology: The village of Bir'im[1]
1870s map 1940s map modern map 1940s with modern overlay map A series of historical maps of the area around Kafr Bir'im (click the buttons)
Kafr Bir'im Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 33°02′37″N 35°24′51″E / 33.04361°N 35.41417°E / 33.04361; 35.41417
Palestine grid	189/272
Geopolitical entity	Mandatory Palestine
Subdistrict	Safad
Date of depopulation	early November 1948[3]
Area
• Total	12,250 dunams (12.25 km2 or 4.73 sq mi)
Population  (1945)
• Total	710[2]
Cause(s) of depopulation	Expulsion by Yishuv forces
Current Localities	Bar'am National Park, Bar'am[4][5] Dovev[5]

Kafr Bir'im, also Kefr Berem (Arabic: كفر برعم, Hebrew: כְּפַר בִּרְעָם), was a former village in Mandatory Palestine, located in modern-day northern Israel, 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) south of the Lebanese border and 11.5 kilometers (7.1 mi) northwest of Safed. The village was situated 750 meters (2,460 ft) above sea level. "The village stood on a rocky hill only a little higher than the surrounding area and faced north and west."^[6]

In ancient times, it was a Jewish village known as Kfar Bar'am. It became culturally Arabized during the Middle Ages.^{[citation needed]} In the early Ottoman era it was wholly Muslim. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was noted as a predominantly Maronite Christian village. A church overlooking it at an elevation of 752 meters (2,467 ft) was built on the ruins of an older church destroyed in the earthquake of 1837. In 1945, it had a population of 710 people, most of them Christians.^[6]

The Palestinian Christian villagers were expelled by Zionist forces during the 1948 Palestine war. A few years later, on September 16, 1953 the village was destroyed by the Israeli military in order to prevent the villagers' return and in defiance of an Israeli Supreme Court decision recognizing the villager's right to return to their homes.^{[7][8][9][10]} By 1992, the only standing structure was the church and belltower.^{[6][additional citation(s) needed]}