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Mohammed Mahmoud Abdul Kader Harb, originally from the village of Miska in the Tulkarm district, now resides in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus.

Miska, once a small village located north of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, now lies in ruins, its original Palestinian inhabitants forcibly removed in 1948 during the Nakba. Positioned 5 kilometers from the Palestinian city of Tira and 15 kilometers from Qalqilya in the West Bank, Miska was one of the villages affected by broader military operations intended to clear Palestinian communities from the coastal region between Tel Aviv and Haifa.


On April 15, 1948, Haganah officers issued an order for the evacuation of Miska, but the villagers initially resisted leaving their homes. Just a few days later, on April 20 and 21, units from the Alexandroni Brigade launched an assault on the village, forcibly expelling its inhabitants. By June, the Jewish National Fund (JNF) had begun the systematic destruction of Miska, as part of a broader campaign targeting several villages in the region. On June 16, Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion noted in his diary that the demolition of Miska was underway. However, he deliberately refrained from granting the JNF formal written authorization to destroy the village, likely to avoid direct accountability for the action.


Today, all that remains of Miska are the ruins of a mosque, the last visible sign of what once was. A school building also stood until 2007, but it was demolished after being used for social activities by displaced refugees from Miska living in nearby Tira. The land, now managed by the Israeli Land Administration (ILA), is rented out for fruit groves to Israeli settlements like Sde Warburg, Mishmeret, and the kibbutz Ramat Ha-Kovesh, built over the village's former territory.


The descendants of Miska’s original inhabitants are scattered. Close to 400 internally displaced refugees live in Tira, while others reside in refugee camps and cities across the West Bank and Jordan. Miska’s story is symbolic of the broader Palestinian experience during the 1948 Nakba, as a community uprooted and a village erased from the landscape but not from memory.


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Explore Palestine's History.

To discover powerful firsthand accounts of Nakba survivors, click on the designated area of the map. Each pin reveals personal narratives and reflections, offering profound insights into this pivotal historical event.

Tulkarm

Tulkarem is one of the main cities in Palestine, and its history dates back to Roman times, specifically the 3rd century AD. The name "Tulkarem" translates to "the mount of vineyards, figs, and olive trees." Situated 17 km from the Mediterranean Sea and 125 meters above sea level, it is well-connected to other major cities in the region via the A4 motorway. The district of Tulkarem is unique in Palestine and is distinguished by its geographical, historical, and agricultural significance. It is renowned for its fertile agricultural plains and abundant produce. Despite losing a significant portion of its fertile land, known as the Trucial Plain, in 1948, the land still remains famous for its horticultural products, including figs, grapes, olive trees, citrus orchards, and various types of vegetation. Before 1948 the district of Tulkarem had approximately 99 villages. Around 27 of these villages were destroyed during the Nakba, and their populations were ethnically cleansed. Many of these areas were either replaced by Jewish settlements or incorporated into Jewish cities. One notable village was Tabra, where a massacre occurred on February 10, 1948. A group of Zionist paramilitaries stopped Palestinian citizens returning to the village of Tabra in Tulkarem and opened fire on them, killing seven and wounding five others.

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