began during the 19th century. The residents were tenant farmers, paying fees to the families who owned the land. The population was made of two groups: Arab fellaheen, who came from the nearby Arab villages, and Bedouin nomads. The bedouins came from two tribes: Ka'abiye and Sa'adih, who arrived to the land, according to elderly traditions during the 1870s and possibly in the 1860s. At the time they arrived, they consisted of only twelve families. A population list from about 1887 showed that Kireh had about 65 inhabitants; all Muslims. British Mandate period The area was acquired by the Jewish community as part of the Sursock Purchase. In 1924, Zionist activist Yehoshua Hankin bought the share of the land owned by the Sursock and Tueni families. In February 1934 the remaining share, owned by the Khouri family was bought after a decade of negotiations. The fellaheens were the first to evacuate their lands after receiving compensation and thus the population Qira decreased from 134 in 1922 to 86 in 1931 (in a total of 21 houses). The evacuation of the Bedouin tribes took much longer as they refused to leave their lands, especially after the fellaheens left the better parts of the territory, suitable for the Bedouin lifestyle. It was also delayed because the Arab landowners did not want to take responsibility for the evacuation, due to political reasons. In their lands they grew wheat, barley and sorghum. Further negotiations in 1935 and 1936, including the intervention of influential Arab figures were interrupted by the break of the 1936–1939 Arab revolt. The act of selling lands to Jews was seen in the Arab community as treason, punishable by death. After the revolt, both tribes showed interest in the renewal of the negotiations after their leaders no longer felt a threat to their lives. The evacuation continued in 1936 and later that year the rest of the Ka'abiye tribe left. The last evacuation took place in 1945 when the leader of the Sa'adih tribe left for a large amount of money. The last of Qira's Muslim population lived between Yokneam Moshava and HaZore'a. 1948 and aftermath According to Ilan Pappe in The Israel/Palestine Question (1999), the 140 tenant farmers of Qira wa Qamun evacuated the village in March on the "friendly advice" of the local Haganah intelligence officer at Yokneam, Yehuda Burstein. Benny Morris notes that Burnstein received the orders for