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Jerusalemites

Israeli occupation date: 10th May 1948. The village was completely destroyed with the exception of two housesAbu Suqrir. According to the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, the village remaining structures on the village land are:
“Two houses remain standing. One of them is in a citrus grove and has a concrete frame and cinder block walls. On the top of its flat roof there is an ‘iliyya.”

‘Arab Suqrir inhabitants were completely ethnically cleansed. The Canaanites referred to‘Arab Suqrir by Shakrun. Israeli settlements on town lands: Nir Gallirn and Bene Darom.

Land ownership before occupation

 

 
Ethnic GroupLand Ownership (Dunums)
Arab 12,270
Jewish 0
Public 27,954
Total 40,224

 

Land usage in 1945

 

 
Land Usage TypeArab (Dunum)
Area planted w/ citrus 583
Irrigated & Plantation 489
Planted W/ Cereal 15,532
Cultivable 16,604
Non-Cultivable 23,620

 

Population before occupation

 

 
YearPopulation
1596 55
1931 530
1945 390
1948 452
Est. Refugees 1998 2,778

 

Source: Palestineremembered.com

Israeli occupation date: 27th-28th of December 1948. The village was obliterated.According to the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, the village remaining structures on the village land are: “Only traces of the village streets remain, along with scattered cactuses. “

‘Iraq al-Manshiyya inhabitants were completely ethnically cleansed. ‘Iraq al-Manshiyya had an elementary school for boys which was founded in 1934, and in 1945 it had an enrollment of 201 students. The village had two mosques, one was old and the other was more recent which was considered one of the most handsome among village mosques; it contained several rooms, a portico,and a courtyard. The village had a shrine for al-Shaykh Abroad al-‘Urayni. The village had three wells which supplied it with its water needs.

Land ownership before occupation

 
Ethnic GroupLand Ownership (Dunums)
Arab 13,838
Jewish 3,468
Public 595
Total 17,901

 

Land usage in 1945

 
Land Usage TypeArab (Dunum)Jewish (Dunum)
Irrigated & Plantation 53 0
Planted W/ Cereal 13,463 3,433
Built up 169 35
Cultivable 13,516 3,433
Non-Cultivable 748 0

 

Population before occupation

 
YearPopulation
1596 61
1922 1,132
1931 1,347
1945 2,220 (210 Jewish)
1948 2,332
Est. Refugees 1998 14,319

 

Source: Palestineremembered.com

 
 

Israeli occupation date: July 23rd-24th, 1948. ‘Ajjur was mostly destroyed with the exception of three houses. AjjurAccording to the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, the village remaining structures on the village land are: “Only three houses remain; two are deserted and one has been turned into a warehouse. One of the deserted houses is a two-story stone structure that has a large, triple-arched front porch.”
‘Ajjur inhabitants were completely ethnically cleansed. In 1931 the number of houses were 566.

The village had two schools: the 1st was a private school known by Abu al-Hasan school, and the 2nd was founded in 1934. ‘Ajjur had two mosques: the 1st was an old mosque which was built during the Fatimid period, and the 2nd was built during the British Mandate period.

Israeli settlements on town lands: ‘Agur, Tzafririm, Giv’at Yesh’ayahu, Li-‘On, & Tirosh.

Land ownership before occupation

 
Ethnic GroupLand Ownership (Dunums)
Arab 44,771
Jewish 0
Public 13,303
Total 58,074

 

Land usage in 1945

 
Land Usage TypeArab (Dunum)
Irrigated & Plantation 2,428
Area planted w/ olives 3,070
Planted W/ Cereal 25,227
Built up 171
Cultivable 27,655
Non-Cultivable 30,248

 

Population before occupation

 
YearPopulation
1596 193
1922 2,072
1931 2,917
1945 3,730
1948 4,327
Est. Refugees 1998 26,571

 

Source: Palestineremembered.com

 

Israeli occupation date: October 22nd-23rd, 1948. Thikrin was completely destroyed and only house walls and rubble left Thikrin_sliderbehind.  According to the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, the village remaining structures on the village land are:
“The site, overgrown with tall weeds, scrub, and other wild vegetation, contains a number of olive and carob trees. Truncated stone terraces, partially overgrown with cactuses, further mark the site.”

Thikrin inhabitants were completely ethnically cleansed. The number of houses in 193 were 181.During the Roman period, Thikrin was known by Kefar Dikrina. Thikrin had an elementary school for boys. Wadi Bisiyya was nearby village lands. A well located nearby Wadi Bisiyya used to be the main source of drinking water to the inhabitants of Thikrin.

 

Land ownership before occupation

 
Ethnic GroupLand Ownership (Dunums)
Arab 17,186
Jewish 0
Public 9
Total 17,195

 

Land usage in 1945

 
Land Usage TypeArab (Dunum)
Area planted w/ olives 560
Planted W/ Cereal 15,058
Built up 63
Cultivable 15,058
Non-Cultivable 2,074

 

Population before occupation

Edit
YearPopulation
1596 220
1922 693
1931 726
1945 960
1948 1,369
Est. Refugees 1998 8,406

 

 

 Source: Palestineremembered.com

 

Israeli occupation date: May 15, 1948 . No traces of Arab houses are left behind. ‘Atlit  District of HaifaAtlit inhabitants were completely ethnically cleansed. According to the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, the village remaining structures on the village land are:
“No traces of Arab houses are left. A railroad station that used to serve the village is still in use. A prison in the vicinity was used by Israel in 1989 for holding Lebanese and Palestinian detainees.”

During the Hellenistic period, ‘Atlit was known by Adarus. In 1296, descendants of the ‘Uwayrat tribe (a Tatar tribe) settled in ‘Atlit and its vicinity. Wadi al-Tabun, wadi al-Sukhul, and Wadi Falah are bordering the village. ‘Atlit contained a Crusades Castle called Castle Peregrinorum (castle of the pilgrims), and a Muslim cemetery east of the Crusader castle which has an Arabic inscription dating to 1800s.

Israeli settlements on town lands: ‘Atlit and Newe Yam. The number of houses in 1931 were 193.

 

Land ownership before occupation

 
Ethnic GroupLand Ownership (Dunums)
Arab 15
Jewish 5,262
Public 3,806
Total 9,083

 

Land usage in 1945

 
Land Usage TypeArab (Dunum)Jewish (Dunum)
Irrigated & Plantation 11 1,262
Planted W/ Cereal 247 3,169
Built up 0 124
Cultivable 258 4,431
Non-Cultivable 3,563 707

 

Population before occupation

 
YearPopulation
19th century 200
1931 452
1945 660 (510 Jewish)
1948 174
Est. Refugees 1998 1,069

 

Source: Palestineremembered.com

Israeli occupation date: July 15, 1948. It was located at 6 km South West of Nazareth. About 1,200 refugees from al-Mujaydil had reportedly reached NazarethAl- Mujaydil by the end of July, 1948. It was mostly destroyed with the exception of the monastery and a partially destroyed church. Al-Mujaydil inhabitants were completely ethnically cleansed.

According to the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, the village remaining structures on the village land are: “Most of the site is covered with a pine forest that serves as an Israeli park. The monastery and parts of the ( destroyed) church are the only remaining buildings on the site; monks still live in the monastery. Remnants of destroyed houses and the walls of a cemetery are visible. Cactuses and pomegranate, olive, and fig trees grow around the site, which is dotted with Wells.”

The number of houses in 1931 were 293. There were two elementary schools in al-Mujaydil, one for boys and the other for girls. The village had a Roman Catholic Church and a monastery. The village is situated on the southern slopes of Wadi al-Mujaydil.

Several springs flowed in the vicinity of the Wadi al-Mujaydil.Traces of a Roman road were found close to the village. Israeli settlements on town lands: Migdal ha-‘Emeq (founded by Iranian Jews in in 1952) and Yifat.

 

Land ownership before occupation

 
Ethnic GroupLand Ownership (Dunums)
Arab 18,165
Jewish 485
Public 186
Total 18,836

 

Land usage in 1945

 
Land Usage TypeArab (Dunum)Jewish (Dunum)
Irrigated & Plantation 1,685 34
Area planted w/ olives 1,600 0
Planted W/ Cereal 15,037 437
Built up 34 0
Cultivable 16,722 471
Non-Cultivable 1,595 14

 

Population before occupation

Edit
YearPopulation
1596 22
19th century 800
1912 853
1922 1,009
1931 1,241
1945 1,900
Est. Refugees 1998 13,535

 

Source: palestineremembered.com

Dayr al-hawaIsraeli occupation date: October 18th-19th, 1948.Deir al-Hawa was completely obliterated. According to the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, the village remaining structures on the village land are: The stone rubble of houses is mixed with the ruined walls of terraces. Parts of the site have been levelled and cleared, and the debris has been gathered to form a large pile at one end of the site. In the north, south, and west, terraces are covered with groves of carob and olive trees. Cactuses grow on the southern edge of the site, and ruined walls lie on the western side of the village. Large slabs of reinforced concrete can still be seen near the watchtower that was erected on the cleared área.”

Dayr al-Hawa inhabitants were completely ethnically cleansed. There was a mosque in the western part of the village and a  shrine for a local sage known by al-Shaykh Sulayman. Dayr al-Hawa contained two wells located southeast and west of its center. Deir al-Hawa was built on an unknown archaeological site. Israeli illegal settlements on town lands: Nes Harim is nearby village lands.The number of houses in 1931 were 11 and in 1948 were 16.

Land Ownership before Occupation

 
Ethnic GroupLand Ownership (Dunums)
Arab 4,660
Jewish 0
Public 1,347
Total 5,907

 

Land usage in 1945

 
Land Usage TypeArab (Dunum)
Irrigated & Plantation 58
Area planted w/ olives 501
Planted W/ Cereal 1,565
Built up 4
Cultivable 1,623
Non-Cultivable 4,280

 

Population before occupation

 
YearPopulation
1922 18
1931 47
1945 60
1948 70
Est. Refugees 1998 427

 

Source: www.palestineremembered.com

This post was published in 2000.

Arab Abukishk, with its eighteen thousand donums (one donum equals 1000 sq. meters) landscape, was considered before 1948Abukishk the largest village in the coastal city of Jafa district Arabs were the proprietors of 1715 donums, Jews owned 901 donums and 448 donums were state-owned land. (PalestineIndex Gazetteerprepared by Land Registry Office of Palestine Government, 1945, Census of Palestine, 1931,and Village Statistics 1945). 2487 donums of the village spacious land were allotted for citrus and banana, 14018 donums for wheat and 226 irrigated donums for orchards. Besides husbandry, the well-to-do residents raised cattle.

1900 Arabs comprised Abukishk’s population in 1944/1945, an indication that at least 2000 citizens fled their homes in 1948. Arab Abukishk, was located, in the middle Palestinian coast, two kilometers west of Palestine’s major river, Al-Ouja, known also as Yarkoon, and linked with Jafa-Haifa main coastal road along with half dozen of adjacent Arab villages.

In 1925, an elementary mixed school was built in Abukishk, when schooling was unaffordable luxury in major cities in the region. Official figures show that 108 pupils, among them nine girls, registered in the school in mid forties.

In Abukishk, the residents used to live in stone-built houses large enough to accommodate all members of each family together, a tradition that characterized Palestinians’ norm of living before the Diaspora but was shattered in the aftermath of 1948 war due to their dispersal. When the land was lost, every one went on his own depending on the refugee camp assigned to him or the nearest Arab country to his or her then-gone homeland.

Zionist gangs shortly before the end of the British Mandate captured Arab Abukishk in May 15, 1948. The Israeli historian Benny Morris, author of The Birth of the Palestine Refugee Problem 1947-1949, indicates, “The evacuation of the area, north of Tel Aviv, was undertaken by the Irgun Gang”. Irgun and Stern Gang, notorious for the massacre they committed April 9, 1948, in Deir Yassin, abducted five local leaders from nearby villages, shelled regularly the civilian population with heavy artillery as an act of intimidation which triggered the evacuation of Abukishk and other villages in the area, north of Tel Aviv.

Arab Abukishk spearheaded, in 1921, one of the earliest clashes with Zionists by attacking, alongside Arab volunteers from the middle coast, Petah Tekva, the first Zionist colony established in Palestine in 1878. The attack was organized in the wake of Jafa uprising against Zionist colonization of Palestine under guidance and protection of the British Mandate’s authorities. The uprising of Jafa inflicted heavy casualties among the Zionist colonizers of Jafa and its environs including Petah Tekva. As a result, all Arab villages bordering Tel Aviv were the first to be depopulated in 1948, especially after Jafa’s surrender to the new invaders.

Bibliography:

The Birth of the Palestine Refugee Problem 1947-1949 by Benny Morris

All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948 by Dr.Khalidi, Walid

Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine by Hadawi, Sami 

 

Der Rafat was situated on the western slope of a medium high mountain, 26 kilometer west of Jerusalem.Der Rafat Village The village was the site of a big monastery that belonged to the Latin Patriarchy. There was one mosque, Haj Hasan mosque, in the village. Der Rafat was at the end of the nineteenth century a small plantation on a top of a mountain as well as a spring at its western side.

On 1945, Der Rafat’s population was estimated 400 strong; one hundred of them were Christians, and the rest were Muslims.

Some 10,563 Donums (one Donum= 1000 sq. m) of the village’s land were cultivated and allocated for wheat’s growing mainly. Other 216 irrigatedDonums were cultivated as orchards. Three natural springs used to supply the village with water. Like most Palestinian villages, Der Rafat was rich in its archeological sites.

Der Rafat’s Occupation and Depopulation:

The village was stormed on July17-18, 1948 by Hariel’s Brigade during the second stage of the Israeli military operation coded Danny. According to “History of Independence” the village was occupied at the end of the operation when Israeli forces expanded Jerusalem’s passage toward the south.

Benny Morris, the Israeli historian, has indicated that the majority of the Arabs who remained in the vicinity of the village left the place as columns of Hariel’s brigade were approaching and the mortars’ shelling started. Those who remained were forced to leave, he added, but without elaborating on the happenings inside the village or the residents’ fate of the adjacent monastery.

The village was destroyed after the passage of three weeks, i.e. during the second truce of the war. Morris has come through his comment on the subject of destroying Arab villages at that period, saying: “ The army embarked gradually throughout the second truce, which lasted three months starting July 19 till mid-October, on the demolition of the deserted villages for military motives as usually described. Most of the villages in the middle of the country e.g. … were dynamited mid-September.”

The colony of Geva’at Shemish was built 1954 on the land of the village, exactly toward its western location.

A pile of ruins and some porches, which remained intact while the others were destroyed and mixed with the houses’ debris, today covers the site of the village. Cactus can be seen at the northern tip of the village. A statue of Mary the Virgin is rising above the façade of the monastery, two kilometers far from the village westward.

Bibliography:

– All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948 byKhalidi, Walid

– Palestine Remembered.com

Occupation date; 14th of July 1948. The village has been mostly destroyed with the exception of the two village churches andMa´lul the village mosque.

According to the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, the village remaining structures on the village land are:  “The village site is now covered with a pine forest planted by the Jewish National Fimd and dedicated to the memory of prorninent Jews and some non-Jewish Americans and Europeans. A military base is also on the site. The mosque and two churches still stand, and are used intermittently as cow sheds by the residents of Kibbutz Kefar ha-Choresh. Overlooking Wadi al-Halabi, between the village site and the site of al-Mujaydil, is an Israeli plastics factory. Cactus, olive trees, and fig trees grow on the site, which is strewn with piles of stones. A few tombs in the Muslim cemetery across from the mosque can be seen. The main village site also contains the remains of houses.”

The Crusaders referred to the village by Maula. The village had a magnificent Roman mausoleum sometimes called Qasr al-Dayr. Migdal ha-‘Emeq, Kefar ha-Choresh, Timrat, and an Israeli military base.

Ma’lul inhabitants were completely ethnically cleansed.

 

Land ownership before occupation

 
Ethnic GroupLand Ownership (Dunums)
Arab 1,949
Jewish 2,719
Public 30
Total 4,698

 

Land usage in 1945

 
Land Usage TypeArab (Dunum)Jewish (Dunum)
Irrigated & Plantation 650 0
Area planted w/ olives 700 0
Planted W/ Cereal 784 2,678
Built up 29 35
Cultivable 1,434 2,678
Non-Cultivable 516 6

 

Population before occupation

 
YearPopulation
1596 77
19th century 280
1912 296
1922 346
1931 390
1945 690
1948 800
Est. Refugees 1998 4,915

 

Bibliography:

– History of Palestine – The Last Two Thousand Years by Jacob De Haas

All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 194 by Dr.Khalidi, Walid

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