Khirbat Ism Allah

Khirbat Ism Allah was a Palestinian Arab hamlet in the Jerusalem Subdistrict, located 26 km west of Jerusalem. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War on July 17, 1948, by the Harel Brigade of Operation Dani. Khirbat Ism Allah was mostly destroyed with the exception of several deserted houses.

Khirbat Ism Allah
خربة إسم الله
Village
Etymology: Kh. Ism Allah, the ruin of the name of God[1]
1870s map
1940s map
modern map
1940s with modern overlay map
A series of historical maps of the area around Khirbat Ism Allah (click the buttons)
Khirbat Ism Allah is located in Mandatory Palestine
Khirbat Ism Allah
Khirbat Ism Allah
Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 31°46′59″N 34°57′19″E
Palestine grid145/132
Geopolitical entityMandatory Palestine
SubdistrictJerusalem
Date of depopulationJuly 17, 1948
Area
  Total568 dunams (56.8 ha or 140 acres)
Population
 (1945)
  Total20[2][3]

History

In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine only noted “foundations" here.[4]

British Mandate era

According to the 1931 census of Palestine, conducted in 1931 by the British Mandate authorities, Khirbat Ism Allah had a population of 18 inhabitants, in 4 houses.[5]

In 1944 Zionist established Kfar Uria about 1,5 km NW of the village site, but not on village land.[6]

In the 1945 statistics, Khirbat Ism Allah had a population of 20 Muslims,[2] with a total of 568 dunums of land.[3] Of this, 3 dunams were for irrigable land or plantations, 485 for cereals,[7] while 80 dunams were classified as non-cultivable land.[8]

Khirbat Ism Allah 1942 1:20,000
Khirbat Ism Allah 1945 1:250,000

1948, aftermath

In 1992, the site was described: "The caves in the northern part of the site still show evidence of their former use as dwellings; the remains of arched entrances are present. In the southern part of the site, a few ruined houses are surrounded by low stone walls. This area has been recently repopulated by a Jewish shepherd family that renovated and occupied one of the houses. The walled in area is used as a goat barn, and the entire area has become a grazing site for the family's flock. The family uses the village spring to the west."[6]

References

  1. Palmer, 1881, p. 306
  2. Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 25
  3. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 57
  4. Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 115
  5. Mills, 1932, p. 20
  6. Khalidi, 1992, p. 296
  7. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 103
  8. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 153

Bibliography

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