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Palestinian Villages Depopulated in 1948

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An at-a-glance compilation of all Palestinian villages in the Jerusalem area (most in the Western corridor) that were captured and depopulated in 1948, and the Jewish settlements and sites that were built or established on their lands afterward

Palestinian Villages Depopulated in 1948 [1]

Village name Number of Palestinian Arab inhabitants in 1948* Landownership (dunums) as of 1944/45 Date of capture and depopulation Jewish settlement/sites built on the land post-1948
‘Allar 510 Total: 12,356
Arab: 12,353
Jewish: 0
Public: 3
October 22, 1948 Mata
American Independence Park
‘Aqqur 46 Total: 5,522
Arab: 5,444
Jewish: 0
Public: 78
July 14, 1948 Sorek Stream North Nature Reserve
Martyrs’ Forest
Sataf Forest
‘Artuf 406 Total: 403
Arab: 401
Jewish: 0
Public: 2
July 18, 1948 Hartuv (pre-1948)
Naham (post-1948)
‘Ayn Karim* 3,689 Total: 15,029
Arab: 13,449
Jewish: 1,362
Public: 218
July 18, 1948 Ein Karem
Even Sapir
Kiryat Menachem
Beit Zayit
Beit ‘Itab 626 Total: 8,757
Arab: 5,447
Jewish: 0
Public: 3,310
October 21, 1948 Nes Harim
Bar Giora
American Independence Park
Beit ‘Itab National Park
Beit Mahsir 2,784 Total: 16,268
Arab: 15,428
Jewish: 0
Public: 840
May 11, 1948 Beit Meir
Mesilot Zion
Rabin Park/Martyrs’ Forest
Beit Mazmil*** N/A N/A July 12, 1948 Kiryat HaYovel
Beit Naqquba* 278 Total: 2,979
Arab: 1,958
Jewish: 951
Public: 70
April 1, 1948 Beit Nekofa
Beit Thul* 302 Total: 4,629
Arab: 4,205
Jewish: 421
Public: 3
July 18, 1948 Kfira Forest
Beit Umm al-Mays** 81 Total: 1,013
Arab: 1,013
Jewish: 0
Public: 0
July 1, 1948 Part of Ramat Raziel
Martyrs’ Forest, Judean Hills National Park
al-Burayj 835 Total: 19,080
Arab: 18,856
Jewish: 0
Public: 224
October 1, 1948 Military Base
Sedot Mikha
Deir ‘Amr** 12 Total: 3,072
Arab: 3,072
Jewish: 0
Public: 0
July 14, 1948 Eitanim
Martyrs’ Forest
Deir Aban* 2,436 Total: 22,734
Arab: 21,578
Jewish: 376
Public: 780
October 20, 1948 Mahasia, Beit Shemesh, Yish‘i, Tzora
American Independence Park
Deir al-Hawa 70 Total: 5,907
Arab: 4,660
Jewish: 0
Public: 1,247
October 20, 1948 American Independence Park
Deir al-Sheikh 255 Total: 6,781
Arab: 1,366
Jewish: 0
Public: 5,412
October 21, 1948 Sorek Stream Nature Reserve
Deir Rafat 499 Total: 13,242
Arab: 12,966
Jewish: 0
Public: 276
July 18, 1948 Givat Shemesh
Deir Yasin* 708 Total: 2,857
Arab: 2,701
Jewish: 153
Public: 3
April 9, 1948 Kfar Shaul
Har Nof
Givat Shaul B
Ein Jiddi (‘Arab Rashayida)*** N/A N/A March 9, 1948 Ein Gedi
Ishwa‘ 719 Total: 5,522
Arab: 5,456
Jewish: 0
Public: 66
July 18, 1948 Eshtaol
Eshtaol Forest
‘Islin 302 Total: 2,159
Arab: 2,157
Jewish: 0
Public: 2
July 18, 1948 Eshtaol
Rabin Park/Eshtaol Forest
Ism Allah, Khirbat** 23 Total: 568
Arab: 568
Jewish: 0
Public: 0
July 17–18, 1948 None
Jarash 220 Total: 3,518
Arab: 3,517
Jewish: 0
Public: 1
October 21, 1948 Part of Zanoah
American Independence Park
Dolev Stream Nature Reserve
al-Jura* 487 Total: 4,158
Arab: 3,909
Jewish: 247
Public: 2
July 11, 1948 Ora
Ashkelon National Park
Kasla 325 Total: 8,004
Arab: 8,001
Jewish: 0
Public: 3
July 18, 1948 Kisalon, part of Ramat Raziel
Martyrs’ Forest
al-Laws (Lawz), Khirbat 522 Total: 4,502
Arab: 4,495
Jewish: 0
Public: 7
July 14, 1948 Judean Hills National Park, Sataf Forest
Lifta* 2,958 Total: 8,743
Arab: 7,780
Jewish: 756
Public: 207
January 1, 1948 Mei Naftoah (abandoned)
West Jerusalem neighborhoods (Upper Romema, Kiryat Belza, Kiryat Sanz, Har Hotzvim, Sanhedria Murhevet, Ramot Ashkol, Giv‘at HaMivtar, Ramot Alon)
Lifta Nature Reserve
al-Maliha* 2,250 Total: 6,828
Arab: 5,798
Jewish: 922
Public: 108
July 14, 1948 Manhat
South Jerusalem neighborhoods of Ir Ganim, Givat Masua, Gonen H, H, Tet, Giv‘at Mordechai
Nitaf** 46 Total: 1,401
Arab: 1,401
Jewish: 0
Public: 0
Mid-April–early June, 1948 Nataf
Kfira Forest
al-Qabu 302 Total: 3,806
Arab: 3,801
Jewish: 0
Public: 5
October 22, 1948 Mevo Betar
Begin Park
Qalunya* 1,056 Total: 4,844
Arab: 3,594
Jewish: 1,084
Public: 166
April 11, 1948 Pre-1948: settlement of Motza
Post-1948: settlement of Mevasseret Yerushalaim (Mevasseret Zion)
Einot Telem National Park
al-Qastal* 104 Total: 1,446
Arab: 1,415
Jewish: 7
Public: 24
April 9, 1948 Maoz Zion (Mevasseret Zion)
Castel National Park, JNF site
Ras Abu ‘Ammar 719 Total: 8,342
Arab: 8,313
Jewish: 0
Public: 29
October 21, 1948 Tzur Hadassa
Begin Park
Sar‘a 394 Total: 4,967
Arab: 4,964
Jewish: 0
Public: 3
July 14, 1948 Tarum
Tzora Forest
Saris* 650 Total: 10,699
Arab: 10,427
Jewish: 132
Public: 140
April 16, 1948 Shoresh
Shoeva
Rabin Park/Martyrs’ Forest
Sataf 626 Total: 3,775
Arab: 3,769
Jewish: 0
Public: 6
July 14, 1948 Sataf Forest
Sataf—Mt. Heret National Park
Suba* 719 Total: 4,102
Arab: 4,082
Jewish: 15
Public: 5
July 13, 1948 Tsuba
Tel Tsuba
Zova National Park
Sufla 70 Total: 2,061
Arab: 714
Jewish: 0
Public: 1,347
October 21, 1948 American Independence Park
Dolev Stream Nature Reserve
al-Tannur, Khirbat*** N/A N/A October 22, 1948 American Independence Park
al-‘Umur, Khirbat* 313 Total: 4,163
Arab: 3,725
Jewish: 436
Public: 2
October 21, 1948 Giv‘at Ye‘arim
Martyrs’ Forest
al-Walaja* 1,914 Total: 17,708
Arab: 17,507
Jewish: 35
Public: 166
October 21, 1948 Aminadav
Aminadav Forest
Judean Hills National Park
Total: 40 28,256 251,945    

[1] More than half of the depopulated villages (55 percent) were completely destroyed. Terry Rempel, “Dispossession and Restitution in 1948,” in Jerusalem 1948: The Arab 1.Neighbourhoods and Their Fate in the War, ed. Salim Tamari (Jerusalem and Bethlehem: Institute of Palestine Studies and Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights, 2002), 217.

Data in this table were collected by Salman Abu-Sitta (in Salman Abu-Sitta, The Palestinian Nakba 1948 (London: Palestinian Return Centre, 1998)), as well as by Zochrot.

*Jews owned land in 14 of the villages. However, in all 14, Palestinian Arabs were the majority landowners before 1948. The number of residents of these villages only reflects the Arab residents.

**All but four villages included publicly owned land.

***The populations and total land areas of three villages are unknown.

Contributors

Researchers: Nadim Bawalsa, Jerusalem Story and Shahrazad Odeh, formerly with Jerusalem Story collaborated on this compilation.