Al-Ghazzawiyya

Al-Ghazzawiyya (Arabic: الغزاويه‎), was a Palestinian village located 2 kilometers east of the city of Bet Shean (Bisan). In 1945, the population was 1,640, 1,020 Arab and 620 Jewish.[5]

al-Ghazzawiyya

الغزاويه

al-Ghazawiya, Arab al Ghazawiya tribe[1],
Arab Abu Hashiya (Frantzman)
1870s map
1940s map
modern map
1940s with modern overlay map
A series of historical maps of the area around Al-Ghazzawiyya (click the buttons)
al-Ghazzawiyya
Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 32°30′08″N 35°32′30″E
Palestine grid200/212
Geopolitical entityMandatory Palestine
SubdistrictBaysan
Date of depopulationMay 20, 1948[1]
Area
 • Total18,408[2] dunams (18.4 km2 or 7.1 sq mi)
Population
 (1945)
 • Total1,020[3][2]
Cause(s) of depopulationInfluence of nearby town's fall
Current LocalitiesNeve Eitan,[4] Maoz Haim[4]

History

Several archeological sites in the area testify to a long history of human occupancy. The village was surrounded by the archeological sites of Tall-al Barta to the north, Tall al-Husn to the west, and Tall al-Maliha to the southwest. Excavations of Tall al-Husn showed an occupational history extending from the third millennium BC to the eighth century CE, when the site was occupied by an Arab village.[6]

British Mandate era

In modern times, the village spread over a wide area of the Baysan valley. The villagers were members of the al-Ghazzawiyya Beduin tribe, who constituted the bulk of the valley's population together with members of the al-Bashatiwa and the al-Suqur.[5] In the 1931 census, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, 'Arab Abu Hashiya had 156 Muslim inhabitants, and a total of 29 houses.[7]

In the 1945 statistics, Al-Ghazzawiyya had 1,020, all Muslim inhabitants[3] with a total of 18,408 dunams of land.[2] Of this, a total of 13 dunams were used for citrus and bananas, 5,185 dunums for cereals, 34 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards,[4][8] while 91 dunams were classified as non-cultivable land.[9]

1948 and aftermath

It was occupied by Israel's Golani Brigade on May 20, 1948, during Operation Gideon, an Israeli offensive during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The Arab population was forced to flee to nearby Syria or the present-day West Bank.[10]

The Jewish localities of Maoz Haim and Neve Eitan are built on the lands of the former village, though a large percentage of it is used as agricultural land, in particular the wheat crop. According to Walid Khalidi, the village contained an archaeological site, Tell al-Ru'yan which was transformed into waste dump.[10]

See also

References
  1. Morris, 2004, p. xvii, village #134. Gives depopulation cause as (?) (C)
  2. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 43
  3. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 6
  4. Khalidi, 1992, p. 49
  5. Khalidi, 1992, p. 48
  6. Khalidi, 1992, pp. 48–49
  7. Mills, 1932, p. 77
  8. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p.84
  9. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 134
  10. Al-Ghazzawiyya: Town Statistics and Facts

Bibliography
  • Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945.
  • Hadawi, S. (1970). Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine. Palestine Liberation Organization Research Centre. Archived from the original on 2018-12-08. Retrieved 2009-08-06.
  • Khalidi, W. (1992). All That Remains:The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948. Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies. ISBN 0-88728-224-5.
  • Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
  • Morris, B. (2004). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-00967-6.
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