Dayr Abu Salama

For other uses, see Salama.

Dayr Abu Salama (Arabic: دير ابو سلامة) was a small Palestinian Arab village in the Ramle Subdistrict, located 8 km northeast of Ramla. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War on July 13, 1948, in the first phase of Operation Dani.

Dayr Abu Salama دير أبو سلامة
Village
Watchtower and amphitheater in Ben Shemen forest, constructed out of stones from Dayr Abu Salama houses
Etymology: the monastery of Abu Selâmeh[1]
1870s map 1940s map modern map 1940s with modern overlay map A series of historical maps of the area around Dayr Abu Salama (click the buttons)
Dayr Abu Salama Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 31°56′57″N 34°57′25″E
Palestine grid	146/150
Geopolitical entity	Mandatory Palestine
Subdistrict	Ramle
Date of depopulation	July 13, 1948[2]
Area [3]
• Total	1,195 dunams (1.195 km2 or 295 acres)
Population  (1945)
• Total	60[4][3]
Cause(s) of depopulation	Military assault by Yishuv forces

History

Late Ottoman period

In 1882 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) noted at Deir Abu Salameh: "Foundations, heaps of stones, and a few pillar shafts."^[5]

By the beginning of the 20th century, residents from neighbouring Ni'lin settled the site, establishing it as a dependency – or satellite village – of their home village.^[6]

British Mandate

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Dair Abu Salameh had a population of 30 inhabitants; all Muslims,^[7]

In the 1945 statistics, it had a population of 60 Muslims^[4] with 1,195 dunams of land.^[3] Of this, 41 dunams were either irrigated or used for orchards, 695 used for cereals,^[8] while 459 dunams were classified as non-cultivable areas.^[9]

A shrine for a local sage known as al-Shaykh Abu Salama is also located in the village.^[10]

• 
  Dayr Abu Salama 1942 1:20,000
• 
  Dayr Abu Salama 1945 1:250,000

Israel

Dayr Abu Salama was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War on July 13, 1948, in the first phase of Operation Dani.^[2]

In 1992 the village site was described: "The site has been converted into an Israeli picnic area and is surrounded by stands of pine and cypress trees. Workers for the Jewish National Fund have used stones retrieved from the destroyed village houses to construct a watchtower and an amphitheater on the village site. The area in front of the amphitheater has been leveled and is covered by a green lawn. Old fig and olive trees still grow there; cactuses and carob trees grow on the western and northern edges of the site."^[11]