Remove ads
Al-Khayma (Arabic: الخيمة) was a Palestinian Arab village in the Ramle Subdistrict of Mandatory Palestine. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War on July 9, 1948, by the Givati Brigade of Operation An-Far. It was located 18.5 km south of Ramla.
Al-Khayma
الخيمة | |
|---|---|
Village | |
| Etymology: The Tent[1] | |
.jpg) 1870s map .jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map .jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Al-Khayma (click the buttons) | |
  Al-Khayma Location within Mandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates: 31°45′44″N 34°49′47″E | |
| Palestine grid | 133/130 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Ramle |
| Date of depopulation | Not known[2] |
| Area | |
• Total | 5,150 dunams (5.15 km2 or 1.99 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 190[4][3] |
In 1863, Victor Guérin found that it had two hundred and fifty inhabitants.[5]
In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine noted it as principally an adobe village of "on low ground", and with a well to the east.[6]
British Mandate era
In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Khaimeh had a population of 132 Muslims,[7] increasing in the 1931 census to 141 Muslims, in 30 houses.[8]
In the 1945 statistics, the village had a population of 190, all Muslim,[4] and the total land area was 5,150 dunums.[3] Of this, 4 dunams were irrigated or used for plantations, 5,007 were used for cereals,[9] while 9 dunams were classified as built-up urban areas.[10]
1948 and aftermath
Morris list both date and reason for depopulation as "not known".[2] However, he also notes it in connection with Operation An-Far, in mid July 1948.[11][12]
Following the 1948 war, the area was incorporated into the State of Israel and in August 1948 al-Khaymas was one of 21 Palestinian villages whose land was proposed for resettlement with an Israeli village named Revadim.[13] In November, 1948, the proposal to establish Revadim on al-Khayma's land was passed.[14]
Revadim was eventually established close to village land, according to Morris,[15] however, according to Khalidi, Revadim is located north of al-Khayma, on the land of the depopulated Palestinian village of al-Mukhayzin.[16]
In 1992 the village site was described: "All that remains of the village are three mounds to the east, west, and south of the site that contain the remnants of houses. A girder protrudes from the eastern mound and there is a large, deserted well at the mounds centre. A large artificial pond lies about 100 m northeast of the site, and there is a monument next to a well about 0.5 km to the north. An inscription on the monument reads: To the eMemory of the Members of Kibbutz Revadim, who Settled on the Land in 1948."[17]
Remove ads
Remove ads
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
Remove ads