Bayt Nabala

Bayt Nabala
بيت نبالا
Bayt Nabala, Beit-Nabbala
Former schoolhouse of Bayt Nabala, presently used by the Jewish National Fund in Beit Nehemia
Former schoolhouse of Bayt Nabala, presently used by the Jewish National Fund in Beit Nehemia
Etymology: "The house of archery"[1]
1870s map
1940s map
modern map
1940s with modern overlay map
A series of historical maps of the area around Bayt Nabala (click the buttons)
Bayt Nabala is located in Mandatory Palestine
Bayt Nabala
Bayt Nabala
Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 31°59′8″N 34°57′24″E / 31.98556°N 34.95667°E / 31.98556; 34.95667
Palestine grid146/154
Geopolitical entityMandatory Palestine
SubdistrictRamle
Date of depopulation13 May 1948[4]
Area
[3]
 • Total
15,051 dunams (15.051 km2 or 5.811 sq mi)
Population
 (1945)
 • Total
2,310[2][3]
Cause(s) of depopulationAbandonment on Arab orders
Current LocalitiesKfar Truman,[5] and Beit Nehemia[5]

Bayt Nabala or Beit Nabala was a Palestinian Arab village in the Ramle Subdistrict in Palestine that was destroyed during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The village was in the territory allotted to the Arab state under the 1947 UN Partition Plan, which was rejected by Arab leaders and never implemented.[6][7][8] Its population in 1945, before the war, was 2,310.

It was occupied by Israeli forces on 13 May 1948[4] and was completely destroyed by them on 13 September 1948.[9] Village refugees were scattered around Deir 'Ammar, Ramallah city, Bayt Tillow, Rantis, and Jalazone refugee camps north of Ramallah. Some of the clans that lived in Bayt Nabala include the AlHeet, Nakhleh, Safi, AL-Sharaqa, al-Khateeb, Saleh and Zaid families. Today the area is part of the Israeli town of Beit Nehemia.

  1. ^ Palmer, 1881, p. 226
  2. ^ Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 29
  3. ^ a b Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 66
  4. ^ a b Morris, 2004, p. xix, village #222. Also gives the cause for depopulation.
  5. ^ a b Khalidi, 1992, p. 366
  6. ^ Rogan, Eugene (2012). The Arabs: A History (3rd ed.). Penguin. p. 321. ISBN 978-0-7181-9683-7.
  7. ^ Morris, Benny (2008). 1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War. Yale University Press. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-300-12696-9.
  8. ^ Galnoor, Itzhak (1995). The Partition of Palestine: Decision Crossroads in the Zionist Movement. State University of New York Press. p. 289. ISBN 978-0-7914-2193-2.
  9. ^ Morris, 2004, p. 354.