Manahat
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Malha is a
neighborhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...
in southwest Jerusalem, between Pat, Ramat Denya and Kiryat Hayovel in the Valley of Rephaim. Before 1948, Malha was an Arab village known as al-Maliha ( ar, المالحة).


History


Antiquity

Excavations in Malha revealed Intermediate Bronze Age domestic structures. A dig in the Rephaim Valley carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority in the region of the Malha shopping mall and Biblical Zoo uncovered a village dating back to the Middle Bronze Age II B (1,700 – 1,800 BCE). Beneath this, remains of an earlier village were found from the Early Bronze Age IV (2,200 – 2,100 BCE). According to the archaeologists who excavated there in 1987–1990, Malha is believed to be the site of ''Manahat'', a Canaanite town on the northern border of the Tribe of Judah ( Joshua 15:59).Nahal Refa-im - Canaanite Bronze Age villages near
/ref> Remains of the village have been preserved at the Biblical Zoo. Malha was a Georgian village in the fifth century, in the time of King Vakhtang I Gorgasali, who was canonized by the Georgian Orthodox Church.


Ottoman era

In the 1596 tax records al-Maliha, (named ''Maliha as-Suqra''), was part of the Ottoman Empire, '' nahiya'' (subdistrict) of Jerusalem under the ''
Liwa Liwa may refer to: Places ; Chad *Liwa (sub-prefecture) in Mamdi Department ; Indonesia *Liwa, Indonesia ; Oman * Liwa, Oman, place in Oman, area around Sohar University *Liwa Province, Oman (wilayah) ; Poland *Liwa, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeshi ...
'' of Jerusalem. It had a population of 52
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
households, an estimated 286 persons. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on wheat, barley, and olive and fruit trees, goats and beehives; a total of 8,700
akçe The ''akçe'' or ''akça'' (also spelled ''akche'', ''akcheh''; ota, آقچه; ) refers to a silver coin which was the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire. The word itself evolved from the word "silver or silver money", this word is deri ...
. 1/3 of the revenue went to a waqf. In 1838 it was noted by Edward Robinson as ''el Malihah'', a Muslim village, part of the ''Beni Hasan'' district.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p.
123
/ref> An Ottoman village list from about 1870 showed ''Malha'' with a population of 340, in 75 houses, though the population count included men, only. In 1883, the PEF's '' Survey of Western Palestine'' (SWP) described the village as being of moderate size, standing high on a flat ridge. To the south was Ayn Yalu. In 1896 the population of Malha was estimated to be about 600 persons.


British Mandate era

In the
1922 census of Palestine The 1922 census of Palestine was the first census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine, on 23 October 1922. The reported population was 757,182, including the military and persons of foreign nationality. The divisi ...
conducted by the British Mandate authorities, ''Malhah'' had a population 1,038, all Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Jerusalem, p
14
/ref> increasing in the 1931 census to 1,410; 1,402 Muslims and 8 Christians, in a total of 299 houses. In the 1945 statistics the population of Malha was 1,940; 1,930 Muslims and 10 Christians, and the total land area was 6,828
dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; tr, dönüm; he, דונם), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area equivalent to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amount ...
s, according to an official land and population survey. Of the land, a total of 2,618 dunams were plantations and irrigable land and 1,259 were for cereals, while a total of 328 dunams were built-up (urban) land.


1948

In the
1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...
, the village of al-Maliha, with a population of 2,250, was occupied as part of the battle for south Jerusalem. In the early part of the war, Al-Maliha, along with
al-Qastal Al-Qastal ("Kastel", ar, القسطل) was a Palestinian village located eight kilometers west of Jerusalem and named for a Crusader castle located on the hilltop. Used in 1948 during the Arab-Israeli War as a military base by the Army of the ...
,
Sur Baher Sur Baher ( ar, صور باهر, he, צור באהר), also ''Tsur Baher'', is a Palestinian neighborhood on the southeastern outskirts of East Jerusalem. It is located east of Ramat Rachel and northeast of Har Homa. In 2006, Sur Baher had a p ...
and
Deir Yassin Deir Yassin ( ar, دير ياسين, Dayr Yāsīn) was a Palestinian Arab village of around 600 inhabitants about west of Jerusalem. Deir Yassin declared its neutrality during the 1948 Palestine war between Arabs and Jews. The village was razed ...
, signed non-aggression pacts with the
Haganah Haganah ( he, הַהֲגָנָה, lit. ''The Defence'') was the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population ("Yishuv") in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and its disestablishment in 1948, when it became the core of the ...
. On April 12, 1948, in the wake of the Deir Yassin Massacre, villagers from al Maliha, Qaluniya and Beit Iksa began to flee in panic. The Irgun attacked Malha in early morning hours of July 14, 1948. Several hours later, the Palestinian Arabs launched a counter-attack and seized one of the fortified positions. When Irgun reinforcements arrived, the Palestinians retreated and Malha was in Jewish control, but 17 Irgun fighters were killed and many wounded. The Arab inhabitants fled to Bethlehem, which remained under
Jordanian control The Jordanian annexation of the West Bank formally occurred on 24 April 1950, after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, during which Transjordan occupied territory that had previously been part of Mandatory PalestineRaphael Israeli, Jerusalem divi ...
. The depopulated homes were occupied by Jewish refugees from Middle Eastern countries, mainly Iraq. Some of the land in Malha had been purchased before the establishment of the state by the Valero family, a family of Sephardi Jews that owned large amounts of property in Jerusalem and environs.


After 1948

The first
Palestinian fedayeen Palestinian fedayeen (from the Arabic ''fidā'ī'', plural ''fidā'iyūn'', فدائيون) are militants or guerrillas of a nationalist orientation from among the Palestinian people. Most Palestinians consider the fedayeen to be " freedom fig ...
raid in Israel took place in November 1951 in Malha when a woman, Leah Festinger, was killed by infiltrators from Shuafat, at the time part of Jordan.


Today

Under the aegis of the Jerusalem Municipality, the neighborhood was modernised and a large housing development was established on the nearby hill and its eastern slopes. At the bottom of the hill are the Malha Shopping Mall, Teddy Stadium,
Pais Arena Jerusalem The Jerusalem Arena ( he, הארנה ירושלים, ''HaArena Yerushalayim''), renamed for the National Lottery Mifal HaPais grant as Pais Arena Jerusalem ( he, פיס ארנה ירושלים, ''HaPais Arena Yerushalayim''), is a multi-purpose s ...
, Jerusalem Biblical Zoo and the
Jerusalem Malha Railway Station Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. Malha is now considered an upscale neighborhood. Schools include a vocational high school (ORT) and an elementary school, the Shalom School. The Jerusalem Technology Park houses many companies, including some high-tech start-ups as well as international media offices. In 2019, plans were approved for the construction of 30-floor towers in the technology park. A line of the Jerusalem Light Rail is being built from Jerusalem's Central Bus Station to the Malha sports complex.Jerusalem light rail to expand to 5 lines, 27km of tracks
/ref>


See also

*
Jerusalem Malha Railway Station Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
* Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * (pp
760
ff)


External links



at palestineremembered.com
al-Maliha
Zochrot *Survey of Western Palestine, Map 17:
IAA
Wikimedia commons
Al-Maliha
* {{Authority control Neighbourhoods of Jerusalem District of Jerusalem Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War