Abu Kishk (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: ) was a

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

village in the Jaffa Subdistrict located 12 km northeast of

Jaffa Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...

, situated 2 km northwest of the

Yarkon River The Yarkon River, also Yarqon River or Jarkon River (, ''Nahal HaYarkon''; , ''Nahr al-Auja''), is a river in central Israel. The source of the Yarkon ("Greenish" in Hebrew) is at Tel Afek (Antipatris), north of Petah Tikva. It flows west throu ...

. The village was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on 30 March 1948 by the

Irgun The Irgun (), officially the National Military Organization in the Land of Israel, often abbreviated as Etzel or IZL (), was a Zionist paramilitary organization that operated in Mandatory Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of th ...

. In 1945 the population of the village was about 1,900; about 300 of them lived in the area that later became

Herzliya Herzliya ( ; , / ) is an affluent List of Israeli cities, city in the Israeli coastal plain, central coast of Israel, at the northern part of the Tel Aviv District, known for its robust start-up and entrepreneurial culture. In it had a populatio ...

after the establishment of the state of Israel.

Location

The village was situated about northwest of the

. Secondary roads linked it to the Jaffa-Haifa highway and to neighboring villages.Khalidi, 1992, p. 235

History

British Mandate of Palestine

In 1925 the village school was founded. By the mid-1940s it had 108 students, including 9 girls. At the time of the 1931 census, Abu Kishk had a population of 1007 residents, all Muslims.Mills, 1932, p
16
/ref> In the 1945 statistics Abu Kishk had 1,900 Muslim residents, who owned a total of 17,121 dunams of land. A total of 2,486 dunums of village land was used for

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

or bananas, 14,018 was planted with cereals; while 226 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards. AbuKishmeeting

1948 Palestine war

In December 1947 and January 1948 the leaders of

al-Shaykh Muwannis Al-Shaykh Muwannis (), also Sheikh Munis, was a small Palestinian people, Palestinian Arab village in the Jaffa Subdistrict, Mandatory Palestine, Jaffa Subdistrict of Mandatory Palestine, located approximately 8.5 kilometers from the center of J ...

Al-Mas'udiyya Al-Mas'udiyya (also known as ''Summayl''), was a Palestinian people, Palestinian Arab village in the Jaffa Subdistrict, Mandatory Palestine, Jaffa Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on Decem ...

Al-Jammasin al-Sharqi Al-Jammasin al-Sharqi was a Palestinian Arab village in the Jaffa Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War on March 17, 1948. It was located 9 km northeast of Jaffa. Etymology The name refers to the Jammasin tribe, ...

Al-Jammasin al-Gharbi Al-Jammasin al-Gharbi was a Palestinian Arab village in the Jaffa Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on March 17, 1948. It was located 6.5 km northeast of Jaffa. Etymology The name ref ...

, and the

mukhtar A mukhtar (; ) is a village chief in the Levant: "an old institution that goes back to the time of the Ottoman rule". According to Amir S. Cheshin, Bill Hutman and Avi Melamed, the mukhtar "for centuries were the central figures". They "were ...

s of Ijlil al-Qibliyya, Ijlil al-Shamaliyya and Abu Kishk met with

Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...

representatives in

Petah Tikva Petah Tikva (, ), also spelt Petah Tiqwa and known informally as Em HaMoshavot (), is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews of the Old Y ...

. These villages wanted peace and promised not to harbor any Arab Liberation Armies or local Arab Militia. They further promised that, in the case they were not able to keep them out alone, they were to call on Haganah for help. By mid-March 1948, the Alexandroni Brigade had imposed isolation, a "

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals, and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have bee ...

," of

, Ijlil al-Qibliyya, Ijlil al-Shamaliyya and Abu Kishk. However, on 12 March LHI kidnapped 5 village notables from

. This completely undermined the villagers' trust in former agreements, and many

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relativ ...

.Morris, 2004, p.
128
/ref>

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

Abu Kishk
Zochrot *Survey of Western Palestine, Map 13
IAA

Wikimedia commons
at Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center *, by Eitan Bronstein, with Norma Muish, from Zochrot {{Authority control Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War District of Jaffa