al-Faluja () was a Palestinian Arab village in the British Mandate for Palestine, located 30 kilometers northeast of

Gaza City Gaza City, also called Gaza, is a city in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, and the capital of the Gaza Governorate. Located on the Mediterranean coast, southwest of Jerusalem, it was home to Port of Gaza, Palestine's only port. With a population of ...

. Al-Faluja absorbed settlers from various areas, including Dura.Grossman, D. (1986). "Oscillations in the Rural Settlement of Samaria and Judaea in the Ottoman Period". in Shomron studies. Dar, S., Safrai, S., (eds). Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House. p. 382 The village and the neighbouring village of

Iraq al-Manshiyya Iraq al-Manshiyya () was a Palestinian people, Palestinian Arab village located 32 km northeast of Gaza City. The village contained two mosques and a Mazar (mausoleum), shrine for Shaykh Ahmad al-Arayni. It was depopulated after the 1948 Arab ...

formed part of the Faluja pocket, where 4,000 Egyptian troops, who had entered the area as a result of the 1948 war, were besieged for four months by the newly established

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

. The

1949 Armistice Agreements The 1949 Armistice Agreements were signed between Israel and Egypt, Following the agreements, the Arab residents were harassed and abandoned the villages. The

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i town of Kiryat Gat, as well as the

moshav A moshav (, plural ', "settlement, village") is a type of Israeli village or town or Jewish settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 and 1 ...

Revaha, border the site of the former town.

History

The town was founded on a site that had been known as "Zurayq al-Khandaq", named "Zurayq" from the blue-colored

lupin ''Lupinus'', commonly known as lupin, lupine, or regionally bluebonnet, is a genus of plants in the legume family Fabaceae. The genus includes over 199 species, with centres of diversity in North and South America. Smaller centres occur in No ...

that grew in the vicinity. Its name was changed to "al-Faluja" in commemoration of a

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

master, Shahab al-Din al-Faluji, who settled near the town after migrating there from

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

in the 14th century. He died in al-Faluja and his tomb was visited by the Syrian

teacher and traveller Mustafa al-Bakri al-Siddiqi (1688-1748/9), who travelled through the region in the first half of the eighteenth century.Khalidi, 1992, p.95.

Ottoman era

In 1596, during the Ottoman era, Al-Faluja was under the administration of the ''

nahiya A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level divisi ...

'' of Gaza, part of the Sanjak of Gaza, with a population of 75

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

households, an estimated 413 persons. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on wheat, barley, sesame, fruits, vineyards, beehives, goats, and

water buffalo The water buffalo (''Bubalus bubalis''), also called domestic water buffalo, Asian water buffalo and Asiatic water buffalo, is a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Today, it is also kept in Italy, the Balkans ...

; a total of 5,170 akçe. Half of the revenue went to a

waqf A (; , plural ), also called a (, plural or ), or ''mortmain'' property, is an Alienation (property law), inalienable charitable financial endowment, endowment under Sharia, Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot ...

. In 1838, Robinson noted ''el Falujy'' as a Muslim village in the Gaza district,Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p.
119
/ref> though he did not visit it. In 1863

Victor Guérin Victor Guérin (; 15 September 1821 – 21 September 1890) was a French people, French intellectual, explorer and amateur archaeologist. He published books describing the geography, archeology and history of the areas he explored, which included ...

found six hundred inhabitants in the village. He also noticed near a

well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

, two ancient columns of gray-white marble, and next to a

wali The term ''wali'' is most commonly used by Muslims to refer to a saint, or literally a "friend of God".John Renard, ''Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008); John ...

, a third similar but rather destroyed. An Ottoman village list from about 1870 found that Faluja had a population of 670, in 230 houses, though the population count only included men.Socin, 1879, p
154
/ref> In 1883, the

Palestine Exploration Fund The Palestine Exploration Fund is a British society based in London. It was founded in 1865, shortly after the completion of the Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem by Royal Engineers of the War Department. The Fund is the oldest known organization i ...

's '' Survey of Western Palestine'' described al-Faluja as surrounded on three sides by a

wadi Wadi ( ; ) is a river valley or a wet (ephemerality, ephemeral) Stream bed, riverbed that contains water only when heavy rain occurs. Wadis are located on gently sloping, nearly flat parts of deserts; commonly they begin on the distal portion ...

. It had two wells and a pool to the east, a small garden patch to the west, and the village houses were built from

adobe Adobe (from arabic: الطوب Attub ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for mudbrick. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is use ...

bricks.

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 divis ...

conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Al-Faluja had a population of 2,482 inhabitants; 2,473 Muslims, 3 Jews and 6 Christians, where the Christians were all of the Orthodox faith. The population increased in the 1931 census to 3,161 inhabitants; 2 Christians and all the rest Muslim, in a total of 683 houses.Mills, 1932, p
3
The nucleus of the village was centered around the shrine of Shaykh al-Faluji. Its residential area began to expand in the 1930s and eventually crossed over to the other side of the wadi, which henceforth divided al-Faluja into northern and southern sections. Bridges were constructed across the wadi to facilitate movement between the two sides, especially during the winter when the water often flooded and caused damage. The center of al-Faluja shifted to the north where modern houses, stores, coffee houses, and a clinic were erected. The village had also two schools; one for boys (built in 1919) and the other for girls (built in 1940). Faluja 1931

In the 1945 statistics Al-Faluja had a population of 4,670, all Muslims, with a total of 38,038

dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; ; ; ), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area analogous in role (but not equal) to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amo ...

s of land, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 87 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land, 36,590 for cereals, while a total of 517 dunams were built-up (urban) land.

1948 Arab-Israeli war

Al-Faluja was in the territory allotted to the Arab state under the 1947 UN Partition Plan. During the war, the men of the village blockaded the local Jewish communities and attacked convoys being sent to bring them food, water, and other supplies. On 24 February 1948, the village was attacked by Jewish forces.Alfalouja text of "All that Remains"
by Professor Walid Khalidi, Institute for Palestine Studies (November 1992)
Archived
from the original on 2007-06-15. Retrieved 2015-03-27. A battle between Jewish forces and villagers in al-Faluja on 14 March 1948 left thirty-seven Arabs and seven Jews dead, as well as scores of Arabs and four Jews wounded. Israeli sources at the time told the ''New York Times'' that a supply convoy, protected by armored cars of the

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 ...

, "had to fight its way through the village." A Haganah demolition squad returned later in the day and blew up ten houses in the village, including the town hall. Egyptian forces crossed into the former mandate on 15 May 1948 and a column of them were stopped by the Israelis near

Ashdod Ashdod (, ; , , or ; Philistine language, Philistine: , romanized: *''ʾašdūd'') is the List of Israeli cities, sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District (Israel), Southern District, it lies on the Mediterranean ...

. This column retreated to and encamped at al-Faluja and

, the so-called Faluja pocket. Between late October 1948 and late February 1949 some 4,000 Egyptian troops were encircled and besieged there by Israeli forces; the siege was a formative period for

Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 a ...

, who was a major in the Egyptian army at Al-Faluja during the siege.

Armistice agreement

As part of the terms of the February 4, 1949 Israel–Egypt Armistice Agreement, the surrounded Egyptian forces (including future Egyptian President

) agreed to return to Egypt.Intel chip plant located on disputed Israeli land
''San Francisco Chronicle''. July 8, 2002. Accessed 26 June 2007. The agreement (uniquely to the two villages), guaranteed the safety and property of the 3,140 Arab civilians (over 2,000 locals, plus refugees from other villages). The agreement, and a further exchange of letters filed with the United Nations, stated ''".... those of the civilian population who may wish to remain in al-Faluja and Iraq al-Manshiya are to be permitted to do so. ... All of these civilians shall be fully secure in their persons, abodes, property and personal effects."''

Israel

Few civilians left when the Egyptian brigade withdrew on 26 February 1949 but Israelis promptly violated the armistice agreement and began to intimidate the populace into flight. United Nations observers reported to UN mediator

Ralph Bunche Ralph Johnson Bunche ( ; August 7, 1904 – December 9, 1971) was an American political scientist, diplomat, and leading actor in the mid-20th-century decolonization process and US civil rights movement, who received the 1950 Nobel Peace Priz ...

that the intimidation included beatings, robberies, and attempted rape. Quaker observers bore witness to the beatings On 3 March they wrote that at ''" Iraq al Manshiya, the acting

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 ...

or mayor told them that 'the people had been much molested by the frequent shooting, by being told that they would be killed if they did not go to Hebron, and by the Jews breaking into their homes and stealing things"''.

Moshe Sharett Moshe Sharett (; born Moshe Chertok (); 15 October 1894 – 7 July 1965) was the second prime minister of Israel and the country’s first foreign minister. He signed the Israeli Declaration of Independence and was a principal negotiator in th ...

(Israeli Foreign Minister) was very concerned at the international repercussions, especially the possible effect on Israeli-Egyptian relations. He was angry at the actions of the IDF, carried out without Cabinet authorization and behind his back and was not easily appeased. He used most uncharacteristic language ''"The IDF's actions"'' threw into question

our sincerity as a party to an international agreement ... One may assume that Egypt in this matter will display special sensitivity as her forces saw themselves as responsible for the fate of these civilian inhabitants. There are also grounds to fear that any attack by us on the people of these two villages may be reflected in the attitude of the Cairo Government toward the Jews of Egypt.

Sharett pointed out that Israel was seeking membership of the United Nations, and was encountering difficulties

over the question of our responsibility for the Arab refugee problem. We argue that we are not responsible ... From this perspective, the sincerity of our professions is tested by our behavior in these villages ... Every intentional pressure aimed at uprooting hese Arabsis tantamount to a planned act of eviction on our part.

Sharett also protested that the IDF were carrying out a covert

whispering propaganda' campaign among the Arabs, threatening them with attacks and acts of vengeance by the army, which the civilian authorities will be powerless to prevent. This whispering propaganda (ta'amulat lahash) is not being done of itself. There is no doubt that here there is a calculated action aimed at increasing the number of those going to the
Hebron Hebron (; , or ; , ) is a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Hebron is capital of the Hebron Governorate, the largest Governorates of Palestine, governorate in the West Bank. With a population of 201,063 in ...
Hills as if of their own free will, and, if possible, to bring about the evacuation of the whole civilian population of he pocket

He also referred to the army's actions as ''"'an unauthorized initiative by the local command in a matter relating to Israeli government policy'"''. Allon admitted (to Yadin) only that his troops had ''"beaten three Arabs ... There is no truth to the observers' announcement about abuse/cruelty it'alelut etc. I investigated this personally."'' Morris further writes that the decision to cleanse the "Faluja pocket" population was approved by Israeli prime minister

David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary List of national founders, national founder and first Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency ...

.Entry for 28 February 1949, Weitz, Diary, IV, 15; and Y Berdichevsky to Machnes, 3 Mar 1949, ISA MAM 297\60. Cited by Morris, 2004, p
524
/ref> The last civilians left on 22 April, and the order to demolish these (and a string of other) villages was made 5 days later by Rabin.Rabin to 3rd Brigade, 26 April 1949, IDFA 979\51\\17. Cited by Morris, 2004, p
524
/ref>

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * (pp
183
ff) *

External links

al-Faluja
Zochrot *Survey of Western Palestine, Map 20
IAAWikimedia commons

from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
Al-Faluja
by Rami Nashashibi (1996), Center for Research and Documentation of Palestinian Society. {{DEFAULTSORT:Faluja Forcibly depopulated communities of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict District of Gaza Arab villages depopulated after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War