Islin () was a Palestinian Arab village located 21 kilometers west of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. The village had a population of 302 inhabitants and was depopulated during the

1948 Arab-Israeli war Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

. It was occupied by

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 forces, possibly from the Fourth Battalion of the Harel Brigade, on 18 July 1948 during Operation Dani, causing its inhabitants to leave. Eshtaol, a moshav, was built on the village's land.

History

In 1596, Islin appeared as ''Islit'' in Ottoman tax registers as being in 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 Ramla of the '' Liwa'' of Jaffa. It had a population of 14

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 77 people, who paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, and goats or beehives; a total of 4,700 akçe. In the later 1870s the place was uninhabited, with ruins of a village still visible, and with a Mukam. It was probably re-established at the beginning of the century.Khalidi, 1992, p. 295

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, Islin had a population 132, all Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Jerusalem, p
15
/ref> increasing in the 1931 census to 186; in a total of 40 houses. In the 1945 statistics the population was 260, all Muslims, while the total land area was 2,159

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, according to an official land and population survey.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p
57
/ref> Of this, 104 were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 830 for cereals, while 20 dunams were classified as built-up areas.

1948 Arab–Israeli War and after

Islin, along with four other villages, were overtaken by the Israeli Harel Brigade on 17–18 July 1948 in Operation Dani. The villages had been on the front line since April 1948 and most of the inhabitants of these villages had already left the area. Many of those who stayed fled when Israeli forces attacked and the few who remained at each village were expelled.Morris, 2004, p
436
/ref> File:Kasla 1943.jpg, Islin 1943 1:20,000 (left) File:Yalu 1945.jpg, Islin 1945 1:250,000 (lower left quadrant) File:Latroun (10 mai).png, Islin May 10 1948 Of the site in 1992, Walid Khalidi writes:

"Partially destroyed walls and stone terraces can be seen throughout the site. A thick forest, bushes, and grass grow over and around the stone rubble. Many
carob The carob ( ; ''Ceratonia siliqua'') is a flowering evergreen tree or shrub in the Caesalpinioideae sub-family of the legume family, Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated for its edible fruit, which takes the form of seed pods, and as an ornam ...
trees and some
olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...
trees grow on the northern edge of the site, and
eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...
and
fir Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...
trees grow in the south. The site also houses a bus repair yard belonging to 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 public transportation cooperative, Egged."

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * *

External links

Welcome To 'Islin'Islin
Zochrot *Survey of Western Palestine, Map 17:
IAA

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