Khirbat Bayt Lid () was a Palestinian Arab village in the

Tulkarm Subdistrict The Tulkarm Subdistrict was one of the subdistricts of Mandatory Palestine. It was located around the city of Tulkarm. After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the subdistrict disintegrated, the western part became part of the Central District (Israel), C ...

. It was depopulated by its Arab inhabitants during the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...

History

In the 1860s, the Ottoman authorities granted the residents of Beit Lid an agricultural plot of land called in the former confines of the Forest of Arsur (Ar. Al-Ghaba) in the coastal plain, west of the village. The people of Beit Lid than came to farm the lower plain village land. Gradually they settled in the village so they could be closer to their land. 500 meters north of Khirbat Bayt Lid was ''El Mughair'', which was described in 1882 by PEF's '' Survey of Western Palestine'' as "a small

mud Mud (, or Middle Dutch) is loam, silt or clay mixed with water. Mud is usually formed after rainfall or near water sources. Ancient mud deposits hardened over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone (generally cal ...

hamlet, with caves. The water supply is from springs a mile to the west."

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, ''Kherbet Bait Lid'' had a population of 206

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 ...

s,Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Tulkarem, p
28
/ref> increasing in the 1931 census to 298 Muslim, in a total of 75 houses.Mills, 1932, p
53
/ref> In the 1945 statistics the population of Khirbat Bayt Lid was 460 Muslims with a total of 5,336 dunams of land, of which 2,969 were owned by Arabs, 2,220 by Jews and 147 was public lands. Of this, Arabs used 64 dunams for irrigated and plantation land, 2,877 for cereals, while 22 dunams were classified as built-up areas. Kefar Yona 1939

1948, aftermath

In early 1948 the villagers grew fearful over news about fighting, and left for Beit Lid, where they had relatives, believing that they would return in some weeks. According to one villager, Husni 'Abd al-Latif 'Atawat; "They left all their belongings in Khirbat Bayt Lid. The Jews occupied it, and they could not return."Esber, 2008, pp. 296, 321. Interviewed by the author in Zarqa, Jordan, in 2001 The Moshav Nordia was established on village land in August 1948, while Ganot Hadar is situated 500 meter northeast of the village site, but not on village land.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Welcome To Bayt Lid, Khirbat Khirbat Bayt Lid
Zochrot *Survey of Western Palestine, Map 10:
IAAWikimedia commons
from Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center {{Palestinian Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War District of Tulkarm