Qumya
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Qumya (), 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 of 510 inhabitants when it was depopulated prior to 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) ...
. Located 12.5 kilometers north of
Baysan Beit She'an ( '), also known as Beisan ( '), or Beth-shean, is a town in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below sea level. Beit She'an is believed to ...
, the village was assaulted by the forces of the
Golani Brigade The 1st "Golani" Brigade (, ''Hativat Golani'') is an Israeli military infantry brigade. It is subordinated to the 36th Division and traditionally associated with the Northern Command. It is one of the five infantry brigades of the regular Is ...
on 26 March 1948 during Operation Gideon, on the orders of Yosef Weitz, a representative of the
Jewish National Fund The Jewish National Fund (JNF; , ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael''; previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') is a non-profit organizationProfessor Alon Tal, The Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, The Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben Gurion ...
(JNF). Its inhabitants fled in fear of being caught in the fighting.


Location

The village was located 12.5 kilometers northwest of
Baysan Beit She'an ( '), also known as Beisan ( '), or Beth-shean, is a town in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below sea level. Beit She'an is believed to ...
, on a hilltop. Together with the village of Shatta, it was considered the western gate to the plain of Baysan.Khalidi, 1992, p. 57


History

Qumya was well known for its archaeological sites, including Khirbat Qumya which contained rectangular structures, caves, and rock-hewn cisterns. About 800 meters south-west of the village was Ayn Jalut, an archaeological site where
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
artifacts, including milestones and a large pool cut in the rock, have been found.


Ottoman era

By 1596, under the rule of the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
, Qumya was a farm under the administrative jurisdiction of Sanjak Lajjun.
Pierre Jacotin Pierre Jacotin (1765–1827) was the director of the Surveying, survey for the ''Carte de l'Égypte (Description de l'Égypte)'', the first triangulation-based map of Egypt, Syria and Palestine. The maps were drafted in 1799–1800 during Napole ...
named the village ''Kouni'' on his map from 1799. In 1870/1871 (1288 AH), an Ottoman census listed the village 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 ...
'' (sub-district) of Shafa al-Shamali. In 1882, the PEF's ''
Survey of Western Palestine The PEF Survey of Palestine was a series of surveys carried out by the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) between 1872 and 1877 for the completed Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) and in 1880 for the soon abandoned Survey of Eastern Palestine. The ...
'' described the village of Qumya as located being located on a knoll in the middle of a valley, surrounded by gardens of prickly pear.


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 Mandatory Palestine authorities, ''Qumiyeh'' had a population of 401, all Muslims, decreasing in the 1931 census to 386, still all Muslims, in 88 houses. The village had one elementary school for boys. In
1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...
the village had 440 Muslim inhabitants, with 4,898 dunums of land. Of this, a total of 4,205 dunums were used for cereals and 33 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p
85
/ref> while 15 dunams was built-up land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p
135
/ref>


1948, and after

In his diary, Weitz wrote of the inhabitants of Qumya and al-Tira in the Bisan valley on the 26 March 1948:
"Not taking upon themselves the responsibility of preventing the infiltration of irregulars ... They must be forced to leave their villages until peace comes.
Meron Benvenisti noted that the JNF guided military operations to evacuate and expropriate the land of Palestinian villages in 1948, including that of Qumya. In writing of the capture and evacuation of Qumya and Endur (the biblical
Endor Endor or Ein Dor may refer to: Places * Endor (village), from the Hebrew Bible, a Canaanite village where the Witch of Endor lived * Indur, a Palestinian village depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war * Ein Dor, a Kibbutz in modern Israel ...
), he wrote that "The Jews were particularly interested in the village of Qumya, which was entirely surrounded by JNF land...".
Benny Morris Benny Morris (; born 8 December 1948) is an Israeli historian. He was a professor of history in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Beersheba, Israel. Morris was initially associated with the ...
puts 26 March 1948 as depopulation day, and noted "Fear of fighting" as reason. Rosemarie Esber interviewed villager Ayshi Mahmud Khalid who recalled that the villagers left together on the 26th: "Some left for Nazareth and some left for Jordan. We were afraid of Jewish attacks....On our way we passed by Ma’oz settlement. Jewish women came to search us and stole our money....the Jews stole even our livestock". The Qumya villagers ended up in
Baysan Beit She'an ( '), also known as Beisan ( '), or Beth-shean, is a town in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below sea level. Beit She'an is believed to ...
, from where they were expelled in May, 1948, with the rest of the Palestinian inhabitants. In an Israeli cabinet meeting on June 16, 1948,
Aharon Zisling Aharon Zisling (), also spelled Aharon Cizling, (26 February 1901 – 16 January 1964) was an Israeli politician and minister and a signatory of Declaration of Independence (Israel), Israel's declaration of independence. Biography Born in Mins ...
seems to argue that the Palestinian refugees should be allowed to return. However, he made an exception for the villagers Qumya, the lands of which overlooked his own home in
Ein Harod Ein Harod () was a kibbutz in northern Israel near Mount Gilboa. Founded in 1921, it became the center of Mandatory Israel's kibbutz movement, hosting the headquarters of the largest kibbutz organisation, HaKibbutz HaMeuhad. In 1923 part of the ...
. By July, 1948, Ein Harod formally asked for the land of Qumya to be given them. Following the war the area was incorporated into the
State of 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 ...
.
Kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...
Bet ha-Shittah and the Gush Nuris villages were given thousands of dunams of land from Qumya and the neighbouring villages of al-Murassas, Kafra, Yubla, and
Zir'in Zir'in (), also spelled Zerin and Zerein, was a Palestinian Arab village of over 1,400 in the Jezreel Valley, located north of Jenin. Identified as the ancient town of Yizre'el (Jezreel), it was known as Zir'in during Islamic rule, and was near ...
by the
Histadrut Histadrut, fully the New General Workers' Federation () and until 1994 the General Federation of Labour in the Land of Israel (, ''HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael''), is Israel's national trade union center and represents the m ...
's Agicrultural Center in July and October 1948.Fischbach, 2012, p
13
/ref> The
Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
ish kibbutz of
Ein Harod Ein Harod () was a kibbutz in northern Israel near Mount Gilboa. Founded in 1921, it became the center of Mandatory Israel's kibbutz movement, hosting the headquarters of the largest kibbutz organisation, HaKibbutz HaMeuhad. In 1923 part of the ...
was built on what traditionally was the village lands in 1921. In the 1950s it split in two;
Ein Harod (Ihud) Ein Harod (Ihud) () is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the Jezreel Valley near Gilboa (ridge), Mount Gilboa, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gilboa Regional Council. In it had a population of . Etymology The kibbutz is named after the ...
and
Ein Harod (Meuhad) Ein Harod (Meuhad) () is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the Jezreel Valley near Mount Gilboa, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gilboa Regional Council. In it had a population of . The kibbutz was the home of Yitzhak Tabenkin, one of f ...
, where
Ein Harod (Ihud) Ein Harod (Ihud) () is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the Jezreel Valley near Gilboa (ridge), Mount Gilboa, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gilboa Regional Council. In it had a population of . Etymology The kibbutz is named after the ...
is on Qumya land, while
Ein Harod (Meuhad) Ein Harod (Meuhad) () is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the Jezreel Valley near Mount Gilboa, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gilboa Regional Council. In it had a population of . The kibbutz was the home of Yitzhak Tabenkin, one of f ...
is on land traditionally belonging to
Tamra Tamra (, or ) is an Arab city in the North District of Israel located in the Lower Galilee north of the city of Shefa-Amr and approximately east of Acre. In it had a population of . History Tamra is an ancient village on a hill. Old square ...
.
Geva Geva (, ''lit.'' Hill) is a kibbutz in the Jezreel Valley in Israel. Located near the city of Afula, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gilboa Regional Council. In it had a population of . History Geva was founded in 1921 by Jewish immigrants f ...
is about 2 km west of the village site, but not on village land. In 1992,
Walid Khalidi Walid Khalidi (; born in Jerusalem on July 16, 1925) is a Palestinian historian who has written extensively on the Palestinian exodus. He is a co-founder of the Institute for Palestine Studies, established in Beirut in December 1963 as an inde ...
described the remaining village structures, noting:
"The whole site is fenced in. Almond, mulberry, and pomegranate trees and cactuses grow around the rubble that dots the village site. Cypress trees grow among the ruins of the village school."Khalidi, 1992, p. 58


See also

* Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * *


External links


Welcome to QumyaQumya
Zochrot Zochrot (; "Remembering"; ; "Memories") is an Israeli nonprofit organization founded in 2002. Based in Tel Aviv, its aim is to promote awareness of the Nakba, including the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight. The group was co-founded by Eitan ...
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 9:
IAAWikimedia commons
from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center {{Palestinian Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War District of Baysan