Al-Na'ani, also called Al-Ni'ana, was a

Palestinian Arab Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

village in the Ramle Subdistrict of

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

. It was depopulated during the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...

on May 14, 1948, by the

Givati Brigade The 84th "Givati" Brigade ( he, חֲטִיבַת גִּבְעָתִי, , "Hill Brigade" or "Highland Brigade") is an Israel Defense Forces infantry brigade. Until 2005, the Brigade used to be stationed within the Gaza Strip and primarily perf ...

during

Operation Barak Operation Barak ( he, מבצע ברק, ''Mivtza Barak'', lit. ''Operation Lightning'') was a Haganah offensive launched just before the end of the British Mandate in Palestine. It was part of Plan Dalet. Its objective was to capture villages Nor ...

. It was located 6 km south of

Ramle Ramla or Ramle ( he, רַמְלָה, ''Ramlā''; ar, الرملة, ''ar-Ramleh'') is a city in the Central District of Israel. Today, Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with both a significant Jewish and Arab populations. The city was f ...

History

In 1838, it was noted as a

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

village in

Er-Ramleh Ramla or Ramle ( he, רַמְלָה, ''Ramlā''; ar, الرملة, ''ar-Ramleh'') is a city in the Central District of Israel. Today, Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with both a significant Jewish and Arab populations. The city was f ...

district. The village was at the site of a historic Roman site of Tel Na'na' ( he, תל נענע), where excavations have resulted in discovery of tombs and items dating to the Roman, Byzantine, and early Arab era. An Ottoman village list from about 1870 counted 92 houses and a population of 265, though the population count included men, only. 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 Survey of Western Palestine and in 1880 for the Survey of Eastern Palestine. The survey was carried out after the ...

'' described the place as: "A small

mud A MUD (; originally multi-user dungeon, with later variants multi-user dimension and multi-user domain) is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer Time-keeping systems in games#Real-time, real-time virtual world, usually Text-based game, text-bas ...

village on low ground, identified with Naamah (near

Makkedah This is a list of places mentioned in the Bible, which do not have their own Wikipedia articles. See also the list of biblical places for locations which do have their own article. Ænon, A Abana Abana, according to 2 Kings 5:12, was one of the ...

), by Captain

Warren A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval A ...

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 divisi ...

conducted by the British Mandate authorities, ''Na'ani'' had a population of 1,004 inhabitants; 1,002

sBarron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Ramleh, p
21
/ref> and 2 Orthodox Christians,Barron, 1923, Table XIV, p
46
/ref> increasing in the 1931 census to 1,142; 1,133 Muslims and 9 Christians, in a total of 300 houses.Mills, 1932, p
22
A British

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

, writing in 1932, reported that there was a group of "Sidr" trees (see

Ziziphus spina-christi ''Ziziphus spina-christi'', known as the Christ's thorn jujube, is an evergreen tree or plant native to northern and tropical Africa, Southern and Western Asia. It is native to the Levant, East Africa, Mesopotamia and some tropical countries. Fr ...

and

Sidrat al-Muntaha The ''Sidrat al-Muntaha'' ( ar, سِدْرَة ٱلْمُنْتَهَىٰ, Sidrat al-Muntahā, lit=Lote Tree of the Farthest Boundary) is a large lote tree or Sidr tree that marks the utmost boundary in the seventh heaven, which no one can pa ...

) south of the village believed to be protected by spirits. In the 1945 statistics the village had a population of 1,470; 1,450 Muslims and 20 Christians with a total of 9,768

dunums A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; tr, dönüm; he, דונם), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area equivalent to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amount ...

of land. Arabs used 335 dunums of land for plantations and irrigable land, 9,277 dunums for cereals, while 51 dunams were classified as built-up public areas.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p
166
/ref> The village had an elementary school which was founded in 1923, and by 1947 it had 208 students enrolled. The Jewish kibbutz of

Na'an Na'an ( he, נַעַן) is a kibbutz near the city of Rehovot in Israel. Located within the Central District, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gezer Regional Council and borders the villages of Ganei Hadar, Ramot Meir and Sitria. Founded in 1 ...

was established in 1930, on a land purchased from Al-Na'ani. Kibbutz buildings are now on former Al-Na'ani land. Al-Na'ani became depopulated on May 14, 1948. File:Al-Na’ani 1947.jpg, al-Na’ani 1947 from Palmach archive File:El Ramle 1945.jpg, Al-Na'ani 1945 1:250,000 File:Rehovot 1948.jpg, Al-Na'ani (Ne'ane) 1948 1:20,000

1948, aftermath

In 1949 Ramot Me'ir was established on village land, west of the village site. In 1992 the village site was described: "The site is overgrown with Christ-thorn and eucalyptus trees and a variety of wild plants. The main landmark, the railway station, is now deserted. The railway line itself is used by Israel and now extends south to Beersheba. Two deserted houses (including one belonging to Ahmad Jubayl) still remain, together with portions of houses utilized mainly for storing agricultural equipment. The land around the site is cultivated."

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * *(p
257
* * *

External links

al-Na'ani

Zochrot Zochrot ( he, זוכרות; "Remembering"; ar, ذاكرات; "Memories") is an Israeli nonprofit organization founded in 2002. Based in Tel Aviv, its aim is to promote awareness of the Palestinian ''Nakba'' ("Catastrophe"), including the 1948 Pa ...

*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 16
IAAWikimedia commons
from the

Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center () is a leading Palestinian arts and culture organization that aims to create a pluralistic, critical liberating culture through research, query, and participation, and that provides an open space for the community ...

{{Palestinian Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War District of Ramla 1948 disestablishments in Mandatory Palestine