Bil'in 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 Gaza Subdistrict. It was depopulated by the Israel Defense Forces during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War on July 8, 1948, under

Operation An-Far Operation An-Far (short for Anti- Farouk) was a military operation launched by Israel's Givati Brigade on the night of July 8–9 during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Its objectives were to gain control of approaches in southern Judea and block the ...

. It was located 39 km northeast of Gaza and the village contained two

well A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground 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 ...

s which supplied it with drinking water.

History

In 1838 it was noted as a Muslim village, ''Ba'lin'', in the Gaza district, being smaller than nearby Barqusya. In 1863

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

noted it as a small village on a mound. 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 it as being a small adobe village, "with no traces of antiquity."

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Bil'in had a population of 101 Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Gaza, p
9
/ref> increasing by the 1931 census to 127, still all Muslim, in 32 houses.Mills, 1932, p
3
/ref> In the 1945 statistics, the village together with ''Ard el Ishra'' had a population of 180 Muslims, and the land area was 8,036 dunams, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 143 dunams were for plantations and irrigable land, 6,972 for cereals, while 6 dunams were built-up areas. Bi'lin had an elementary school which was founded in 1937 and a shrine for al-Shaykh Ya'qub.Khalidi, 1992, p. 90 Idhnibba 1945

Post 1948

Qedma started using some of the village land after 1948. In 1992 the village site was described: "All that remains is the rubble of a few houses, with wild herbs and thorns growing on the site, along with some trees and cactus plants. The site is surrounded by barbed wire. Parts of the surrounding land are planted with mango trees and grapes, while others serve as pastures."

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Welcome To Bi'linBi'lin

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 Gaza