Jusayr 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 during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War on July 17, 1948, under

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 ...

Operation Yo'av Operation Yoav (also called ''Operation Ten Plagues'' or ''Operation Yo'av'') was an Israeli military operation carried out from 15–22 October 1948 in the Negev Desert, during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Its goal was to drive a wedge between th ...

. It was located 35 km northeast of Gaza.

History

Ceramics from the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

era have been found here.

Ottoman era

In 1517, Jusayr was incorporated into the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

with the rest of Palestine, and in 1596 the village appeared in the Ottoman tax registers as being in the ''

nahiya A nāḥiyah ( ar, , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also 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 division w ...

'' (subdistrict) of Gaza under the

Liwa of Gaza Gaza Sanjak ( ar, سنجق غزة) was a sanjak of the Damascus Eyalet, Ottoman Empire centered in Gaza. In the 16th century it was divided into ''nawahi'' (singular: ''nahiya''; third-level subdivisions): Gaza in the south and Ramla in the north ...

. It had a population of 60 household;Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 147 an estimated population of 330.Khalidi, 1992, p. 117 The whole population was Muslim. It paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on a number of crops, including

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...

, summer crops, vineyards, fruit trees, goats, beehives, as well as on "occasional revenues"; a total of 12,180 Akçe. In 1838, Edward Robinson noted ''el Juseir'' as a Muslim village, located in the Gaza district.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p.
118
/ref> 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 ...

visited the village, which he found to have 500 inhabitants, while an Ottoman village list from about 1870 found that the village had a population of 296, in a total of 119 houses, though the population count included men, only.Socin, 1879, p
153
/ref> In 1883 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 ...

'' (SWP) described it as being an adobe village on flat ground.

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Jusayr had a population of 579 inhabitants, all Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Gaza, p
9
/ref> increasing in the 1931 census to 839 Muslims, in a total of 246 houses.Mills, 1932, p
4
/ref> Jseir 1931

By the 1945 statistics, Jusayr had a population of 1180 Muslims, with a total of 12,361 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 11,852 dunams were used for cereals, while 54 dunams were built-up land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p
137
/ref> Faluja 1945

Jusayr had an elementary school for boys which was founded in 1937, and by 1945, it had 74 students. Jseir 1948

Post 1948

In 1992 the village site was described: "One concrete, flat-roofed house still stands in the middle of a peach orchard. Its front facade has two rectangular windows and a rectangular entrance in the middle. The debris of houses among tall grasses and weeds is visible. A garbage dump is now located on the site, as well as buildings that belong to an Israeli settlement. The surrounding lands are cultivated."

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * (pp
258
9
414
* Nasser, G.A (1955/1973)
"Memoirs"
in ''

Journal of Palestine Studies The ''Journal of Palestine Studies (JPS)'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal established in 1971. It is published by Taylor and Francis on behalf of the Institute for Palestine Studies, having previously been published by the University ...

''
"Memoirs of the First Palestine War”"
no. 2 (Win. 73): 3-32], pdf-file, downloadable * * * *

External links

Welcome To JusayrJusayr

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 20
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