Nitaf ( ar, نطاف, ''Natâf'') was a small Palestinian

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

village in the Jerusalem Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the

1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine The 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine was the first phase of the 1947–1949 Palestine war. It broke out after the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a resolution on 29 November 1947 recommending the adoption of the Pa ...

on April 15, 1948, during the second stage of Operation Dani. It was located 17 km west of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, just north of Bayt Thul.

History

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, ''Nataf'' had a population 16, all Muslims.Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Jerusalem, p
15
/ref> In the 1931 census it was counted with

Qatanna Qatanna ( ar, قطنّه) is a Palestinian town in the central West Bank part of the Jerusalem Governorate, located 12 km. northwest of Jerusalem. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of approxi ...

, together they had 875 Muslim inhabitants, in 233 houses. Mills, 1932, p
42
/ref> In the 1945 statistics it had a population of 40 Muslims, and the total land area was 1,401

dunam 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 amou ...

s, according to an official land and population survey. Of the land, a total of 166 dunams were plantations and irrigable land and 158 were for cereals, while a total of 1,077 dunams were classified non-cultivable land. Nitaf had a maqam for local sage known as al-Shaykh ''Mas'ud''.Khalidi, 1992, p. 307

1948 and aftermath

The village was depopulated on 15 April 1948, during the

1948 Palestine war The 1948 Palestine war was fought in the territory of what had been, at the start of the war, British-ruled Mandatory Palestine. It is known in Israel as the War of Independence ( he, מלחמת העצמאות, ''Milkhemet Ha'Atzma'ut'') and ...

. Following the war, the area was incorporated into the

State of Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. The village of

Nataf Nataf ( he, נָטָף, lit. '' Stacte'') is a community settlement in central Israel. Located in the Judean Mountains, west of Jerusalem, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In it had a population of . Etymology ...

, established in 1982, is located less than 1 km south of the village site. According to

Walid Khalidi Walid Khalidi ( ar, وليد خالدي, born 1925 in Jerusalem) is an Oxford University-educated Palestinian historian who has written extensively on the Palestinian exodus. He is a co-founder of the Institute for Palestine Studies, establish ...

on land belonging to Bayt Thul, but other sources, including ''

Davar ''Davar'' ( he, דבר, lit. ''Word'') was a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in the British Mandate of Palestine and Israel between 1925 and May 1996. It was relaunched in 2016, under the name ''Davar Rishon'' as an online outlet by t ...

'' say the land was bought from

Abu Ghosh Abu Ghosh ( ar, أبو غوش; he, אבו גוש) is an Arab-Israeli local council in Israel, located west of Jerusalem on the Tel Aviv–Jerusalem highway. It is situated 610–720 meters above sea level. It takes its current name from the ...

. In 1992, the village site was described: "There is a large, deserted stone house on the site surrounded by old terraces. It is a one-storey house with an arched door and arched windows. Northwest of this house, at the bottom of a slope, stands another deserted house. Most of the village lands fell within the Demilitarized Zone that was delineated by the armistice agreement of 1949 between Israel and

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

." File:Nitaf 1948.jpg, Nitaf 1948 File:Nitaf view.jpg, View of Nitaf before demolition, 1948 File:Nitaf view 1948.jpg, Nitaf after occupation, 1948 File:Nitaf demolished.jpg, Demolished building following conquest by Harel Brigade 1948 File:Nitaf demolition.jpg, Nitaf during demolition

References

Bibliography

* * * * * *

External links

Welcome To NitafNitaf
Zochrot
Nitaf
Palestine Family.net *Survey of Western Palestine, Map 17
IAA

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{{Palestinian Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War District of Jerusalem