Umm 'Ajra ( ar, أم عجرة), was a
Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
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 District of Baysan. It was depopulated by the
Israel Defense Forces during the
1948 Arab-Israeli War on May 31, 1948, as part of
Operation Gideon
Operation Gideon was a Haganah offensive launched in the closing days of the British Mandate in Palestine, as part of the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine. Its objectives were to capture Beisan (Beit She'an), clear the surrounding vil ...
. It was located 4 km south of
Baysan
Beit She'an ( he, בֵּית שְׁאָן '), also Beth-shean, formerly Beisan ( ar, بيسان ), is a town in the 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 be ...
and the 'Ayn Umm 'Ajra provided the village with water.
History
The village had three khirbas: Tall al-Shaykh al-Simad, Hajj Makka, and Sursuq.
[Khalidi, 1992, p. 64] 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 ...
'' found at ''Sheik Semad'' a "Small ruined
Mukam of modern masonry."
[Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p]
126
/ref>
British Mandate era
In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the Mandatory Palestine authorities, Umm 'Ajra had a population of 86 Muslims, increasing in the 1931 census to 242, still all Muslims, in 48 houses.
In the 1945 statistics the population of Umm 'Ajra was 260 Muslims,[ while the total land area was 6,443 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.][ Of this, Arabs used 2,688 dunums for cereals, while a total of 203 dunums were classified as non-cultivable land.][Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p]
135
/ref>
1948, aftermath
Shif’a, a farm built in the 1950s, is on village land. Kfar Ruppin
Kfar Ruppin ( he, כְּפַר רוּפִּין, ''lit.'' Ruppin Village) is a kibbutz in the Beit She'an Valley, about southeast of Beit She'an in northern Israel. A member of the Kibbutz Movement, it falls under the jurisdiction of Valley o ...
is located east of the village site, Ein HaNetziv
Ein HaNetziv ( he, עֵין הַנְּצִי"ב, ''lit.'' Spring of the Netziv) is a kibbutz in the Beit She'an Valley in northern Israel. Belonging to the Religious Kibbutz Movement, it is located about three kilometers south of the ancient city o ...
on the western side, and Avuqa (established in 1941, abandoned in 1952) to the north, none are on village land.[
In 1992 it was described: "The site and lands are cultivated. The remains of date palm trees can be seen, scattered across the northern side of the site."][
]
References
Bibliography
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External links
Welcome To Umm 'Ajra Umm 'Ajra
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 9
IAAWikimedia commons
{{Palestinian Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War
Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War