Barbara, Gaza

Barbara
Barbara
Arabic	برْبره
Name meaning	"Chattering", "barbarians"[1]
Also spelled	Berbere
Subdistrict	Gaza
Coordinates	31°37′25.91″N 34°34′45.72″E / 31.6238639°N 34.5793667°E / 31.6238639; 34.5793667Coordinates: 31°37′25.91″N 34°34′45.72″E / 31.6238639°N 34.5793667°E / 31.6238639; 34.5793667
Palestine grid	110/114
Population	2,410[2][3] (1945)
Area	13,978[2] dunams 13.9 km²
Date of depopulation	November 5th, 1948[4]
Cause(s) of depopulation	Military assault by Yishuv forces
Current localities	Mavki'im,[5] Talmei Yafeh

Barbara (Arabic: برْبره‎‎) was a Palestinian Arab village in the Gaza Subdistrict located 17 km northeast of Gaza city, in the vicinity of modern Ashkelon. It had an entirely Arab population of 2,410 in 1945. The village consisted of nearly 14,000 dunums of which approximately 12,700 dunums was able to be cultivated. It was captured by Israel during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.

History

Barbara received its modern name from the Romans. After the Roman rule the village was under the control of a number of empires and dynasties ranging from the Byzantines, various Islamic Arab dynasties, the Crusaders, the Turkish Mamluks and Ottomans and United Kingdom.

A winepress, dating from the Byzantine period has been found.^[6]

According to the Arab geographer Mujir al-Din (1456–1522), the village was home to the Muslim scholar sheikh Yusuf al-Barbarawi, a local sage and a student of renowned scolar Ahmad ibn Dawud, who died in 1323.^[7]

Ottoman period

During the reign of the Ottoman Sultan Murad III (1574-1596), Barbara's only mosque was built. It contained the tomb of Yusuf al-Barbarawi.^[8] In 1596, Barbara was part of the nahiya (subdistrict) of Gaza under the liwa' (district) of Gaza with a population of 402.^[9] The village appeared under the name of Hababeh on the map that Pierre Jacotin compiled in 1799.^[10]

In May 1863, the French explorer Victor Guérin visited the village. He estimated it had 400 inhabitants. He further noted a wali, dedicated to a Sheik Yusuf, with sections of ancient white-grey marble columns. Further five -six sections of marble column were observed around the well.^[11] An official Ottoman village list of about 1870 showed that Barbara had a total of 113 houses and a population of 372, though the population count included men only.^[12] In 1883 the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described Barbara as a village rectangular in shape and surrounded by gardens and two ponds. The sand encroaching from the coast was stopped by the cactus hedges of the gardens. To the east of the village there were olive groves.^[13]

British Mandate of Palestine

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Barbara had a population of 1,369 inhabitants, all Muslims,^[14] which had increased in the 1931 census to 1546, still all Muslim, in 318 houses.^[15]

In 1945 the population of Barbara consisted of 2,410 Muslims and the land area was 13,978 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.^[2][3] Of this, 132 dunams were designated for citrus and bananas, 2,952 for plantations and irrigable land, 9,615 for cereals,^[16] while 70 dunams were built-up areas.^[17]

At the end of the Mandate Period, the above-mentioned mosque, built late 1500, was still standing, and in addition the village center contained a number of shops. An elementary school was founded in 1921, and by 1947 it had 252 students. Barbara was also known for its long rugs, al-mazawid, which were woven by the women of the village.^[8]

1948 War

Barbara was captured by a possible combination of the Negev, Giv'ati and Yiftach brigades on November 5, 1948 during Operation Yoav. At the end of November 1948, Coastal Plain District troops carried out sweeps of the villages around and to the south of Majdal. Barbara was one of the villages named in the orders to the IDF battalions and engineers platoon, that the villagers were to be expelled to Gaza, and the IDF troops were "to prevent their return by destroying their villages." The path leading to the village was to be mined. The IDF troops were ordered to carry out the operation "with determination, accuracy and energy".^[18] The operation took place on 30 November. The troops found "about 40" villagers in Barbara and al-Jiyya, "composed of women, old men and children", who offered no resistance. They were expelled to Beit Hanun, in the northern Gaza strip. Eight young men who were found were sent to a POW camp.^[19]

Currently, the Jewish moshavim of Mavki'im and Talmei Yafeh are built on the former village's land. According to the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi (1992), the village remaining structures on the village land are:

"The crumbled walls and debris of houses are all that remains of the village buildings. The debris is overgrown with thorns and brush. Old eucalyptus and sycamore trees and cactuses also grow on the site. Some of the old streets are clearly identifiable. One area of the site serves as a garbage dump and a junkyard for old cars. The surrounding lands are planted by Israeli farmers in corn."^[20]

See also

• List of Arab towns and villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War

References

Bibliography

External links

• Welcome to Barbara Palestine Remembered
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 20: IAA, Wikimedia commons
• Barbara, from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center