al-Jammama
al-Jammama | |
---|---|
Arabic | الجمامه |
Also spelled | al-Jamama |
Subdistrict | Beersheba |
Palestine grid | 120/100 |
Population | 6 (not including Bedouin inhabitants) (1931) |
Date of depopulation | May 22, 1948[1] |
Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault by Yishuv forces |
Current localities | Ruhama |
Al-Jammama (Arabic: الجمامه) was a Palestinian Arab village located in the Negev desert 30 km west of the city of Beersheba. Its settled population was recorded as six in the 1931 census.
History
The village was an archeological site, containing cisterns, an olive press, mosaic floors, tombs, the crown of a stone column, and stone tools from the Middle Paleolithic period have been found in the vicinity.[2]
British Mandate era
At the end of World War I, on 8 November 1917, the British defeated the Ottoman force in Al-Jammama, which resulted in a British occupation of the village.[3] In the 1931 census it had 6 inhabitants; all Muslim, in 1 house.[4]
Al-Jammama had an elementary school, which was founded in 1944.[5]
1948, and aftermath
During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War it was captured by Israel's Negev and Givati brigades on May 22, 1948, and all of its six inhabitants were transferred.
The agricultural settlement of Ruhama was established in 1944 on village land.[5]
According to the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, the remaining structures on the village land were in 1992: "A few walls remain on the slopes of hills, surrounded by shrubs and thorns. Cactuses and gum trees grow on the site. The site is used for animal grazing; it also has a stable for horses. The surrounding lands are used for agriculture. Bedouin still camp near the site occasionally to take advantage of nearby pasture."[5]
See also
References
Bibliography
- Khalidi, Walid (1992). All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948. Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies. ISBN 0-88728-224-5.
- Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
- Morris, Benny (2004). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-00967-6.