Al-Ashrafiyya was a Palestinian

Palestinian people

The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...

 Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

 village in the District of Baysan. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine

1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine

The 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine lasted from 30 November 1947, the date of the United Nations vote in favour of the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the UN Partition Plan, to the termination of the British Mandate itself on 14 May 1948.This period constitutes the...

. It was located 4.5 km southwest of Baysan.

The village was depopulated on May 12, 1948 during Operation Gideon

Operation Gideon

Operation Gideon was a Haganah offensive launched in the closing days of the British Mandate in Palestine, as part of the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine. Its objectives were to capture Beisan , clear the surrounding villages and bedouin camps and block one of the possible entry routes...

. The village was completely destroyed and the inhabitants fled to Jordan

Jordan

Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

.

According to a 1945 land ownership census the Land Ownership (Dunums) was as follows:

• Arab 4,608
• Jewish 1,293
• Public 810
• Total 6,711

The Arab population of the village was mainly occupied in cereal farming. The population in 1922 was 136, rising to 267 in 1948 with 61 houses. The Wadi al-Maddu' runs near where the village was located.

According to the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi

Walid Khalidi

Walid Khalidi is an Oxford University-educated Palestinian historian who has written extensively on the Palestinian exodus. He is General Secretary and co-founder of the Institute for Palestine Studies, established in Beirut in December 1963 as an independent research and publishing center...

, today, "The site and the area around it are cultivated by the residents of Reshafim

Reshafim

Reshafim is a kibbutz in northeastern Israel. Located two kilometres to the south of the town of Beit She'an in the Beit She'an Valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of Valley of Springs Regional Council. The kibbutz has about 270 members, 50 non-member residents, and 100 children.-History:The...

. A fishery also has been built on the site."

External links

• Welcome To al-Ashrafiyya
• Al-Ashrafiyya at Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
  Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
  Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center is an organization established in 1996. It is located at 4 Raja Street, Ramallah in the West Bank. The traditional manor that houses the centre was the former family home of Khalil Salem Salah, the mayor of Ramallah between 1947/1951, is now owned by the Palestinian...