Al-Qabu
Encyclopedia
Al-Qabu was a Palestinian
Arab
village in the District of Jerusalem
. The name is an Arabic variation of the site's original Roman
name, and the ruins of a church there are thought to date to the to the era of Byzantine
or Crusader
rule over Palestine
.
Al-Qabu was depopulated on 22–23 October 1948, following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
. Following Israel's establishment, homes in the village were blown up by Israeli troops
in May 1949 and in 1950, the Israel
i locality of Mevo Betar was founded on the village lands.
and Jerusalem which lay at a distance of about 1.5 kilometre (0.93205910497471 mi).
rule over Palestine, the place was known as Qobi or Qobia. The village had a spring, and was located at the tenth milestone
on the road constructed between Bayt Jibrin and Jerusalem under emperor Hadrian
. The Arabic
name of the Palestinian village, al-Qabu, was a modification of the earlier Roman name.
In the late 19th century, the village was described as being of moderate size, situated on a high hill, with houses built of stone. Other features mentioned were the presence of a ruined church on the hillside, southwest of the village, and two springs in the valley to the west.
The ruined church by the village was visited by a team from the Survey of Western Palestine in 1873, and they determined that it appeared to date to the period of the Crusades
, while other researchers, such as Reverend Dom M. Gisler, OSB
in 1939, have determined that it dates to the Byzantine
era.
The village was laid out in a rectangular plan, extending in a north-south direction along the secondary road. The houses in the village were built primarily of stone. A few small shops in the village were located around its main square. Al-Qabu also had a shrine dedicated to one Shaykh Amad al-'Umari that stood southeast of the village site.
In 1931, the population was recorded as 192 Muslims and there were 31 inhabited houses.
Several springs around the village, including Ayn Tuz and Ayn al-Bayada, provided water for its residents. The Ain esh Sherkiyeh, meaning the "The eastern spring", also lay close by. In 1944-45 the villagers had allocated a total of 1,233 dunum
s of village land to the cultivation of cereal
s; while 436 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards. Olive
trees covered 30 dunams of land.
writes that the village was first depopulated on 22–23 October 1948. However, in March 1949 the IDF
mounted a series of major attacks eastwards, in the area of al-Qabu. The aim was to gain more territory, drive concentrations of Arabs eastwards, and create facts on the ground before a scheduled UN survey of Israeli and Jordanian positions. Notwithstanding these orders, the Israeli UN liaison officers were at pains to describe to the UN observers that the military clashes were the result of Arab incursions and attacks. In reality, Israeli troops were given direct orders to take al-Qabu, Khirbet Sanasin, al Jab'a
, and Khirbet al-Hamam, even if it meant battling Jordan
ian troops.
Over the course of their operations, Israeli troops from the Fourth Brigade
took several hilltops, and went on to clear the area of Arabs. The force, which was armed with machine-guns and mortar
s, were ordered to "hit every [adult male] Arab spotted in the area [but] not to harm women and children".
After signing the 1949 Armistice Agreements with Jordan on 3 April, a question arose about the villagers of Al-Qabu and al-Walaja
, whose inhabitants had gradually returned. These two villages were in Israeli territory under the Armistice Agreement, and Israel wanted them empty. On 1 May 1949, Israeli troops raided the villagers and blew up the houses. IDF reports that the villagers fled.
In 1950, the Israeli settlement of Mevo Betar was established on village lands. According to Petersen, remains of the Palestinian village at the site include the church, a mosque
, and a shrine
for Shaykh Ahmad al-Umari. The mosque is a square structure, with a courtyard
, and it appears to be built of stones removed from the old church.
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 Jerusalem
District of Jerusalem
The District of Jerusalem was an administrative district, situated in the British Mandate of Palestine around the city of Jerusalem. After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the district was integrated into the Jerusalem District....
. The name is an Arabic variation of the site's original Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
name, and the ruins of a church there are thought to date to the to the era of Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
or Crusader
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
rule over Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
.
Al-Qabu was depopulated on 22–23 October 1948, following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
. Following Israel's establishment, homes in the village were blown up by Israeli troops
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
in May 1949 and in 1950, the Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i locality of Mevo Betar was founded on the village lands.
Location
Situated on a hilltop that sloped downward steeply on three sides, to the south lay a secondary road that linked al-Qabu to the highway between Bayt JibrinBayt Jibrin
Bayt Jibrin was a Palestinian Arab village located northwest of the city of Hebron. The village had a total land area of 56,185 dunams or , of which were built-up while the rest remained farmland.The early inhabitants of Bayt Jibrin are the Canaanites...
and Jerusalem which lay at a distance of about 1.5 kilometre (0.93205910497471 mi).
History
During the period of RomanRoman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
rule over Palestine, the place was known as Qobi or Qobia. The village had a spring, and was located at the tenth milestone
Milestone
A milestone is one of a series of numbered markers placed along a road or boundary at intervals of one mile or occasionally, parts of a mile. They are typically located at the side of the road or in a median. They are alternatively known as mile markers, mileposts or mile posts...
on the road constructed between Bayt Jibrin and Jerusalem under emperor Hadrian
Hadrian
Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
. The Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
name of the Palestinian village, al-Qabu, was a modification of the earlier Roman name.
In the late 19th century, the village was described as being of moderate size, situated on a high hill, with houses built of stone. Other features mentioned were the presence of a ruined church on the hillside, southwest of the village, and two springs in the valley to the west.
The ruined church by the village was visited by a team from the Survey of Western Palestine in 1873, and they determined that it appeared to date to the period of the Crusades
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
, while other researchers, such as Reverend Dom M. Gisler, OSB
Order of Saint Benedict
The Order of Saint Benedict is a Roman Catholic religious order of independent monastic communities that observe the Rule of St. Benedict. Within the order, each individual community maintains its own autonomy, while the organization as a whole exists to represent their mutual interests...
in 1939, have determined that it dates to the Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
era.
The village was laid out in a rectangular plan, extending in a north-south direction along the secondary road. The houses in the village were built primarily of stone. A few small shops in the village were located around its main square. Al-Qabu also had a shrine dedicated to one Shaykh Amad al-'Umari that stood southeast of the village site.
In 1931, the population was recorded as 192 Muslims and there were 31 inhabited houses.
Several springs around the village, including Ayn Tuz and Ayn al-Bayada, provided water for its residents. The Ain esh Sherkiyeh, meaning the "The eastern spring", also lay close by. In 1944-45 the villagers had allocated a total of 1,233 dunum
Dunum
Dunum is a municipality in the district of Wittmund, in Lower Saxony, Germany....
s of village land to the cultivation of cereal
Cereal
Cereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran...
s; while 436 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards. Olive
Olive
The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
trees covered 30 dunams of land.
1948 and the aftermath
The village apparently changed hands several times in the 1948-1949 period, MorrisBenny Morris
Benny Morris is professor of History in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Be'er Sheva, Israel...
writes that the village was first depopulated on 22–23 October 1948. However, in March 1949 the IDF
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
mounted a series of major attacks eastwards, in the area of al-Qabu. The aim was to gain more territory, drive concentrations of Arabs eastwards, and create facts on the ground before a scheduled UN survey of Israeli and Jordanian positions. Notwithstanding these orders, the Israeli UN liaison officers were at pains to describe to the UN observers that the military clashes were the result of Arab incursions and attacks. In reality, Israeli troops were given direct orders to take al-Qabu, Khirbet Sanasin, al Jab'a
Jab'a
Jab'a is a Palestinian village in the central West Bank, located 17 kilometers north of Hebron and 15 kilometers southwest of Bethlehem. Located three kilometers east of the Green Line, it is located in the Seam Zone, surrounded by the Israeli settlements in the Gush Etzion Regional Council and...
, and Khirbet al-Hamam, even if it meant battling 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...
ian troops.
Over the course of their operations, Israeli troops from the Fourth Brigade
Kiryati Brigade
The Kiryati Brigade was formed in 1948 by David Ben-Gurion and was one of the original nine brigades that made up the Haganah. The Kiryati Brigade was initially responsible for securing the area in and around Tel Aviv...
took several hilltops, and went on to clear the area of Arabs. The force, which was armed with machine-guns and mortar
Mortar (weapon)
A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
s, were ordered to "hit every [adult male] Arab spotted in the area [but] not to harm women and children".
After signing the 1949 Armistice Agreements with Jordan on 3 April, a question arose about the villagers of Al-Qabu and al-Walaja
Al-Walaja
-Bibliography:*Conder, Claude Reignier and H.H. Kitchener : . London:Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. vol 3 p. 206-207-External links:******, from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center*...
, whose inhabitants had gradually returned. These two villages were in Israeli territory under the Armistice Agreement, and Israel wanted them empty. On 1 May 1949, Israeli troops raided the villagers and blew up the houses. IDF reports that the villagers fled.
In 1950, the Israeli settlement of Mevo Betar was established on village lands. According to Petersen, remains of the Palestinian village at the site include the church, a mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
, and a shrine
Shrine
A shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other such objects associated with the figure being venerated....
for Shaykh Ahmad al-Umari. The mosque is a square structure, with a courtyard
Courtyard
A court or courtyard is an enclosed area, often a space enclosed by a building that is open to the sky. These areas in inns and public buildings were often the primary meeting places for some purposes, leading to the other meanings of court....
, and it appears to be built of stones removed from the old church.
External links
- Welcome To al-Qabu
- Al-Qabu, from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural CenterKhalil Sakakini Cultural CenterKhalil 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...
- Al-Qabu, Palestine Family.net
- Tour of al-Qabu, 22.1.11, ZochrotZochrotZochrot is an Israeli-Jewish non-profit organization founded in 2002. Based in Tel Aviv, its aim is to promote awareness of the Palestinian Nakba , the 1948 Palestinian exodus. The group's director is Eitan Bronstein...