Al-Shaykh Muwannis
Encyclopedia
Al-Shaykh Muwannis (also Sheikh Munis) was a small Palestinian
Arab
village in the District of Jaffa
in British Mandate Palestine located approximately 8.5 kilometers from the center of Jaffa city
in territory earmarked for Jewish state
hood under the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine.
The village had apparently existed for centuries, but some residents are said to have arrived from Egypt during the British Mandate period (1921-1948). The village population grew from 315 in 1879 to 664 in 1922 and tripled to 2160 in 1948. The village was abandoned in March 1948 under pressure from Jewish militia, two months before the 1948 Arab-Israeli war
. Today, Tel Aviv University
lies on part of the village land.
tribe.
In the 1920s, the government of the British Mandate attempted to gain title to lands lying to the west of Al-Shaykh Muwannis and extending to the coast of the Mediterranean sea
on the grounds that it was "waste and uncultivated." According to the authors of a book on the Israeli-Arab conflict, the Arabs of the Jaffa-Tel Aviv region "understood the implications of the Zionist-cum-British
discourses of development generally and their implementation through town planning schemes." In 1937, the Arabic daily al Ja'miah al-Islamiyya commented on British plans to build a bypass road for Tel Aviv residents on what they claimed were village lands: "[I]n reality the plan in the Town Planning Commission now including Sheikh Muwannis is not really a 'plan', but rather a plan to take the land out of the hands of its owners."
Before the 1948 war, the population of al-Shaykh Muwannis was 2,000. There were two schools in the village, a boy's school built in 1932 and a girl's school built in 1943. A total of 266 students were registered in these schools in 1945. The villagers worked in agriculture, particularly citrus cultivation. In 1944/45 a total of 3,749 dunum
s were used for growing citrus and bananas, while 7,165 dunums of village land was used for cereal
s. 66 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards, irrigation water was drawn from al-Awja river and a large number of artesian wells.
shot and wounded one of the attackers, and kidnapped and castrated another. In 1947, in the wake of growing hostility in the days leading up to the war, some of the villagers began to leave. Most stayed, as village notables had secured Haganah protection in exchange for keeping the peace and preventing Arab Liberation Army
(ALA) irregulars from the using the village to attack Yishuv forces. While occasional shots were fired from the village toward Jewish residential areas in January and February 1948, there were no casualties, and the Abu Kishk abided by their promise to keep out ALA irregulars. The emissary of the ALA was informed by the Abu Kishk that "the Arabs of the area will cooperate with the Jews against any outside force that tries to enter."
In mid-March, the Alexandroni Brigade
of the IDF
imposed a 'quarantine' on the village, Abu Kishk and two smaller satellite villages of Jalil al Shamaliyya and Jalil al Qibliya and may even have occupied houses on the edge of village.
On March 12, 1948, the Irgun
and Lehi
(LHI) groups kidnapped five village notables. The Intelligence Services of the IDF noted that
Though the notables were turned over to the Haganah on the 23 March and returned to Shaykh Muwannis, most of the villagers there and in other villages north of the Yarkon River continued to leave, as their confidence had been "mortally undermined". Tawfiq Abu Kishk threw a large parting 'banquet' for the remaining villagers and their Jewish friends on the 28 March 1948. After their departure, the village lands were promptly allocated for Jewish use by the Yishuv
leaders, and were ultimately incorporated into the municipality of Tel Aviv.
In the days following, the Abu Kishk leaders attributed their abandonment of the village to: "a) the [Haganah] roadblocks ... b) the [Haganah] limitations on movement by foot, c) the theft [by Jews?] of vehicles, and d) the last kidnapping of Sheikh Muwannis men by the LHI." The villagers of Shaykh Muwannis became refugee
s, with the majority taking up residence in Qalqilya and Tulkarem.
historian Walid Khalidi
, the village's remaining structures in 1992 consisted of several houses occupied by Jewish families and the wall of a house.Tel Aviv University lies on the land of Al-Shaykh Muwannis and the former home of the village sheikh serves as the University's faculty club.
In a right of return
march organized by the Israel
i group Zochrot
on Nakba Day
in 2004, participants called upon the Tel Aviv municipality to name six streets in the city after Palestinian villages that has existed there until 1948, among them, Al-Shaykh Muwannis.
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 Jaffa
Jaffa
Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...
in British Mandate Palestine located approximately 8.5 kilometers from the center of Jaffa city
Jaffa
Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...
in territory earmarked for Jewish state
Jewish state
A homeland for the Jewish people was an idea that rose to the fore in the 19th century in the wake of growing anti-Semitism and Jewish assimilation. Jewish emancipation in Europe paved the way for two ideological solutions to the Jewish Question: cultural assimilation, as envisaged by Moses...
hood under the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine.
The village had apparently existed for centuries, but some residents are said to have arrived from Egypt during the British Mandate period (1921-1948). The village population grew from 315 in 1879 to 664 in 1922 and tripled to 2160 in 1948. The village was abandoned in March 1948 under pressure from Jewish militia, two months before 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...
. Today, Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University is a public university located in Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel. With nearly 30,000 students, TAU is Israel's largest university.-History:...
lies on part of the village land.
History
According to local legend, the village was named for a local religious figure, al-Shaykh Muwannis, whose tomb/shrine (maqam) was in the village. Most of the villagers were members of the Abu KishkAbu Kishk
Abu Kishk was a bedouin village in the District of Jaffa located 12 km northeast of Jaffa, situated 2 km northwest of the Yarkon River...
tribe.
In the 1920s, the government of the British Mandate attempted to gain title to lands lying to the west of Al-Shaykh Muwannis and extending to the coast of the Mediterranean sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
on the grounds that it was "waste and uncultivated." According to the authors of a book on the Israeli-Arab conflict, the Arabs of the Jaffa-Tel Aviv region "understood the implications of the Zionist-cum-British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
discourses of development generally and their implementation through town planning schemes." In 1937, the Arabic daily al Ja'miah al-Islamiyya commented on British plans to build a bypass road for Tel Aviv residents on what they claimed were village lands: "[I]n reality the plan in the Town Planning Commission now including Sheikh Muwannis is not really a 'plan', but rather a plan to take the land out of the hands of its owners."
Before the 1948 war, the population of al-Shaykh Muwannis was 2,000. There were two schools in the village, a boy's school built in 1932 and a girl's school built in 1943. A total of 266 students were registered in these schools in 1945. The villagers worked in agriculture, particularly citrus cultivation. In 1944/45 a total of 3,749 dunum
Dunum
Dunum is a municipality in the district of Wittmund, in Lower Saxony, Germany....
s were used for growing citrus and bananas, while 7,165 dunums of village land was used for cereal
Cereal
Cereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran...
s. 66 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards, irrigation water was drawn from al-Awja river and a large number of artesian wells.
Before 1948
In 1948, the population was largely made up of fellaheen who enjoyed friendly relations with Jews, despite occasional tension. In 1946, for example, three Arab villagers raped a Jewish girl. In the midst of the court proceedings, members of the HaganahHaganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
shot and wounded one of the attackers, and kidnapped and castrated another. In 1947, in the wake of growing hostility in the days leading up to the war, some of the villagers began to leave. Most stayed, as village notables had secured Haganah protection in exchange for keeping the peace and preventing Arab Liberation Army
Arab Liberation Army
The Arab Liberation Army , also translated as Arab Salvation Army, was an army of volunteers from Arab countries led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji...
(ALA) irregulars from the using the village to attack Yishuv forces. While occasional shots were fired from the village toward Jewish residential areas in January and February 1948, there were no casualties, and the Abu Kishk abided by their promise to keep out ALA irregulars. The emissary of the ALA was informed by the Abu Kishk that "the Arabs of the area will cooperate with the Jews against any outside force that tries to enter."
In mid-March, the Alexandroni Brigade
Alexandroni Brigade
The Alexandroni Brigade is an Israel Defense Forces brigade that fought in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Along with the 7th Armoured Brigade both units had 139 killed during the first battle of Latrun - Operation Ben Nun Alef .The unit is currently a reserve unit.-Katz controversy:In 1998, Teddy Katz...
of 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...
imposed a 'quarantine' on the village, Abu Kishk and two smaller satellite villages of Jalil al Shamaliyya and Jalil al Qibliya and may even have occupied houses on the edge of village.
On March 12, 1948, the Irgun
Irgun
The Irgun , or Irgun Zevai Leumi to give it its full title , was a Zionist paramilitary group that operated in Mandate Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of the earlier and larger Jewish paramilitary organization haHaganah...
and Lehi
Lehi (group)
Lehi , commonly referred to in English as the Stern Group or Stern Gang, was a militant Zionist group founded by Avraham Stern in the British Mandate of Palestine...
(LHI) groups kidnapped five village notables. The Intelligence Services of the IDF noted that
"many of the villagers ... began fleeing following the abduction of the notables of Sheikh Muwannis. The Arab learned that it was not enough to reach an agreement with the HaganahHaganahHaganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
and that there were 'other Jews' of whom to beware, and possibly to be aware of more than the Haganah, which had not control over them."
Though the notables were turned over to the Haganah on the 23 March and returned to Shaykh Muwannis, most of the villagers there and in other villages north of the Yarkon River continued to leave, as their confidence had been "mortally undermined". Tawfiq Abu Kishk threw a large parting 'banquet' for the remaining villagers and their Jewish friends on the 28 March 1948. After their departure, the village lands were promptly allocated for Jewish use by the Yishuv
Yishuv
The Yishuv or Ha-Yishuv is the term referring to the body of Jewish residents in Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel...
leaders, and were ultimately incorporated into the municipality of Tel Aviv.
In the days following, the Abu Kishk leaders attributed their abandonment of the village to: "a) the [Haganah] roadblocks ... b) the [Haganah] limitations on movement by foot, c) the theft [by Jews?] of vehicles, and d) the last kidnapping of Sheikh Muwannis men by the LHI." The villagers of Shaykh Muwannis became refugee
Palestinian refugee
Palestinian refugees or Palestine refugees are the people and their descendants, predominantly Palestinian Arabic-speakers, who fled or were expelled from their homes during and after the 1948 Palestine War, within that part of the British Mandate of Palestine, that after that war became the...
s, with the majority taking up residence in Qalqilya and Tulkarem.
Today
According to the PalestinianPalestinian 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...
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...
, the village's remaining structures in 1992 consisted of several houses occupied by Jewish families and the wall of a house.Tel Aviv University lies on the land of Al-Shaykh Muwannis and the former home of the village sheikh serves as the University's faculty club.
In a right of return
Palestinian right of return
The Palestinian right of return is a political position or principle asserting that Palestinian refugees, both first-generation refugees and their descendants, have a right to return, and a right to the property they or their forebears left or which they were forced to leave in what is now Israel...
march organized by 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 group Zochrot
Zochrot
Zochrot 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...
on Nakba Day
Nakba Day
Nakba Day is generally commemorated on May 15, the day after the Gregorian calendar date for Israeli independence day...
in 2004, participants called upon the Tel Aviv municipality to name six streets in the city after Palestinian villages that has existed there until 1948, among them, Al-Shaykh Muwannis.
External links
- Welcome to al-Shaykh-Muwannis,
- All About... Shaykh Muwannis, from 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...
- Opposition to the demolition of the Beidas House, one of the last remains of Sheikh Muwanis in Tel Aviv by Esther Zandberg Ha’aretz Aug. 13, 2003
- Sheikh Muwanis 2003, Zochrot
- Tel Aviv University is asked to acknowledge its past and to commemorate the Palestinian village on which grounds the university was built, Zochrot
- A Palestinian Village in the Heart of Tel Aviv? by Omer Carmon, August 15, 2005, Zochrot