Summil
Encyclopedia
Summil was a Palestinian
Arab
village in the District of Gaza
, located 36 kilometres (22.4 mi) northeast of Gaza
. It was situated on a sandy hill in the coastal plain and had a population of 950 in 1945. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
.
by the Hospitallers for the purpose of protecting the fortress in Bayt Jibrin
. Local tradition claims it was named after Samuel, one of the Crusaders who established the village. Under Mamluk
rule in the 13th-15th centuries, it was referred to as Barakat al-Khalil ("the blessing of Abraham"), because its tax revenues were used by the sultan Barquq to endow the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron
. In 1596, Summil was within the boundaries of the nahiya of Gaza, part of the Sanjak of Gaza. With a population of 363, it paid taxes on wheat, barley, fruit, beehives, and goats.
When Edward Robinson
visited Summil in the mid-19th century, he noted that it was a "considerable village on an elevation of the plain." He noticed a public well over 100 feet (30.5 m) deep and 11 feet (3.4 m) in diameter. He said that there was "portion of an ancient wall apparently once belonging to a castle." In the late-19th century, Summil had a semi-circular plan. During the British Mandate period, the village expanded toward the southwest and relied on al-Faluja
for commercial, medical, and administrative services. A mosque
built on the remnants of a Crusader church was maintained by the Muslim
inhabitants. Village houses were built of adobe brick and a school opened in 1936. By the mid-1940s it had an enrollment of 88 students. The community obtained domestic water from a 48 metres (157.5 ft) deep well named "al-Khalil".
's thrust southward during the period in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
known as the Ten Days between the truces of July 8 and July 18, 1948. During this offensive, Israel
i forces managed to occupy a broad swath of territory south of the Jerusalem-Ramla
road, displacing over 20,000 people. Although Israeli military accounts later claimed that the inhabitants fled with the approach of Israeli columns, the Haganah
spoke of "several cleaning operations" with Summil being one of the villages mentioned. Its inhabitants fled east toward the Hebron area.
On July 19, 1948, an IDF patrol clashed with armed infiltrators at Summil, killing one and wounding another. The patrol warned any refugees they encountered that if anyone of them entered "the areas under our control-they would be killed". The day after, on the July 20, the IDF were formally instructed to prevent infiltration to Summil, Barqusya
, Bi´lin, Masmiya al Saghira, al-Tina
, Kheima, Idnibba
, Jilya
, Qazaza
, and Mughallis
. The orders specifically were to "destroy" any "armed force" encountered, and to "expel...unarmed villagers".
The Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi
described the village remains in 1992 as: "The remnants of a wall, perhaps one that was built around the village, are still visible. Otherwise, much of the site is overgrown with khubbayza (a wild plant belonging to the mallow family
that is cooked as a vegetable in Palestinian peasant cuisine) and grass. There is also a Christ's-thorn
trees and dense stands of cactuses; an old cactus-lined village road is visible.
A shanty that houses an Arab family (whose members probably work in one of the Israeli settlements) has been built on the land. The adjacent land is cultivated by Israeli farmers."
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 Gaza
District of Gaza
The District of Gaza was an administrative district, situated in the southern Mediterranean coastline of the British Mandate of Palestine. After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the district disintegrated, with Israel controlling the northern and eastern portions while Egypt held control of the southern...
, located 36 kilometres (22.4 mi) northeast of Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
. It was situated on a sandy hill in the coastal plain and had a population of 950 in 1945. It was depopulated during 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...
.
History
Summil was founded in 1168 during the CrusadesCrusades
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...
by the Hospitallers for the purpose of protecting the fortress in Bayt Jibrin
Bayt 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...
. Local tradition claims it was named after Samuel, one of the Crusaders who established the village. Under Mamluk
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
rule in the 13th-15th centuries, it was referred to as Barakat al-Khalil ("the blessing of Abraham"), because its tax revenues were used by the sultan Barquq to endow the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
. In 1596, Summil was within the boundaries of the nahiya of Gaza, part of the Sanjak of Gaza. With a population of 363, it paid taxes on wheat, barley, fruit, beehives, and goats.
When Edward Robinson
Edward Robinson (scholar)
Edward Robinson was an American biblical scholar, known as the “Father of Biblical Geography.” He has been referred to as the “founder of modern Palestinology.” -Biography:...
visited Summil in the mid-19th century, he noted that it was a "considerable village on an elevation of the plain." He noticed a public well over 100 feet (30.5 m) deep and 11 feet (3.4 m) in diameter. He said that there was "portion of an ancient wall apparently once belonging to a castle." In the late-19th century, Summil had a semi-circular plan. During the British Mandate period, the village expanded toward the southwest and relied on al-Faluja
Al-Faluja
al-Faluja was an Arab village in the British Mandate of Palestine, located 30 kilometers northeast of Gaza City. The village and the neighbouring village of Iraq al-Manshiyya formed part of the Faluja pocket, where 4,000 Egyptian troops were besieged for four months by the newly established Israel...
for commercial, medical, and administrative services. 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...
built on the remnants of a Crusader church was maintained by the Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
inhabitants. Village houses were built of adobe brick and a school opened in 1936. By the mid-1940s it had an enrollment of 88 students. The community obtained domestic water from a 48 metres (157.5 ft) deep well named "al-Khalil".
1948, and aftermath
Summil was captured by the Givati BrigadeGivati Brigade
The Givati Brigade is an infantry brigade of the Israel Defense Forces, and serves as its amphibious force. Givati soldiers are designated by purple berets...
's thrust southward during the period in 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...
known as the Ten Days between the truces of July 8 and July 18, 1948. During this offensive, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i forces managed to occupy a broad swath of territory south of the Jerusalem-Ramla
Ramla
Ramla , is a city in central Israel. The city is predominantly Jewish with a significant Arab minority. Ramla was founded circa 705–715 AD by the Umayyad Caliph Suleiman ibn Abed al-Malik after the Arab conquest of the region...
road, displacing over 20,000 people. Although Israeli military accounts later claimed that the inhabitants fled with the approach of Israeli columns, the Haganah
Haganah
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 :...
spoke of "several cleaning operations" with Summil being one of the villages mentioned. Its inhabitants fled east toward the Hebron area.
On July 19, 1948, an IDF patrol clashed with armed infiltrators at Summil, killing one and wounding another. The patrol warned any refugees they encountered that if anyone of them entered "the areas under our control-they would be killed". The day after, on the July 20, the IDF were formally instructed to prevent infiltration to Summil, Barqusya
Barqusya
Barqusya was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Hebron. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War on July 9, 1948 under Operation An-Far. It was located 31 km northwest of Hebron....
, Bi´lin, Masmiya al Saghira, al-Tina
Al-Tina
Al-Tina was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Ramla. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War on July 8, 1948 by the Givati Brigade under Operation An-Far. It was located 20.5 km south of Ramla....
, Kheima, Idnibba
Idnibba
Idnibba was a Palestinian village, located at latitude 31.7426937N and longitude 34.8561001,E in the southern part of Ramla district. It was depopulated in 1948, at which time its population was 568, and its lands are now used by Kfar Menahem.-History:...
, Jilya
Jilya
Jilya was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Ramla. The Romans referred to it as Jilya by Galla. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War by the Givati Brigade of the first stage of Operation Dani on July 9, 1948. It was located 17 km south of Ramla.A 1596 census revealed...
, Qazaza
Qazaza
Qazaza was a Palestinian village, located south of Ramla. It was depopulated in 1948.-History:A European traveler reported that he passed Qazaza in the 1860s on his way to examine a nearby tell. The villagers of Qazaza, who were predominantly Muslim, maintained a village mosque and some owned...
, and Mughallis
Mughallis
Mughallis was a Palestinian Arab village located northwest of Hebron. In 1945, it had a population of 540. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War between July 9-10, 1948 as part of Operation An-Far.-External links:*...
. The orders specifically were to "destroy" any "armed force" encountered, and to "expel...unarmed villagers".
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...
described the village remains in 1992 as: "The remnants of a wall, perhaps one that was built around the village, are still visible. Otherwise, much of the site is overgrown with khubbayza (a wild plant belonging to the mallow family
Malvaceae
Malvaceae, or the mallow family, is a family of flowering plants containing over 200 genera with close to 2,300 species. Judd & al. Well known members of this family include okra, jute and cacao...
that is cooked as a vegetable in Palestinian peasant cuisine) and grass. There is also a Christ's-thorn
Paliurus spina-christi
Paliurus spina-christi, commonly known as Jerusalem Thorn, Garland Thorn, Christ's Thorn, or Crown of Thorns, is a species of Paliurus native to the Mediterranean region and southwest and central Asia, from Morocco and Spain east to Iran and Tajikistan.It is a deciduous shrub or small tree growing...
trees and dense stands of cactuses; an old cactus-lined village road is visible.
A shanty that houses an Arab family (whose members probably work in one of the Israeli settlements) has been built on the land. The adjacent land is cultivated by Israeli farmers."
External links
- Welcome to Summil
- Summil 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...