Umm Khalid
Encyclopedia
Umm Khalid also called Mukhalid, was a Palestinian
village in the District of Tulkarm
, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) west of Tulkarm
. It was an ancient site in the central coastline of what is now the city of Netanya
, Israel
.
. The building was mentioned in 1135, mostly destroyed c. 1948, and partly excavated in 1985/86. It appears to have been continuously in use from the Crusader period until 1948. Archaeological findings around the village included the remains of towers, fortresses, wells, reservoirs, cisterns, and pottery.
The village was razed by the troops of Napoleon during their return to Egypt after their failed siege of Acre in 1799
, and the British traveller James Silk Buckingham
, who passed through the village ("El Mukalid") in 1816, described it as still "rather poor", while noting that the village resembled an Egyptian one in form and constructions of its huts.
In the nineteenth century, Umm Khalid was a rest area between al-Tantura
and Ras al-Ayn
, where Ottoman
officials stopped and received dignitaries. When Mary Rogers, the sister of the British
vice-consul in Haifa, visited the Umm Khalid in 1856 she described it as a flourishing village, and noted the extensive melon gardens to the west of the village.
In 1873, the village was described as "A small mud village, with ruins, and a sacred place to the south. On the east is a good masonry well, with troughs and a wheel for raising the water. ... There are also cisterns, and a pond with mud banks. There are cornfields to the east, but the soil is very sandy. The place is famous for its water melons, which are shipped at the little harbour called Minet Abu Zabura." Among the ruins were seen a vaulted building with remnants of a second story, a well built well, and six circular rock-cut granaries.
In 1931, Umm Khalid had 131 occupied houses and a population of 580 Muslims and 6 Christians.
At the village center was a mosque
, an elementary school for boys, and four shops for groceries and fabrics. In 1944/45 a total of 47 dunum
s was used for citrus and bananas, while 1,830 dunums were planted with cereals. At the same time, it was registered that 2,894 dunum
s of land was Arab owned, 882 Jewish owned, while 89 dunam was public property.
The British historian R. Esber interviewed refugees from Umm Khalid. According to Ahamed 'Uthman, Zionist surrounded and blockaded the village in 1947, and continued into 1948:
Much of the village land has been engulfed by the suburbs of the city of Netanya, originally founded in 1929 one kilometer to the west. The settlement of Gan Chefer, founded in 1940, and Nira
, founded in 1941, were merged in 1953 to form a single, large settlement named Shaar Chefer; this settlement covers part of the village land.
According to the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi
, the structures on the village land were in 1992: "The village site has become part of the city of Netanya. Some houses remain and are used either as residences or for commercial purposes such as warehouses for Israeli companies. The land in the vicinity are planted in citrus trees.
In 1997, bulldozers leveling ground for a school building in Netanya
uncovered remains of the cemetery of Umm Khalid. The Aqsa Association for the Preservation of Consecrated Islamic Property petitioned the High Court of Justice. As a result, the city of Netanya
agreed to halt work in the area which had not been damaged, and to put up a sign: "Here is the Muslim cemetery of the village Umm Khalid." The Muslims refused to accept that the area should be turned into a park, stating that "No foot shall tread on the graves."
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...
village in the District of Tulkarm
District of Tulkarm
The District of Tulkarm was an administrative district, situated in the British Mandate of Palestine around the city of Tulkarm. After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the district disintegrated, the western part became part of the Central District of Israel and the eastern part, became a part of the...
, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) west of Tulkarm
Tulkarm
Tulkarem or Tulkarm is a Palestinian city in the northern Samarian mountain range in the Tulkarm Governorate in the extreme northwestern West Bank adjacent to the Netanya and Haifa districts to the west, the Nablus and Jenin Districts to the east...
. It was an ancient site in the central coastline of what is now the city of Netanya
Netanya
Netanya is a city in the Northern Centre District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is located north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa between the 'Poleg' stream and Wingate Institute in the south and the 'Avichail' stream in the north.Its of beaches have made the...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
History
Flint tools found around the area suggest that the site might have been inhabited since prehistoric times. Remnants of buildings, installations and burial caves dating from the first century BCE have been found. The village site contained the Lombard Castle of Roger, built by the CrusadersCrusaders
The Crusaders are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Christchurch that competes in the Super Rugby competition. They are the most successful team in Super Rugby history with seven titles...
. The building was mentioned in 1135, mostly destroyed c. 1948, and partly excavated in 1985/86. It appears to have been continuously in use from the Crusader period until 1948. Archaeological findings around the village included the remains of towers, fortresses, wells, reservoirs, cisterns, and pottery.
The village was razed by the troops of Napoleon during their return to Egypt after their failed siege of Acre in 1799
Siege of Acre (1799)
The Siege of Acre of 1799 was an unsuccessful French siege of the Ottoman-defended, walled city of Acre and was the turning point of Napoleon's invasion of Egypt and Syria.-Background:...
, and the British traveller James Silk Buckingham
James Silk Buckingham
James Silk Buckingham was an English author, journalist and traveller.He was born at Flushing near Falmouth, the son of a farmer, and had a limited education. His youth was spent at sea, and in 1797 he was captured by the French and held as a prisoner of war at Corunna...
, who passed through the village ("El Mukalid") in 1816, described it as still "rather poor", while noting that the village resembled an Egyptian one in form and constructions of its huts.
In the nineteenth century, Umm Khalid was a rest area between al-Tantura
Al-Tantura
Tantura was a Palestinian Arab fishing village located 8 kilometers northwest of Zikhron Ya'akov on the Mediterranean coast of Israel. It was built on the ruins of the ancient Phoenician city of Dor.-Antiquity:...
and Ras al-Ayn
Antipatris
Antipatris, one of two places known as Tel Afek , was a city built by Herod the Great, and named in honour of his father, Antipater II of Judea...
, where Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
officials stopped and received dignitaries. When Mary Rogers, the sister of the British
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
vice-consul in Haifa, visited the Umm Khalid in 1856 she described it as a flourishing village, and noted the extensive melon gardens to the west of the village.
In 1873, the village was described as "A small mud village, with ruins, and a sacred place to the south. On the east is a good masonry well, with troughs and a wheel for raising the water. ... There are also cisterns, and a pond with mud banks. There are cornfields to the east, but the soil is very sandy. The place is famous for its water melons, which are shipped at the little harbour called Minet Abu Zabura." Among the ruins were seen a vaulted building with remnants of a second story, a well built well, and six circular rock-cut granaries.
In 1931, Umm Khalid had 131 occupied houses and a population of 580 Muslims and 6 Christians.
At the village center was 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...
, an elementary school for boys, and four shops for groceries and fabrics. In 1944/45 a total of 47 dunum
Dunum
Dunum is a municipality in the district of Wittmund, in Lower Saxony, Germany....
s was used for citrus and bananas, while 1,830 dunums were planted with cereals. At the same time, it was registered that 2,894 dunum
Dunum
Dunum is a municipality in the district of Wittmund, in Lower Saxony, Germany....
s of land was Arab owned, 882 Jewish owned, while 89 dunam was public property.
1948 and after
According to an Israeli military report, Umm Khalid was evacuated 20 March 1948. The village was located in an area which was regarded by the Zionist leadership as the core of the planned Jewish state, and in their view it was therefore desirable that the Arab residents were made to leave before 15 May.The British historian R. Esber interviewed refugees from Umm Khalid. According to Ahamed 'Uthman, Zionist surrounded and blockaded the village in 1947, and continued into 1948:
"[The Jews] did not allow any to enter or leave the village. They did not allow us to sell or buy anything from outside the village.....After a month of the Jewish blockade, some families left. [..] We had been awaiting the end og the blockade, but it would not end unless the people left...They were shooting, but not heavily. They shot from outside the village to make the villagers afraid.
No one returned to Umm Khalid. We were not allowed to return....Jews killed many people in Mlabis and in many other places....What did they do in Dayr YassinDeir Yassin massacreThe Deir Yassin massacre took place on April 9, 1948, when around 120 fighters from the Irgun Zevai Leumi and Lohamei Herut Israel Zionist paramilitary groups attacked Deir Yassin near Jerusalem, a Palestinian-Arab village of roughly 600 people...
?...I thank God we left before they entered the village."
Much of the village land has been engulfed by the suburbs of the city of Netanya, originally founded in 1929 one kilometer to the west. The settlement of Gan Chefer, founded in 1940, and Nira
Nira
-Nira:*garlic chives*Nira, Maharashtra, a town in southwestern Maharashtra state in India*Nira, Israel, a village in Israel, today part of Beit Yitzhak-Sha'ar Hefer*NIRA Dynamics AB, a Swedish company...
, founded in 1941, were merged in 1953 to form a single, large settlement named Shaar Chefer; this settlement covers part of the village land.
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...
, the structures on the village land were in 1992: "The village site has become part of the city of Netanya. Some houses remain and are used either as residences or for commercial purposes such as warehouses for Israeli companies. The land in the vicinity are planted in citrus trees.
In 1997, bulldozers leveling ground for a school building in Netanya
Netanya
Netanya is a city in the Northern Centre District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is located north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa between the 'Poleg' stream and Wingate Institute in the south and the 'Avichail' stream in the north.Its of beaches have made the...
uncovered remains of the cemetery of Umm Khalid. The Aqsa Association for the Preservation of Consecrated Islamic Property petitioned the High Court of Justice. As a result, the city of Netanya
Netanya
Netanya is a city in the Northern Centre District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is located north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa between the 'Poleg' stream and Wingate Institute in the south and the 'Avichail' stream in the north.Its of beaches have made the...
agreed to halt work in the area which had not been damaged, and to put up a sign: "Here is the Muslim cemetery of the village Umm Khalid." The Muslims refused to accept that the area should be turned into a park, stating that "No foot shall tread on the graves."
External links
- Palestine Remembered - Umm-Khalid
- Umm Khalid 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...