Arab al-Bawati

Arab al-Bawati
Arab al-Bawati
Arabic عرب البواطي/خربة الحكمة
Name meaning Kh. el Hakeimîyeh, the ruin of el Hakeimîyeh[1]
Subdistrict Baysan
Coordinates 32°31′41″N 35°32′21″E / 32.52806°N 35.53917°E / 32.52806; 35.53917Coordinates: 32°31′41″N 35°32′21″E / 32.52806°N 35.53917°E / 32.52806; 35.53917
Palestine grid 200/214
Population 520[2][3] (1945)
Area 10,641 dunams
Date of depopulation 16 or 20 May 1948[4]
Cause(s) of depopulation Influence of nearby town's fall

Arab al-Bawati (Arabic: عرب البواطي/خربة الحكمة‎), was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Baysan. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

It was located 4 kilometres north east of Baysan in the Baysan valley.

History

Khirbat al Bawati contained ruins of walls, pillars, the foundations of buildings, and Roman milestones.[5]

In 1882, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described Kh. el Hakeimiyeh as having "ruined walls and a few modern deserted houses - a small deserted village."[6]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the Mandatory Palestine authorities, Bawati had a population of 348 Muslims,[7] increasing in the 1931 census to 461, (under the name of 'Arab Hakamiya) still all Muslims, in 86 houses.[8]

In the 1945 statistics it had a population of 520 Muslims[2] with a total of 10,641 dunums of land.[3] That year Arabs used 2,225 dunams of village lands for plantations and irrigated land, 3,335 for cereals,[9] while 52 dunams were classed as uncultivable.[10]

1948 and aftermath

Many of the villagers left early in the war, apparently after a Haganah attack.[11][12] The village was destroyed on May 16, or May 20, 1948.[4] Following the war the area was incorporated into the State of Israel and the land was left undeveloped; the nearest village is Hamadia.

In 1992, it was described: "All of the village houses have been demolished. The remains of basalt stone walls and the square and circular foundations of buildings can be seen among the weeds."[5]

References

  1. ↑ Palmer, 1881, p. 162
  2. 1 2 Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 6
  3. 1 2 Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 43
  4. 1 2 Morris, 2004, p. xvii, village #135. Also gives cause of depopulation, with a "?"
  5. 1 2 Khalidi, 1992, p. 42
  6. ↑ Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 122
  7. ↑ Barron, 1923, Table IX, p. 31
  8. ↑ Mills, 1932, p. 79
  9. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 84
  10. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 134
  11. ↑ Morris, 2004, p. 132, note #543
  12. ↑ Morris, 2004, p. 160, note #543

Bibliography

  • Barron, J. B., ed. (1923). Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922. Government of Palestine.
  • Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1882). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. 2. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
  • Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945. Government of Palestine.
  • Hadawi, S. (1970). Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine. Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center.
  • Khalidi, W. (1992). All That Remains:The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948. Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies. ISBN 0-88728-224-5.
  • Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
  • Morris, B. (2004). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-00967-6.
  • Palmer, E.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
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