| Yibna | ||
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Yibna
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| Arabic | يبنى | |
| Also Spelled | Jabneel, Iamnia, Jamnia | |
| District | Ramla | |
| Coordinates | ||
| Population | 5,420 (1945) | |
| Area | 59,554 dunums | |
| Date of depopulation | 4 June 1948[1] | |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault by Yishuv forces | |
| Secondary cause | Expulsion by Yishuv forces | |
| Current localities | Yavne[2]Beit Raban, Kfar HaNagid Beit Gamliel | |
Yibna (Arabic: يبنى, in Biblical times, Jabneel, in Roman times, Iamnia, Jamnia, or Yavne, and in the Crusades, Ibelin) was a Palestinian village of 5,420 inhabitants, located 15 kilometers southwest of Ramla.[3] Yibna was occupied by Israeli forces on June 4, 1948, and was depopulated during the military assault and expulsion.[1]
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The Islamic historian al-Biladhuri mentioned Yibna as one of ten towns in Jund Filastin conquered by the Rashidun army led by 'Amr ibn al-'As in the early 7th century.[4]
In the 9th century, Ya'qubi wrote that Yubna was an ancient city built on a hill that was inhabited by Samaritans.[5]
Al-Muqaddasi, writing around 985, said that "Yubna has a beautiful mosque. From this place come the excellent figs known by the name of Damascene."[6] Yaqut wrote that in Yubna there was a tomb said to be that of Abu Hurairah, the companion (sahaba) of the Prophet. The author of Marasid also adds that tomb seen here is also said to be that of ´Abd Allah ibn Abi Sarh, another companion (sahaba) of the Prophet.[5] A mosque built in 1386 survives until today.
In 1596, Yibna was part of the Ottoman Empire, nahiya (subdistrict) of Gaza under the liwa' (district) of Gaza with a population of 710. It paid taxes on a number of crops, including wheat, barley, summer crops, sesame seeds and fruits, as well as goats, beehives and vineyards.[7]
The American missionary, William Thomson, who visited Yibna in 1834, described it as a village on hill inhabited by 3,000 Muslim residents who worked in agriculture. He wrote that an inscription on the mosque indicated that it had been built in 1386.[8][9]
In the late nineteenth century, the Yibna was described as a large village partly built of stone and situated on a hill. It had olive trees and corn to the north, and gardens nearby.[10]
In 1921, an elementary school for boys was founded in Yibna. By 1941-42 it had 445 students. A school for girls was founded in 1943, and by 1948 it had 44 students.[3]
In 1944/45 the village had a population of 5,420, in addition to 1,500 nomads living around the village. A total of 6,468 dunums of village land was used for citrus and bananas, 15,124 dunums were used for cereals, and 11,091 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards, of which 25 dunums were planted with olive trees.[3][11]
In 1941, Kibbutz Yavne was established nearby by immigrants from Germany, followed by a Youth Aliyah village, Givat Washington, in 1946.
After 1948, a number of Israeli villages were founded on Yibna land: Kfar HaNagid and Beit Gamliel in 1949, Ben Zakai in 1950, Kfar Aviv (originally: "Kfar HaYeor") in 1951, Tzofiyya in 1955.[12] According to Walid Khalidi, a railroad crosses the village. The old mosque and minaret, together with a shrine can still be seen, and some of the old houses are inhabited by Jewish and Arab families.
Archaeological excavations in modern day Yavne found three wall segments probably from buildings in the pre-1948 Arab village of Yibna, alongside an unguentarium dating to the Early Roman period.[13] In Square A, where artifacts from the Byzantine and Roman eras were found, it is noted that "part of the Arab village at Yibna also extended on top of the cemetery and refuse pits from the Byzantine period to the foot of the tell."[13]
Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour made Yibna the subject of one of his paintings. The work, named for the village, was one of a series of four on destroyed Palestinian villages that he produced in 1988; the others being Yalo, Imwas and Bayt Dajan.[14]
