Iraq al-Manshiyya

Iraq al-Manshiyya
Iraq al-Manshiyya
Arabic	عراق المنشية
Name Meaning	"The cliff of the place of growth"[1]
Also Spelled	'Iraq al-Manshiya, Arak el Menshiyeh[1]
Subdistrict	Gaza
Coordinates	31°36′17″N 34°46′59″E / 31.60472°N 34.78306°E / 31.60472; 34.78306Coordinates: 31°36′17″N 34°46′59″E / 31.60472°N 34.78306°E / 31.60472; 34.78306
Population	2,220[2] (1945)
Area	17,901 dunams 17.9 km²
Date of depopulation	February–June 1949[3]
Cause(s) of depopulation	Expulsion by Yishuv forces
Current localities	Kiryat Gat, Sde Moshe

Iraq al-Manshiyya (Arabic: عراق المنشية‎) was a Palestinian Arab town located 32 km northeast of Gaza City. Its total land area consisted of 13,838 dunams. According to the British Mandate, the town had a population of 2,010 Arabs and 210 Jews in 1945. The town contained two mosques and a shrine for Shaykh Ahmad al-Uranyni.^[2][4]

Location

The village was located 32 km north-east of Gaza, in an area of rolling hills, where the coastal plain and the foothills of the Hebron mountains merged. It was on the south side of the highway between al-Faluja to the north-west, and Bayt Jibrin to the east.^[5]

It was also located at the foot of Tell Maqam Shayk Ahmad al-Arayni (now: Tell Gat).^[6][7][8] It has been speculated that the mound was of Assyrian origin.^[9]

History

A khan was established at the site in 717 H. (1317-1318 C.E.) by al-Malik Jukandar during the reign of the Mamluk sultan al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun. This is according to inscriptions on either side of the entrance to the Maqam Shayk Ahmad al-Arayni, at the summit of the tell.^[10]

In 1596 Iraq al-Manshiyya was a village in the Ottoman Empire, nahiya (subdistrict) of Gaza under the liwa' (district) of Gaza, with a population of 61. It paid taxes on a number of crops, including wheat, and barley, as well as goats and beehives.^[11]

In 1838, Edward Robinson noted the village, located SW of Summil,^[12] while in 1863, the French explorer Victor Guérin visited the village, and described a white domed waly on the top of the Tell, north of the village.^[13] The village itself had around 300 inhabitants, but Guérin, assumed it had formerly been larger. Around two wells were columns of gray-white marble.^[14]

In the late Ottoman Period a railway station was established near the village, however, this station was destroyed in World War I.^[15]

In the late nineteenth century, Iraq al-Manshiyya was described as a village built of adobe bricks and surrounded by arable land. The village had a radial plan, with its smaller streets branching out from the intersection of two perpendicular main streets. Three wells supplied the village with water for domestic use. As the village grew, it expanded towards the northeast in the direction of the large mound, called Tall al-Shaykh Ahmad al- Urayni. At the summit, some 32 m. high, was the religious shrine for Shaykh Ahmad al-´Urayni.^[16] The shrine consisted of a roofless walled enclosure made of reused stone blocks. The doorway was located in the middle of the north wall. Above the doorway was a marble lintel, while on each side of the door were the above-mentioned inscriptions. Opposite, on the south wall, was a deep concave mihrab.^[6]

The villagers worked primarily in agriculture; grain, grapes, and many varieties of trees (such as olive and almond trees) were cultivated. In 1944/45 a total of 13,449 dunums was allocated to cereals, 53 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards. Goats and sheep supplied the materials (hair and yarn) needed for rug weaving. The villagers dyed their rugs in al-Faluja, where they also went for medical treatment and other services.^[5][17]

1948 Arab-Israeli War, and after

Iraq al-Manshiyya was in the territory allotted to the Arab state under the 1947 UN Partition Plan.^[18]

However, it was captured by Israel's Alexandroni Brigade on March 1, 1949 from Egyptian forces in Operation Yoav. The Egyptian Army controlled the area - which included al-Faluja - surrounded by Israeli forces. After Egypt and Israel negotiated an armistice agreement, the Israeli Defense Forces intimidated the inhabitants to flee.^[19]

According to the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, a kibbutz named Gat was established in 1941 on lands that traditionally belonged to the village; it took over additional lands after the expulsion of the villagers. In 1954 Qiryat Gat was established on village land, and in 1956 Sde Moshe was established on village land east of the village site.^[20]

According to the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, the structures on the village land in 1992 are: "A forest of eucalyptus has been planted on the site, and two signs, each in both Hebrew and English, identify it as "Margolin Peace Forest." Only traces of the village streets remain, along with scattered cactuses. Part of the surrounding land is cultivated by Israeli farmers."^[20]

The shrine stood until at least 1946, when it was inspected by the Antiquities Department. During the 1950s it was described as being in very ruinous condition, and Petersen, inspecting it in 1994, found no inscriptions or standing structures; an outline on the ground were the only visible remains of the building.^[6]

See also

• List of Arab towns and villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War

References

Bibliography

External links

• Welcome To 'Iraq al-Manshiyya
• 'Iraq al-Manshiyya from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
• The Nakba, Intel, and Kiryat Gat, by Henry Norr, The Electronic Intifada, 23 July 2008
• Tracing All That Remains of Iraq al-Manshiyya, video, youtube.com