Al-Mansi
| al-Mansi | |
|---|---|
  al-Mansi | |
| Arabic | المنسي |
| Also spelled | 'Arab Baniha |
| Subdistrict | Haifa |
| Coordinates | 32°35′41.6″N 35°10′21.65″E / 32.594889°N 35.1726806°ECoordinates: 32°35′41.6″N 35°10′21.65″E / 32.594889°N 35.1726806°E |
| Palestine grid | 166/222 |
| Population | 1,200 (1944/45) |
| Area |
12,272 dunams 12.3 km² |
| Date of depopulation | 12–13 April 1948[1] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault by Yishuv forces |
| Current localities | Midrakh Oz |
Al-Mansi (Arabic: المنسي) and also called ('Arab Baniha Arabic: عرب بنيها) was a Palestinian town in the Haifa Subdistrict. It was occupied on April 12, 1948 by Israeli troops during the Battle of Mishmar HaEmek.
Geography
Al-Mansi is located in the western side of Marge Bin Amer (Arabic: مرج بني عامر ; English: Jezreel Valley), and 30 km South East of Haifa city, and it is at an elevation of 125 meters above the sea level. The total land area is [2](12,272 Dunums;12,272,000 m²)
History
In 1944/45, the population of al-Mansi was 1,200 and had 292 houses, most constructed from stone. It had one elementary school, a mosque and a mill. The land used to be planted with olives, cereals and vegetable. Al-Mansi had six springs in its vicinity which supplied it with drinking water.[3]
1948 war, and aftermath
The newspaper Filastin reported that Zionist forces had infiltrated Al-Mansi on 9 April, resulting in an exchange of fire with the village defenders.[4] According to Fawzi al-Qawuqji, the ALA forces withdrew to Al-Mansi on 11 April, after a "violent" counter-attack.[5]
On April 12, 1948, al-Mansi as well as adjacent towns, were ethnically cleansed and destroyed by the Israeli troops [6] and its people became refugee, and the most of them are living now in the Palestinian refugee camps, Jordan, Syria, Germany and the United States.
The Israeli settlement Midrakh Oz was built close to the village site in 1952, and is occupying part of the town land. The Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, described the village in 1992: "The remains of the school and the mosque are still standing in the midst of a thick undergrowth composed of vines and thorny bushes. The exposed foundations of the village buildings, surrounded by stone rubble, can be seen throughout the site. The agricultural kibbutz of Midrakh Oz occupies part of the adjacent land. The rest is used for growing avocado trees and raising poultry and cattle."[4]
Some of the people of Al-Mansi in Jordan formed a social club in Amman called Diwan al-Mansi (Arabic: ديوان آلالمنسي), and in 2005 a book on Al-Mansi was published.[7]
See also
- Battle of Mishmar HaEmek
- List of Arab towns and villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
References
- ↑ Morris, 2004, p.xviii village number 148
- ↑ The Atlas of Palestine 1948, Dr. Salman Abu Sitta
- ↑ Khalidi, 1992, p. 176-177
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Khalidi, 1992, p. 177
- ↑ al-Qawuqji, 1972, "Memoirs, 1948, Part I", Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 177
- ↑ The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947-1949, Benny Morris
- ↑ المنسي (فلسطين , قضاء حيفا): إحدى القرى التي دمرتها إسرائيل عام 1948. تأليف إسماعيل محمود موسى محسن الجندي. دار النظم للنشر والتوزيع, عمان، اغسطس (آب) من سنة 2005
Bibliography
- Hadawi, Sami (1970), Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine, Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center
- Khalidi, Walid (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
- Morris, Benny (2004), The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-00967-6
- al-Qawuqji, Fauzi (1972): Memoirs of al-Qawuqji, Fauzi in Journal of Palestine Studies
- "Memoirs, 1948, Part I" in 1, no. 4 (Sum. 72): 27-58., dpf-file, downloadable
- "Memoirs, 1948, Part II" in 2, no. 1 (Aut. 72): 3-33., dpf-file, downloadable
External links
- Welcome to al-Mansi Palestine Remembered.
- SWP map VIII, IAA
- SWP map 8, Wikimedia commons
- Al-Mansi photos from Dr. Moslih Kanaaneh
- al-Mansi from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
- Al-Jazeera.
