Welcome To Bayt Jirja - بيت جرجا (בית ג'ירג'א)

District of Gaza Ethnically cleansed days ago	العربية Google Earth
	Gallery (22)

Statistic & Fact

Value

Occupation Date

October 30, 1948

Distance From District

15.5 (km) North East of Gaza

Elevation

50 (meters)

Before & After Nakba, Click Map For Details

Pre-Nakba Map showing before and after destruction

Pre-Nakba Aerial View

Map Location

See location #36 on the map

View from satellite

Military Operation

Operation Yo'av

Attacking Units

Possibly a combination of Giv'ati, Negev, and Yiftach brigades

Defenders

Egyptian Army

Exodus Cause

Military assault by Zionist troops

Village Temains

The village was completely destroyed, and only one house remains. If this house is yours, then your are welcome to claim it back!

Ethnically Cleansing

Bayt Jirja inhabitants were completely ethnically cleansed.

Pre-Nakba
Land Ownership

Ethnic Group	Land Ownership (Dunums)*
Arab	8,015
Jewish	116
Public	350
**Total	8,481

**Town Lands' Demarcation Maps

Land Usage
As of 1945

Land Usage	Arab (Dunum)*	Jewish (Dunum)*
Citrus Groves	434	98
Irrigated & Plantation	618	18
Planted W/ Cereal	6,911	0
Built up	25	0
Arable	7,963	116
Non-Arable	377	0

Population

Year	Population*
1596	468
1922	397
1931	619
1945	940
1948	1,090
Est. Refugees 1998	6,696

*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics

Number of Houses

Year	Number of Houses
1931	115
1948	202

Near By Towns

al-Khisas ↖	Barbara ↑ (N)	Bayt Tima ↗
Hiribya ←	Bayt Jirja	→ Hulayqat
↙ Dayr Sunayd	↓ Dimra	↘ Hulayqat

Places of Warship

One mosque

Shrines / Maqams

A shrine for al-Nabi Jirja.

Nearby Wadies & Rivers

Bayt Jirja was overlooking Wadi al-'Abd.

Water Supply

The village had number of wells, ranging in depth from 30 to 80 meters deep.

Archeological Sites

Bayt Jirja contained Khirbat 'Amuda, which was known to the Crusades by Amouhde, and it contained pottery fragments, cisterns, and a pool.

Exculsive Jewish Colonies
Who Usurped Village Lands

Mavqi'im, Ge'a, and Talmey Yafe.

Village Before Nakba

The village was situated in a flat area on the southern coastal plain; a wadi crossed its western periphery. Bayt Jirja lay about 1 km east of the coastal highway―which afforded it access to Gaza, al-Majdal, Jaffa, and other areas―and was at a similar distance from the coastal railway line. A number of secondary roads and dirt paths linked it to adjacent villages. The Arab geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi (d. 1228) called it Jirja, and said that it was the birthplace of Abu al-Fadl al-Jarji, at one time the major authority in Palestine on hadith (the body of reports about the prophet Muhammad's life, an authoritative guide for the pious). In 1596 Bayt Jirja (erroneously named 'Bayt Kharja' in the Ottoman records) was in the nahiya of Gaza (liwa' of Gaza) and had a population of 468. It paid taxes on wheat, barley, fruit trees, goats, and beehives. The Ottoman village disappeared at one point; an inscription on its mosque indicated that the modern Bayt Jirja was founded in 1825 (or perhaps somewhat earlier). In the mid-nineteenth century the village was described as small, with gardens, and supplied with water from cisterns and a pond.

The shape of the village resembled a trapezoid; the longest side (where most expansion took place) was on the northwest, along the road to the neighboring village of Barbara. Its mud brick houses were separated by narrow streets. The villagers were Muslims; they maintained a shrine which they believed to be the tomb of the 'prophet' (nabi) Jirja, located on the eastern edge and overlooking Wadi al-Abd. An elementary school, established in the center of the village in 1932, had an enrollment of 67 students in the mid-1940s. The village center also contained some small shops. A number of wells, ranging in depth from 30 to 80 m, supplied drinking and irrigation water. The community cultivated grain, vegetables, and fruits. In 1944/45 a total of 434 dunums was devoted to citrus and bananas and 6,911 dunums were allotted to cereals; 618 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards. The remnants of the pre-nineteenth-century village, including the foundations of old houses and a well, were still visible in Bayt Jirja. Several of the nearby khirbas yielded a variety of ancient relics; Khirbat Amuda, known by the Crusaders as Amouhde, contained pottery fragments, cisterns, and a pool.

Village Occupation and Ethnic Cleaning

It is very likely that Bayt Jirja was occupied towards the end of Operation Yoav in late October or early November 1948. The circumstances are not given, but Israeli historian Benny Morris indicates that it was captured along with al-Majdal on 4–5 November, if not a few days earlier. The fate of the villagers is also unknown, but Morris states that during the operation almost all inhabitants of the area either fled or were expelled, usually to the Gaza Strip. This was effected by the Israeli commander of the southern front, Palmach chief Yigal Allon, in accordance with the Haganah's Plan Dalet.

Zionists Colonies on Village Lands

There are no Israeli settlements on village land. However, the lands of the destroyed village of Barbara, nearby, appear to have interpenetrated those of Bayt Jirja, which means that the three settlements on Barbara's lands (Mavqi'im, Ge'a, and Talmey Yafe) are quite close to the lands of Bayt Jirja.

Village Today

The site is encircled by barbed wire fencing, with only the streets and scattered rubble still visible. One house on the northern edge of the village remains, along with some sycamore trees and cactuses. Some village lands are cultivated, while others are covered by woods.

Source

Dr. Walid al-Khalidi, 1992: All That Remains.

Want to browse more? 80,000 pictures were grouped in these gallaries:

Nakba Oral History Interview with Atiyya Madi

Display Name	Clan/Hamolah	Country of Residence
Nour Abou Nada	Beit jerja	Lebanon
hanimadi	Madi	Gaza, palestine
محمود الحلو	-	-
يوسف حسن	-	جدة
ابو خليل	-	-
Osaamaa	أبو القرع	NRW, Germany
ABU HUSSIAN	ابوحسنين	DOHA, QATAR
سامر	ابو القرع	غزة, غزة
ابو فراس	ابو القرع	جـــــــــدة
Abosaeed	negm	Qatar
إبن حارتنا	أبو ندى	فلسطين, فلسطين
Mohammed Al Araj	-	Amman
Mohammed Al Araj	-	Amman
خليل ماضي	-	-
عبدالحليم عبدالحافظ	ابوندا	qatar, qatar
nafezabunasser	abunasser	-
خادم أهل البيت	ابوندا	-
mahirnaser	-	-
Dr. Ahmed Khalil Abu Nasser	Abu Nasser	Abu Dhabi, U.A.E
Dr. Mohmood Khalil Abu Nasser	Abu Nasser	Abu Dhabi, U.A.E
Khalil Abu Nasser	Abu Nasser	Abu Dhabi, U.A.E
سمير ابو ندا	ابوندا	-
خليلية	خليلية	جبع
ramzi Abohalabia	Abohalabia	jeddaha, suadi arabia
Yasser Abu Nasser	Abu Nasser	Kuwait, Kuwait
Mohammed Ahmed Mohammed Madi	Madi	Abu Dhabi, UAE
amal abohalabia	abohalabia	-
jabr abohalabia	abohalabia	-

All Registered Members

Bayt Jirja 2010
فيديو حديث من بيت جرجا القرية الفلسطينية كانت تتبع لقضاء غزة، هجر الإسرائيليون أهلها خلال حرب 1948 وتم تدميرها بالكامل Duration: 10 min 26 sec
أرشيف وطن - بيت جرجا- مع علي نسمان Duration: 30 min 2 sec
قرية بيت جرجا الفلسطينية - مع الحاج محمود أبو ناصر Duration: 19 min 50 sec
زيارة لقرية بيت جرجا المدمرة في الجنوب الفلسطيني قضاء غزة.... تصوير قيس فحماوي Duration: 10 min 26 sec

A visit to the remains of Bayt Jirja 11/2010 (Hebrew)

PalestineRemembered		About Us	Oral History	العربية
Menu	Pictures	Zionist FAQs	Haavara	Maps

PalestineRemembered.com		Satellite View	Search	Donate	Contact Us	Looting 101	The Home of Palestinians		العربية
About Us	Zionist FAQs	Conflict 101	Pictures	Maps	Oral History	Haavara	Facts Not Lies	Zionism 101	Zionist Quotes