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Welcome To Summil - صميل (צומיל)

District of Gaza
Ethnically cleansed days ago
العربية

Google Earth
Picture for Summil Village - Palestine: : That is how the
Gallery (57)
Statistic & Fact Value
Occupation Date July 8, 1948
Distance From District 36 (km) Noerth East of Gaza
Elevation 125 (meters)
Before & After Nakba, Click Map For Detailswhat's new
Pre-Nakba Map showing before and after destruction
Pre-Nakba Aerial Viewwhat's new
Pre-Nakba Aerial View
Map Location See location #20 on the map

View from satellite
Exodus Cause Expulsion by Zionist troops
Village Temains The village has been completely destroyed, and only house rubble left behind.
Ethnically Cleansing Summil inhabitants were completely ethnically cleansed.
Pre-Nakba
Land Ownership
Ethnic Group Land Ownership (Dunums)*
Arab 16,261
Jewish 2,620
Public 423
**Total 19,304
*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics
**Town Lands' Demarcation Maps
Land Usage
As of 1945
Land Usage Arab (Dunum)* Jewish (Dunum)*
Irrigated & Plantation 54 0
Planted W/ Cereal 16,101 2,619
Built up 31 0
Arable 16,155 2,619
Non-Arable 498 1
*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics
Population
Year Population*
1596 363
1922 561
1931 692
1945 950
1948 1,102
Est. Refugees 1998 6,767
*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics
Number of Houses
Year Number of Houses
1931 178
1948 283
Near By Townswhat's new
al-Jaladiyya
          ↖
al-Masmiyya al-Kabira
↑
(N)
Barqusya
↗        
Jusayr  ←
Summil
→   Thikrin
            ↙
al-Faluja
↓
'Iraq al-Manshiyya
↘           
Zayta
Town's Name Through History Summil was founded in 1168 during the Crusades period. Summil inhabitants believed that it was named after Samuel, whome they claimed was the founder of the village. Also Summil was known by Barakat al-Khalil, since its tax revenues were used by the Mamluk Sultan Barquq to endow the mosque of Abraham in Hebron.
Schools Summil had an elementary school founded in 1936 with an enrollment of 88 students in 1945.
Places of Warship One mosque built on the remnants of a Crusaders' church.
Exculsive Jewish Colonies
Who Usurped Village Lands		 Qedma, Menucha, Segula, and Nachala.
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Village Before Nakba

The village was situated on the coastal plain on a sandy hill surrounded by wadis. Secondary roads linked it to the highway between al-Majdal and Bayt Jibrin at the junction near the village of Iraq al-Manshiyya. Other roads and dirt paths also connected Summil to neighboring villages. It is believed that Summil was founded in 1168 during the Crusades by the Hospitalers for the purpose of protecting another castle built earlier in Bayt Jibrin. The inhabitants believed their village was named after Samuel, one of the Crusaders who established it. It was also called Barakat al-Khalil (the blessing of Abraham), because its tax revenues were used by the Mamluk sultan Barquq (d. 1399) to endow the mosque of Abraham in Hebron. In 1596, Summil was a village in the nahiya of Gaza (liwa' of Gaza), with a population of 363. It paid taxes on a number of crops, including wheat, barley, and fruit, as well as on other types of produce such as goats and beehives.

When Edward Robinson passed by Summil in the mid-nineteenth century, he noted that it was 'a considerable village on an elevation in the plain.' He noticed a 'large public well' that was eleven feet in diameter and over one hundred feet deep. He said that there was 'a portion of an ancient wall apparently once belonging to a castle' in the village itself. In the late nineteenth century, the village of Summil had a semi-circular plan. During the Mandate, the village began to expand towards the southwest. It relied on al-Faluja, 6 km to the southwest, for commercial, medical, and administrative services. The villagers were Muslim; they maintained a mosque that had been built on the remnants of a Crusaders' church. Village houses were built of adobe bricks; the village school opened in 1936, and by the mid-1940s had a total enrollment of eighty-eight. The community obtained its domestic water from a 48-m-deep well named al-Khalil. Rainfed agriculture and sheep raising constituted the villagers' principal economic activities; grain, grapes, and figs were the chief crops. In 1944/45 a total of 16,093 dunums was allocated to cereals; 54 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards.

Village Occupation and Ethnic Cleaning

Summil was captured in one of the Giv'ati Brigade's thrusts southwards during the period known as the 'Ten Days' (i.e., between the two truces of 8 and 18 July 1948). It is not known exactly when the village was occupied, but it probably fell in the early stages of the operation, between 9 and 14 July. During this offensive, Israeli forces managed to occupy a broad swath of territory south of the Jerusalem–Ramla road, displacing over 20,000 people. Although Israeli military accounts later claimed that the inhabitants fled with the approach of Israeli columns, the History of the War of Independence speaks of 'several clearing operations' in the area. Summil is one of the villages mentioned in this connection; its inhabitants were probably driven eastwards to the Hebron area.

Zionists Colonies on Village Lands

Four settlements were established on what were traditionally village lands: Qedma, built in 1946, and Segula, Menucha, and Nachala, all built in 1953. Qedma is far to the north of the village site, but Nachala is close to it, towards the south. Segula and Menucha, to the west, are also nearby. Finally, Wardon, founded in 1968, is on land that belonged to Summil.

Village Today

The remnants of a wall, perhaps one that was built around the village, are still visible. Otherwise, much of the site is overgrown with khubbayza (a wild plant belonging to the mallow family that is cooked as a vegetable in Palestinian peasant cuisine) and grass. There are also Christ's-thorn trees and dense stands of cactuses; an old cactus-lined village road is visible. A shanty that houses an Arab family (whose members probably work in one of the Israeli settlements) has been built on the land. The adjacent land is cultivated by Israeli farmers.

Source

Dr. Walid al-Khalidi, 1992: All That Remains.
Related Maps Town Lands' Demarcation Maps
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Bibliography and References

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

Display Name Clan/Hamolah Country of Residence
ابو مصعب - -
ابو مجدي - -
فراس الدرباشي - -
مصطفى عوض - -
اسد بني عوض عوض عوض -
عاشق صميل سالم الفحيص , الاردن
fida2 - -
معتز عبد الكريم عوض عوض القويسمة, القويسمة
احمد محمد عبدالله رمضان رمضان الخليل, الخليل
صهيب محمد احمد عوض - عمان, الاردن
ابو بسام عوض الله - وسط عمان, صميل
مؤيد محمد احمد عوض عوض الاردن, الاردن
محمد عزمي حرب عوض عوض الاردن, الاردن
عمر خالد عوض عوض الاردن, الاردن
Tareq Awad - -
Marwan El derbashi الدرباشي gaza, فلسطين
الصميلي صميل عمان, فلسطيني
إياس عيسى - -
مأمون محمد عبد اللطيف صبح صبح الخليل
ليندا عبدالكريم رمضان Ramadan leicester, U.K
علاء سلمي سلمي ياجوز, الاردن
محمد ايراهيم عوض - القويسمة, القويسمة
يزن عوض البشير عمان, الاردن
مهند محمد احمد عوض عوض -
عادل حسن عوض عوض البشير -
دكتورة ام يارا صبح الطائف, السعودية
abu yazan - amman
جوهر عبد اللطيف صبح - جده السعودييه, السعوديه
بلال سلمي سلمي عمان, الاردن
احمد محمد عوض عوض عوض الاردن, الاردن
خالد الدرباشي الدرباشي الخليل, فلسطين
سنابل عوض الخليل, فلسطين
موسى حسين مصطفى عوض - الاردن
عقدة العقدة الوحدات, الأردن
العقدة العقدة الوحدات, الأردن
M shafiq_3 ramadan ramadan -
omar hammad حماد عمان, الأردن
abderrahmane elderbashi - -
Amjad Hammad Hammad KSA-Al Riyadh
وسام محمد حسين عوض - -
ahmed عوض -
هيثم رمضان - -
اياد عوض عوض -
زياد سالم سالم الاردن
GUBA عوض الأردن, صميل
GUBA GAZA عوض الأردن, صميل
Lena_Dirbashi Dirbashi Texas, USA
ام الخل - -
امجد عوض - الدوحة, قطر
رامي ابوعايشة ابوعايشة الاردن, الاردن
بدر عوض عوض -
طارق صبح -
mohammed hammad hammad -
Samer Abu Aysheh Subeh Subeh AMMAN, JORDAN
said Awad Awad -
Mohammad Najjar Najjar -
hatem suboh suboh West Bank, Palestine
Suboh Suboh Suboh DC, United States
Raed Suboh Suboh Hamilton, Canada
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