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

Welcome To Bayt 'Itab - بيت عطاب (בית עיטאב)

District of Jerusalem
Ethnically cleansed days ago

العربية

Google Earth
Picture for Bayt 'Itab Village - Palestine: : That is how the
Gallery (298)
Statistic & Fact Value
Occupation Date October 21, 1948
Distance From District 17.5 (km) West of Jerusalem
Elevation 675 (meters)
Before & After Nakba, Click Map For Detailswhat's new
Pre-Nakba Map showing before and after destruction
Map Location See location #35 on the map

View from satellite
Military Operation Operation ha-Har
Exodus Cause Military assault by Zionist troops
Village Temains Beit 'Itab was completely obliterated with the exception of some house rubble left behind.
Ethnically Cleansing Bayt 'Itab inhabitants were completely ethnically cleansed.
Clans The famous Lahham family which at one point in the 19th century controlled as much as 24 neighboring villages in the Jerusalem area.
Pre-Nakba
Land Ownership
Ethnic Group Land Ownership (Dunums)*
Arab 5,447
Jewish 0
Public 3,310
**Total 8,757
*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics
**Town Lands' Demarcation Maps
Land Usage
As of 1945
Land Usage Arab (Dunum)*
Irrigated & Plantation 665
Olive Groves 116
Planted W/ Cereal 1,400
Built up 14
Arable 2,065
Non-Arable 6,678
*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics
Population
Year Population*
19th century 700
1922 504
1931 606
1945 540
1948 626
Est. Refugees 1998 3,847
*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics
Number of Houses
Year Number of Houses
1931 187
1948 193
Near By Townswhat's new
Dayr al-Hawa
         
Dayr al-Shaykh
       
Sufla  
   Ras Abu 'Ammar
           
Bayt Nattif
           
'Allar
Town's Name Through History The Romans referred to the Beit 'Itab by Enadab, and the Crusaders called it Bethahatap.
Nearby Wadies & Rivers Wadi al-Maghara is situated southwest of the village lands.
Archeological Sites Beit 'Itab contains the ruins of an old Crusader fortress.
Exculsive Jewish Colonies
Who Usurped Village Lands
Nes Harim
Featured Video

Village Before Nakba

The village stood on a high mountain, overlooking some lower mountain peaks below. Its lands extended southwest as far as Wadi al-Maghara. Several springs around the village provided drinking and irrigation water. A secondary road linked Bayt 'Itab to the Bayt Jibrin−Bethlehem road that ran about 3 km to the south. Bayt 'Itab is identified with Enadab, which appears in the list of Palestinian towns that was compiled by the fourth century A.D. historian Eusebius. The Crusaders knew it as Bethahatap. Edward Robinson visited the village in 1838 and described its stone houses as solidly built. Several houses had two storeys, and in the center of the village were the ruins of a Crusader castle. He estimated the village population at six to seven hundred people. In the 1850s Bayt 'Itab was the home village of the powerful Lahham family, which controlled the twenty-four villages of the sub-disctrict of al-'Arqub. Armed conflict broke out between the Lahham family and its rival, the Abu Ghawsh family, in 1855, and Bayt 'Itab was the scene of fierce battles. Afterward, as the regular Ottoman administration penetrated the area, the influence of both families was reduced and Bayt 'Itab became an ordinary village.

In the late nineteenth century, Bayt 'Itab was a village built of stone, perched on a rocky knoll that rose 60 to 100 feet above the surrounding hilly ridge. Its population in 1875 was approximately 700. The villagers, who were Muslim, cultivated olive trees on terraces to the north. A large cavern―eighteen feet wide and six feet high―ran beneath the houses. The original layout of the village was circular, but new construction to the southwest (along the road that led to the neighboring village of Sufla) gave it the shape of an arc. Most of its houses were built of stone. Agriculture was the main source of livelihood. The village lands were planted in grain, grapes, olive trees, and other fruit trees. In addition, the residents owned extensive areas on the coastal plain that also were planted in grain. During the Mandate, some village lands were expropriated to make a large, government-owned woodland. The villagers also engaged in livestock breeding. Crops were rainfed and irrigated from springs. In 1944/45 a total of 1,400 dunums was allocated to cereals; 665 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards, of which 116 dunums were planted with olive trees. The village contained the ruins of an old Crusader fortress.

Village Occupation and Ethnic Cleaning

Bayt 'Itab was one of a string of villages in the Jerusalem corridor that was captured following the second truce of the war. Israeli historian Benny Morris writes that it was occupied on 21 October 1948, during Operation Ha-Har (see 'Allar, Jerusalem sub-disctrict). The operation was complementary to Operation Yoav (see Barbara, Gaza sub-disctrict), a simultaneous offensive on the southern front that aimed at thrusting southwards into the Negev.

Zionists Colonies on Village Lands

Israel established the settlement of Nes Harim (155128) north of the village site on village land in 1950.

Village Today

The site is covered with large amounts of rubble from the demolished village houses. The remains of the Crusader fortress are prominent on it (see photo). There are two cemeteries east and west of the village. Some of the graves are open, and human bones are visible. Almond, carob, and olive trees grow on the village site and on the lower approaches. Cactuses grow on the southern edge of the site. Part of the surrounding agricultural land is cultivated by Israeli farmers.

Source

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

Related Maps Town Lands' Demarcation Maps
خرائط للقضاء توضح حدود القرى والاودية
Town's map on MapQuest
View from satellite
Help us map this town at WikiMapia
Related Links Wikipedia's Page
Facebook Page
Google Search
Google For Images
Google For Videos
More Information في كتاب كي لا ننسى
في كتاب بلادنا فلسطين
المزيد من موقع هوية

Bibliography and References

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

Display Name Clan/Hamolah Country of Residence
خندق هماش العاصمه, الاردن
    - -
علاء عمر تايه تايــــه عمان - صويلح, الاردن - عمان
عبد الرحمن - -
العطابي هماش amman, jordan
firas mohammad allhham - al khobar ksa
أبو محمد هماش - -
yousef dawood eissa allahham Eissa Amman, Jordan
ابراهيم محمد محمود تايه - -
عبدالله علي تايه تايه الدمام
ميسون حوباني -
ابن اللحام العطابي-ابو حمزة اللحام -
سليمان مصطفى - دير بلوط
abuanad - -
يزن اللحام - jordan, بيت عطاب
ELIAN ELIAN DUBAU, UAE
Ayoub Ghrair - Stuttgart, Germany
احمد جابر اللحام -
ali alkhandak hammash california, usa
مجاهد اللحام ملحم عمان, الاردن
شادي احمد جميل عليان عليان AMMAN, JORDAN
هماش هماش -
عمر الشبش - الاردن=السودان
اياد اللحام عطالله اليمن, اليمن
zaid jammel alkhandaq - amman, jordan
محمد طالب هماش عمان, الأردن
اسامة اللحام بيت عطاب -
وائل تايه - -
ابو طارق عبيدالله لسعودية
عليان عليان -
حمودة اللحام اللحام -
ايمن جمال هماش Hammash -
( جمال محمود طه هماش ) هماش - Hammash K S A -AL KHOBAR-AMMAN - JORDAN
عبدالرحمن غرير غرير -
حمزة غرير غرير عمان, الاردن
tamador hammash hammash amman, jordan
L3taby alhham falasten, Bayt 'Itab
خليل اللحام عيسى -
ضياء اللحام بيت عطاب -
haitham laham اللحام marka, jordan
صالح ذياب تايه تايه -
Aladdin Alkhandak Hammash New York, New York
المهندس.محمد جمال هماش Hammash amman_jordan, JORDAN
alkhandaq - amman, jordan
المهندس محمد عبيد الله عبيد الله -
بهاء اللحام - -
سهى اللحام اللحام -
ismail emad ismail alkhandaq - -
mohammad ismail alkhandaq hammash -
aletabi hammash ny, ny
محمد هماش هماش doha, qatar
muayyad hammash - madaba, Jordan
سعدي اللحام allaham beith lehem
رامي هماش - HammasH - الخبر -, K S A -AL KHOBAR
Dana Emad Ismail Alkhandaq hammash california, usa
ismail muhammed alkhandaq hammash jordan, jordan
Emad Ismail Alkhandaq hammash california, usa
Abu Jehad AL-LAHHAM AL-Khobar k.s.a
Yasser Husni اللحام Bethlehehm
مالك اللحام اللحام القدس, فلسطين
الحلاق - -
basel allahham allahham amman, jordan
wisam allaham - -
MALIK AL_LAHAM - BET ATAB, PALESTINE
Awwad Lahham yes Engeneer, Engeneer
Hasan Ahmad Omar Hammash Hammash Amman, Jordan
Abu Saif Al-lahham Saudi Arabia
Ghassan Hammash - Sharjah, UAE
Imad Khalil - -
Amer Adel Abd-Alfattah Tayeh Tayeh -
A. Shukri Al-Laham Al-Laham -
Amer Tayeh - Amman, jordan
Hussein Lahham DF, BRASIL
Al-Lahham wehdat khobar, Saudi Arabia
Ghazi al-Laham Laham Amman, Jordan
Mahmood Al-lahham - KA, India
امـــجــد كيلاني كيلاني الخبر, الخبر
Jaber Jaber - New Jersey, United States
Mazen Al-lahham Bethlehem, Palestine
Ahmad Al-lahham Al-lahham Bethlehem, Palestine
aljounady - jordan
Mais Jaber - New Jersey, United States
Ahmad Ghrier Ghrier sweleh
adist - DKI Jakarta, indonesia
Al-Lahaam Al_Lahaam Jordan, Jordan
Raed Al-Lahham Al-Lahham -
All Registered Members
Fake Valor: Why Did Zionist Jews Hoist Nazis Flag on Their Ships in the 1930s?

What is new?