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Welcome To Dayr Rafat - دير رفات (דיר ראפאת)

District of Jerusalem
Ethnically cleansed days ago
العربية

Google Earth
Picture for Dayr Rafat Village - Palestine: : Arce in Dayr Village ( Remains) 2008
 Gallery (50)
Statistic & Fact Value
Occupation Date July 18, 1948
Distance From District 26 (km) West of Jerusalem
Elevation 300 (meters)
Before & After Nakba, Click Map For Detailswhat's new
Pre-Nakba Map showing before and after destruction
Map Location See location #13 on the map

View from satellite
Military Operation Second stage Operation Dani
Attacking Units Har'el Brigade
Exodus Cause Military assault by Zionist troops
Village Temains Dayr Rafat was completely destroyed in the second half of October 1948, and only house rubble left behind.
Ethnically Cleansing Dayr Rafat inhabitants were completely ethnically cleansed.
Pre-Nakba
Land Ownership
Ethnic Group Land Ownership (Dunums)*
Arab 12,966
Jewish 0
Public 276
**Total 13,242
*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics
**Town Lands' Demarcation Maps
Land Usage
As of 1945
Land Usage Arab (Dunum)*
Irrigated & Plantation 216
Olive Groves 25
Planted W/ Cereal 10,563
Built up 10
Arable 10,779
Non-Arable 2,453
*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics
Population
Year Population*
1931 218
1945 430
1948 499
Est. Refugees 1998 3,063
*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics
Number of Houses
Year Number of Houses
1931 69
1948 157
Near By Townswhat's new
Ism Allah, Khirbat
↑
(N)
Sajad  ←
Dayr Rafat
→   Sar'a
            ↙
al-Burayj
↘           
Dayr Aban
Town's Name Through History The village had a mosque named after a al-Hajj Hasan.
Archeological Sites Dayr Rafat has three khirbas which contains the foundations of buildings, grape presses, rock-hewn cisterns, wells, a grindstone, and burial grounds.
Exculsive Jewish Colonies
Who Usurped Village Lands		 Giv'at Shemesh
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Village Before Nakba

The village was located on the western slope of a moderately high mountain. The first part of its name, Dayr, was Arabic for monastery; the village was the site of a large monastery that belonged to the Latin Patriarchate. The village also had one mosque, named after a Hajj Hasan. In the late nineteenth century, Dayr Rafat was a small hamlet situated on a ridge with a spring to the west. Of the estimated 430 people who were living in Dayr Rafat in 1945, 100 were Christians and the rest Muslims. In 1944/45 a total of 10,563 dunums was allocated to cereals; 216 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards, of which 25 dunums were used for olives. Water was supplied by three springs on the site. Archaeological sites around the village included three khirbas that contained the foundations of buildings, grape presses, rock-hewn cisterns, wells, a grindstone, and burial grounds.

Village Occupation and Ethnic Cleaning

Dayr Rafat was overrun on 17−18 July 1948, during the second stage of the Israeli army's Operation Dani (see Abu al-Fadl, Ramla sub-disctrict). The History of the War of Independence relates that it fell to units of the Har'el Brigade towards the end of that operation, when Israeli forces widened the Jerusalem corridor southwards. Israeli researcher Benny Morris reports that most of the people remaining in the vicinity fled with the approach of the Har'el columns and the start of the mortar barrages. He also adds that the remainder were expelled, but it is not clear what transpired at Dayr Rafat, nor what happened to the residents in the adjacent monastery.

The village was not destroyed until several weeks later, during the second truce of the war. In his comments on the demolition of villages during this period, Morris specifically mentions the case of Dayr Rafat: 'During the three months of the Second Truce,' he writes, 'from 19 July until mid-October, the army continued to destroy abandoned villages in piecemeal fashion, usually for reasons which were described as military. In the center of the country, for example, most of the village … [was] ... blown up in September.'

Zionists Colonies on Village Lands

The settlement of Giv'at Shemesh (145131) was established in 1954 on village land, just to the west of the village site.

Village Today

The site is covered with large piles of stone rubble and stone terraces; some of the latter are still intact, while others have been destroyed and are now mixed with the rubble of the houses. Cactuses grow on the northwestern edge of the site. There are a few tents belonging to the Negev tribe of al-Sani' the members of which have rented land from the monastery, which owns the village lands. The monastery, located 2 km west of the site, has a large statue of the Virgin Mary at the top of its facade, and parts of the structure are covered with red tiles. There is a spring on the western edge of the village and a cemetery lies in the south; one large tomb stands out. To the west there is a large olive grove.

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
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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
جهاد الرفاتي كليب(خليل) بيت لحم
محمود حمدان hamdan, rafat -
AJ Ja'fari -
RAFATI - texas, U.S.A
RAFAT ANWER - -
Rezeq Faraj Rezeq Faraj QC, Canada
Myriam Faraj Faraj Québec, Canada
Anan Hamad Hamad palestine, palestine
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