Welcome To 'Aqir - عاقر (עאקר)

District of al-Ramla Ethnically cleansed days ago	العربية Google Earth
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Statistic & Fact

Value

Occupation Date

May 6, 1948

Distance From District

9 (km) Southwest of al-Ramla

Elevation

50 (meters)

Before & After Nakba, Click Map For Details

Pre-Nakba Map showing before and after destruction

Map Location

See location #36 on the map

View from satellite

Attacking Units

Giv'ati Brigade

Exodus Cause

Military assault by Zionist troops

Village Temains

'Aqior was mostly destroyed with the exception of five of its houses.

Ethnically Cleansing

'Aqir inhabitants were completely ethnically cleansed.

Pre-Nakba
Land Ownership

Ethnic Group	Land Ownership (Dunums)*
Arab	11,322
Jewish	3,222
Public	1,281
**Total	15,825

*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics
**Town Lands' Demarcation Maps

Land Usage
As of 1945

Land Usage	Arab (Dunum)*	Jewish (Dunum)*
Citrus Groves	1,300	1,395
Irrigated & Plantation	914	36
Planted W/ Cereal	9,739	1,777
Built up	46	0
Arable	11,953	3,208
Non-Arable	604	14

*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics

Population

Year	Population*
1931	1,691
1945	2,480
1948	2,877
Est. Refugees 1998	17,667

*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics

Number of Houses

Year	Number of Houses
1931	401
1948	682

Near By Towns

Zarnuqa ↖	Zionist Colonies ↑ (N)	Tall al-Batteikh ↗
	'Aqir
↙ al-Maghar	↓ Shahma	↘ al-Mansura

Town's Name Through History

The Romans referred to the village by Accaron.

Schools

Two elementary schools: the 1st was for boys founded in 1921 which had an enrollment of 391 boys in 1945; the 2nd was for girls which had an enrollment of 46 girls in 1945.

Places of Warship

Two mosques

Shrines / Maqams

Two shrines for unknown individuals.

Nearby Wadies & Rivers

The village is situated 1 km north of Wadi al-Nasufiyya.

Water Supply

Ground water was plentiful, and in the 1940s a number of artesian wells were drilled.

Exculsive Jewish Colonies
Who Usurped Village Lands

Mazkeret Batya, Kefar 'Eqron, and Ganne Yochanan.

Village Before Nakba

The village was situated on the central coastal plain. Wadi al-Nasufiyya ran 1 km south of it, and a secondary road linked it to the highway leading to Ramla and other urban centers. Aqir has been identified with the Roman town of Accaron. In the tenth century the Arab geographer al-Maqdisi (d. A.D. 985) described Aqir as a big village with a large mosque, the residents of which baked a special kind of bread; its people were generous and philanthropic. In 1596, Aqir was a village in the nahiya of Ramla (liwa of Gaza) with a population of 161. It paid taxes on a number of crops, including wheat, barley, and fruit, as well as on other types of produce and property, such as goats, beehives, and vineyards.

In the late nineteenth century, the village of Aqir was situated on low ground and built of adobe bricks. The American biblical scholar Edward Robinson visited Aqir in 1838 and described it as a sizable village. Its houses were built of sun-burnt bricks. The village was surrounded by fields and orchards. During World War II, the British established a military airport south of the village, and a military hospital 2 km north of it. At this time the village had a rectangular layout. Its houses were made of mud, cement, and stone, and were built very close to each other. As house construction increased toward the end of the Mandate, the village expanded, especially north of the secondary road that split the village into two halves. Its population was predominantly Muslim. Aqir had two elementary schools, one for boys (established in 1921) and another for girls. In 1947, 391 boys and 46 girls were enrolled in the two schools. The village also had two mosques and two shrines.

Ground water was plentiful, and in the 1940s a number of artesian wells were drilled on village land. These wells supplied irrigation water for citrus groves. The villagers cultivated other fruits as well, such as grapes, figs, and apricots. They also planted grain, which was watered by rainfall. In 1944/45 a total of 1,300 dunums was devoted to citrus and bananas and 8,968 dunums were allotted to cereals; 914 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards.

Village Occupation and Ethnic Cleaning

Aqir was the first village to fall to the Giv'ati Brigade when it implemented the part of Plan Dalet for which it was responsible. On 5 May 1948 the brigade moved southwards from Rehovot and proceeded to surround the village. The Haganah force, estimated at 400 by a New York Times report, then demanded that all guns in the village be handed over. But Israeli historian Benny Morris adds that when this was done, 'intelligence officers believed that the villagers were holding back,' and the Giv'ati Brigade took eight villagers hostage, promising to release them when the remaining weapons were surrendered. Morris writes that the brigade then withdrew in response to British intervention. The New York Times reported that the ordeal lasted six and a half hours and that as a result, some 3,000 people fled from the village. This figure probably included refugees from nearby villages. The following day, the Haganah units returned to occupy the village, most of the residents having sought refuge in the neighboring villages of Yibna and al-Maghar. Morris writes that, 'Within weeks, the 30-odd villagers who had remained behind were expelled-an act that sparked a flurry of protests in Mapam [the Israeli United Workers' Party]...'

Zionists Colonies on Village Lands

Baron Edmond Rothschild established the settlement of Eqron in 1883, 1 km south of the village site on land purchased by the settlers; it was later renamed Mazkeret Batya . The settlement of Qiryat Eqron was established in 1948 on village lands; its name was later changed to Kefar Eqron. Ganne Yochanan , also on village lands, was built in 1950.

Village Today

A number of small houses remain, several of which are occupied by Jewish families. One is a cement house with a gabled roof and rectangular doors and windows; another is similar in its features, but its roof is flat. Cypresses, sycamores, and cactuses grow on the site. The surrounding lands are cultivated by Israelis.

Source

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

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Bara Jerjawi	-	Palestine
حسن صيدم	-	Palestine
محمود نبيل شقفه	شقفة	الرياض , السعودية
Mahmoud Attia	Attia	London, United Kingdom
أحمد نصر	-	فلسطين, فلسطين
عدنان الأطرش	الأطرش	denmark
عاطف أحمد محمد ﻣﻄﺮ	ﻣﻄﺮ	ﺭﻓﺢ, ﻋﺎﻗﺮ
تميم	البابلي	غزة
عبد الرحمن الملاحي	-	عمان , الاردن
احمد خليل ابورحمه	ابورحمه	الرياض, السعوديه
عاصف ابو نجم	-	الرياض
محمود موسى محمود عمران	عمران	جـــــده, السعودية
Adnan Elkhaldy	Elkhaldy-ISSA	-
نبيل الشطلي	-	الاردن, الاردن
kholoud sowaileh	sowaileh	KSA, KSA
عامر عمران	عمران	جده, السعوديه
ابو حازم	ابو دلال	-
مــــراد	SHAQFA	AL-RIYADH, SAUDIARABIA
Mousa Adnan M. Shaqfa	Shaqfa	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
معتصم أبو حسين	ابو حسين	Jordan, Jordan
وائل حامد السعداوي	-	كندا
فراس ابو حسين	ابو حسين	-
أحمد نصر	نصر	عاقر, فلسطين
حسني عمران	عمران	السعودية, السعودية
Maysa Hajjaj	Hajjaj	-
شادي مطر	-	غزة, عاقر
مهند نصر	نصر	الرياض
حسن نصر	نصر	الرياض
عبدالرحمن نصر	نصر	الرياض
علاء نصر	-	الريلض
Amjad Matar	Matar	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
مجاهد أصيل 2	الشاعر	-
ابن النكبة والتحرير	موسى	السعوديه - الدمام
mam	abo sharaf	dubai
يوسف	عمران	السعودية \ جدة
كارلوس	ابو عامر	رام الله ____ فلسطين
سماء عمران	عمران	عمان....الأردن, عمان....الأردن
ابو احمد	شقفة	-
Mamoon Abdulla	Abdulla	Qatar, Qatar
Hatem Shaqfa	Shaqfa	Ramallah
Abu Habeb	حـمـدان	Riyadh, Suadi Aribian
ahmed matar	matar	makkah, saudi arabia
Elham Abu Nejim	Abu Nejim	-
Mousa Mohammed Attiyah	Abu Attiyah	-
khalid shaqfeh	shaqfeh	Dubai, UAE
shereen	-	رام الله
ابو مصعب	موسى	-
nidal	abu sharaf	fujirah, uae
adnan alsaadawi	alsaadawi	-
motassm	-	الاردن, الاردن
Jakob	abdallah	gothenburg , 3aker
palestinalibra	أبوعامر	-
Sohaib Abuamer	Abu amer	Dubai, U.A.E
ماجد صيدم	صيدم	غزة, فلسطين
Tariq abu keshek	Abu Keshek	Nablus , palestine
رياض	ابو رحمة	-
zeyad ballour	ballour	poland, poland
Saleh Mahmoud Shaqfa	shaqfa	gaza Strip, Palestine
abu khaleel	alnajjar	saudi arabia, عاقر
ali	Daseh	jordan, jordan
Ibrahim	-	Amman, Jordan
Sadieh Abdeljawad Ali Khalil Abdallah	Abdallah	Amman, Jordan
mohammed alnajjar	alnajjar	-
Saidam	صيدم	Syria
assem attia	attia	giza, egypt
Nabil Issa	Issa	USA
jerusalem_you	Musa	Amman, Jordan
abu mahmoud	Ghneim	Palestine, Palestine
عمران	عمران	Saudi Arabia , Saudi Arabia
hosny omran	construction	Saudi Arabia , Saudi Arabia
Osama Nasr	Nasr	KSA
Fadi	Attia	England, United Kingdom
Saidam	-	amman, jordan

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