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Welcome To Bayt Jiz - بيت جيز (בית ג'יז)

District of al-Ramla
Ethnically cleansed days ago

العربية

Google Earth
Picture for Bayt Jiz Village - Palestine: : Let us see what the
Gallery (76)
Statistic & Fact Value
Occupation Date May 30, 1948
Distance From District 15 (km) Southeast of al-Ramla
Elevation 200 (meters)
Before & After Nakba, Click Map For Detailswhat's new
Pre-Nakba Map showing before and after destruction
Map Location See location #50 on the map

View from satellite
Military Operation Operation Ben-Nun
Attacking Units Sheva' (Seventh) Brigade
Exodus Cause Military assault by Zionist troops
Village Temains Bayt Jiz was mostly destroyed with the exception of its school.
Ethnically Cleansing Bayt Jiz inhabitants were completely ethnically cleansed.
Pre-Nakba
Land Ownership
Ethnic Group Land Ownership (Dunums)*
Arab 8,202
Jewish 0
Public 155
**Total 8,357
*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics
**Town Lands' Demarcation Maps
Land Usage
As of 1945
Land Usage Arab (Dunum)*
Irrigated & Plantation 36
Olive Groves 14
Planted W/ Cereal 6,529
Built up 29
Arable 6,565
Non-Arable 1,763
*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics
Population
Year Population*
1922 203
1931 370
1945 550
1948 638
Est. Refugees 1998 3,918
*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics
Number of Houses
Year Number of Houses
1931 67
1948 115
Near By Townswhat's new
Dayr Muhaysin
         
al-Khalayil

(N)
   Bayt Susin
           
Bayt Far, Khirbat
Schools An elementary school built in 1947, and it currently functions as a recreational facility.
Places of Warship One mosque
Exculsive Jewish Colonies
Who Usurped Village Lands
Har'el, Tzelafon, and Gizo.
Featured Video

Village Before Nakba

The village was situated on undulating land in the western foothills of the Jerusalem heights. A secondary road linked it to the Gaza-Jerusalem highway that ran north of the village land. Seasonal dirt roads also connected it to the villages of Dayr Muhaysin and Bayt Susin. At the beginning of this century the village had a rectangular plan, narrow streets, and mud-and-stone houses. Its population was predominantly Muslim. The village center included a mosque, some shops, and a school, built in 1947, which was co-financed and shared with the neighboring village of Bayt Susin. Bayt Jiz's economy was based on agriculture. The villagers grew a variety of crops, including grain, vegetables, figs, almonds, and olives. They planted olives on 14 dunums of their land. In 1944/45 a total of 6,525 dunums was allotted to cereals; 36 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards. One part of the surrounding land was grassland, which enabled the villagers to raise sheep and goats, while another part was wooded. Several archaeological sites and khirbas were near Bayt Jiz.

Village Occupation and Ethnic Cleaning

All the villages in the Jerusalem corridor that did not fall during Operation Nachshon (see Bayt Naqquba, Jerusalem sub-disctrict) were occupied in the subsequent battles around al-Latrun in May and June 1948. Bayt Jiz was occupied in the interval between the first and second assaults on al-Latrun, i.e., between 15 May and 30 May. The New York Times reported that an unsuccessful Israeli attack on al-Latrun on 25 May spread to Bayt Jiz and Khulda the following day. The paper's correspondent called the battle around Bayt Jiz and Khulda 'the biggest single clash of the war to date.' On 28 May, the Israeli army officially announced the capture of the village after they swept south of the Jerusalem-Jaffa road. According to the History of the War of Independence, Bayt Jiz and Bayt Susin fell to the newly-formed Sheva' (Seventh) Brigade in the context of Operation Ben-Nun. The occupation of the two villages enabled Israeli forces to establish an alternative supply line to Jerusalem that bypassed al-Latrun.

Israeli historian Benny Morris notes that a military assault on the village took place during the previous month, on 20 April, and the residents were displaced at that time. However, Palestinian historian 'Arif al-'Arif writes that the initial attempt to occupy Bayt Jiz took place on 22-23 May and that it failed partly because Israeli forces had received mistaken reports about the evacuation of the village. Consequently, they were surprised to encounter fierce resistance from the inhabitants of Bayt Jiz and Bayt Susin, as well as from regular Arab forces in the al-Latrun sector. AI-'Arif adds that both villages fell in a subsequent attack on 30 May.

Zionists Colonies on Village Lands

Three Israeli settlements are on village land: Har'el (145135), founded in 1948; Tzelafon (143134), founded in 1950; and Gizo (144134), founded in 1968.

Village Today

The site, overgrown with wild vegetation, is used as a recreation area. The school is the only remaining landmark. Architecturally it resembles the school in the village of Qula (see QuIa, Ramla sub-disctrict), and is used as a recreation facility, although a fire observation tower has been added to it. A Hebrew and English sign on the tower reads: 'This Fire Observation Post Is Named in Honour Of Mr. And Mrs. Coleman Levene Of Southend And Westcliff England [,] Jewish National Fund.' A number of houses remain. Some are used for storage, others are deserted. One of the storage houses is a large, stone structure, with a flat roof and a three panelled, lancet-arched side window. Three of the deserted houses are two-storey structures. They have a variety of architectural features: rectangular and arched windows and entrances, flat roofs, and balconies supported on square columns. The land is planted in grain, olive trees, and vegetables.

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
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More Information مخطط البلد
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المزيد من موقع هوية

Bibliography and References

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