Welcome To Bayt Shanna - بيت شنة

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

Value

Occupation Date

July 15, 1948

Distance From District

11.5 (km) Southeast of al-Ramla

Elevation

240 (meters)

Before & After Nakba, Click Map For Details

Pre-Nakba Map showing before and after destruction

Map Location

See location #30 on the map

View from satellite

Military Operation

Second stage of Operation Dani

Exodus Cause

Military assault by Zionist troops

Village Temains

Bayt Shanna was mostly destroyed with the exception of a small house on a hill.

Ethnically Cleansing

Bayt Shanna inhabitants were completely ethnically cleansed.

Pre-Nakba
Land Ownership

Ethnic Group	Land Ownership (Dunums)*
Arab	3,617
Jewish	0
Public	0
**Total	3,617

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

Land Usage
As of 1945

Land Usage	Arab (Dunum)*
Irrigated & Plantation	44
Planted W/ Cereal	865
Arable	909
Non-Arable	2,708

*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics

Population

Year	Population*
1596	22
1931	406
1945	210
1948	244
Est. Refugees 1998	1,496

*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics

Number of Houses

In (1931): 71 (listed in the Jerusalem district; includes Salbit)

Near By Towns

al-Kunayyisa ↖	Barfiliya ↑ (N)	Bir Ma'in ↗
	Bayt Shanna	→ al-Buwayra, Khirbat
↙ al-Qubab	↓ Salbit	↘ Yalu

Archeological Sites

Two khirbats located to West and Northeast of the village center that contains the foundations of a church and buildings, cisterns, and rock-hewn presses.

Exculsive Jewish Colonies
Who Usurped Village Lands

No Israeli settlements on village lands.

Village Before Nakba

The village, located on top of a high hill that was surrounded by lower hills, overlooked wide areas in all directions except the north. The hill sloped gradually towards the south, leading to a wadi that separated the village lands from those of the nearby village of Salbit. A secondary road linked it to the Jerusalem-Jaffa highway, to the southwest, and dirt paths led to several neighboring villages. In 1596 Bayt Shanna was a village in the nahiya of Ramla (liwa' of Gaza) with twenty-two inhabitants. It paid taxes on wheat, barley, fruit trees, and vineyards, as well as goats and beehives. In the late nineteenth century the site was not inhabited and only traces of ruins were observed there. In modern times it was classified as a hamlet by the Palestine Index Gazetteer. It had a crescent-shaped layout and its houses were built close to one another, constructed of stone and adobe brick. The residents of Bayt Shanna were Muslim. Their agricultural lands were alternately flat and undulating and were mainly rainfed. The more rugged lands were used for grazing. The villagers cultivated grain, olives, grapes, figs, apples, almonds, and vegetables. In 1944/45 a total of 865 dunums was allocated to cereals; 44 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards. Ancient ruins on the site included two khirbas west and northeast of the village, which contained the foundations of a church and other buildings, cisterns, and rock-hewn presses.

Zionists Colonies on Village Lands

There are no Israeli settlements on village lands. The village site is close to the lands of the destroyed village of Salbit (148141), where the settlement of Sha'alvim (148142) was built in 1951.

Village Today

The stone rubble of the former houses covers the village site. Large mulberry, olive, and almond trees grow amid the rubble, most of which is covered by wild vegetation. The whole site is fenced in and appears to be used as a grazing area. On the hillside east of the village, a room made of masonry still stands. Fruit trees grow around it (see photos).

Source

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

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Display Name

Clan/Hamolah

Country of Residence

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