Welcome To Dayr Abu Salama - دير أبو سلمه (דיר אבו סלאמה)

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

Value

Occupation Date

July 13, 1948

Distance From District

8 (km) Northeast of al-Ramla

Elevation

175 (meters)

Before & After Nakba, Click Map For Details

Pre-Nakba Map showing before and after destruction

Map Location

See location #7 on the map

View from satellite

Military Operation

First phase of Operation Dani

Attacking Units

Possibly Yiftach Brigade

Exodus Cause

Military assault by Zionist troops

Village Temains

Based on the orders of a Jewish National Fund (JNF) official, Yosif Weitz, Dayr Abu Salama was completely obliterated.

Ethnically Cleansing

Dayr Abu Salama inhabitants were completely ethnically cleansed.

Pre-Nakba
Land Ownership

Ethnic Group	Land Ownership (Dunums)*
Arab	1,195
Jewish	0
Public	0
**Total	1,195

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

Land Usage
As of 1945

Land Usage	Arab (Dunum)*
Irrigated & Plantation	41
Planted W/ Cereal	695
Arable	736
Non-Arable	459

*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics

Population

Year	Population*
1922	30
1945	60
1948	70
Est. Refugees 1998	427

*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics

Near By Towns

	al-Haditha ↑ (N)	Budrus ↗
al-Lydd ←	Dayr Abu Salama	→ Ni'lin
↙ al-Duhayriyya, Khirbat	↓ Jimzu	↘ Zakariyya, Khirbat

Shrines / Maqams

A shrine for a local sage known as al-Shaykh Abu Salama.

Water Supply

The village had an abundance of ground water including two reservoirs.

Exculsive Jewish Colonies
Who Usurped Village Lands

No Israeli settlements on village lands.

Village Before Nakba

The village was located on a flat hilltop on the central coastal plain that was surrounded by lower hills. It overlooked wide expanses of land on all sides, and was connected by a secondary road to the highway leading to Ramla and Lydda. Dirt paths connected it to several neighboring villages as well. On the eastern outskirts of the village was a shrine for a Shaykh Abu Salama; this most probably was the source of the village's name. Dayr Abu Salama had an irregular layout. Classified as a hamlet by the Palestine Index Gazetteer, its population was predominantly Muslim, and its houses were built of adobe brick. Its agricultural lands, which lay mainly to the north, were endowed with fertile soil and an abundance of ground water, including two reservoirs in the area. Cultivated crops included grain, vegetables, olives, citrus fruits, grapes, and figs. In 1944/45 a total of 695 dunums was allocated to cereals; 41 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards. The village contained the remains of a monastery and rock-cut tombs.

Village Occupation and Ethnic Cleaning

After occupying Lydda in the first phase of Operation Dani (see Abu aI-FadI, Ramla sub-disctrict), Israeli forces proceeded to fan out into the town's hinterland, overrunning a number of nearby villages. Israeli historian Benny Morris indicates that Dayr Abu Salama fell on 13 July 1948, but does not say what happened to its residents. It is likely that those who remained in their homes were expelled by the invading units, as was the case in Lydda, Ramla, and many of the villages which fell during the operation. Two days before the village was captured, Operation Dani headquarters ordered the Yiftach Brigade 'to dig in in every place captured and to destroy every house not intended for occupation [by Israeli troops].'

Zionists Colonies on Village Lands

There are no Israeli settlements on village lands.

Village Today

The site has been converted into an Israeli picnic area and is surrounded by stands of pine and cypress trees. Workers for the Jewish National Fund have used stones retrieved from the destroyed village houses to construct a watchtower and an amphitheater on the village site (see photos). The area in front of the amphitheater has been levelled and is covered by a green lawn. Old fig and olive trees still grow there; cactuses and carob trees grow on the western and northern edges of the site.

Source

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

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