|
Statistic/Fact |
Value
|
| Occupation date |
July 12th, 1948
|
| Elevation from the
sea |
108 meters |
| Maps |
Map
of al-Ramla city
Map of al-Ramla district and neighboring villages
|
|
Attacking Israeli force |
Haganah and IZL forces attacked the city soon after al-Lydd's occupation.
The city encirclement and attached from two sides:
The 1st was originated from Petach Tikva, Qula,
al-Muzayri'a from, and the
2nd attack was originated from the Beit Shamin.
|
|
City defenders |
Transjordan army, some Arab Liberation Army, and local Palestinian
militias.
The people of al-Lydd and al-Ramla should be very proud of their city
defenders because in April and May 1948, they launched several counter
attacks on the Zionist forces, which resulted in the liberation of several surrounding villages
between al-Lydd and Jaffa, plus the liberation of
al-Lydd train station
& its airport.
The question which begs itself: -
What would have happened if these heroes were given the chance of
defending their cities?
|
|
Acts of terror |
On February 18th, 1948, a Zionist terrorist, disguised as an
Arab, planted a bomb in one of al-Ramla's Suqs (markets), which killed seven
civilians and
injured 45 others, many of the victims were women and children.
|
|
Ethnic cleansing
|
Soon after the city's occupation, the Zionists made an agreement with its
inhabitants that they could stay. But soon after, the Zionists
reneged on their promise and detained over 3,000 men in a concentration
camp, and on the same day they started looting the city. On July 14th, 1948, the city's
inhabitants were ethnically cleansed (forcible expulsion) out of the city.
From the 17,000 Palestinians who
used to call al-Ramla home, only 400 people were allowed to
stay.
Yitzhak Rabin, the Noble Prize winner, has written in his diary soon
after Lydda's and Ramla's
occupation:
"After attacking Lydda [later called Lod]
Ben-Gurion would repeat the question: What is to be done with the
population?, waving his hand in a gesture which said: Drive them
out!.
'Driving out' is a term with a harsh ring, .... Psychologically, this
was on of the most difficult actions we undertook." (Soldier
Of Peace, p. 140-141)
Later, Rabin underlined the cruelty of the operation as mirrored in the
reaction of his soldiers. He stated during an interview (which is still
censored in Israeli publications to this day) with David Shipler from the
New York Times on October 22, 1979:
"Great Suffering was inflicted upon the men taking part in the
eviction action. [They] included youth-movement graduates who had been
inculcated with values such as international brotherhood and humaneness.
The eviction action went beyond the concepts they were used to. There
were some fellows who refused to take part. . . Prolonged
propaganda activities were required after the action . . . to explain
why we were obliged to undertake such a harsh and cruel action." (Simha
Falpan, p. 101)
Just before the 1948 war, the residents of the twin cities, Lydda and
al-Ramla, almost constituted 20% of the total urban
population in central Palestine, inclusive of Tel-Aviv. Currently, the
former residents and their descendents number at least a half a million,
who mostly live in deplorable refugee camps in and around Amman (Jordan)
and Ramallah (the occupied West Bank). According to Rabin, the decision to
ethnically cleanse the twin cities was an agonizing decision, however, his
guilty conscious did not stop him from placing a similar order against
three nearby villages ('Imwas,
Yalu, and Bayt
Nuba) 19 years later. The exodus from Lydda and al- Ramla was
portrayed firsthand by Ismail
Shammout, the renowned Palestinians artist from Lydda itself, click
here to view his exodus gallery. To learn more about the ethnic
cleansing of Lydda and al-Ramla based on declassified Israeli archives, we
suggest clicking here
as well .
Click here if
you wish o
learn more about cleansing Lydda and Ramla based on declassified Israeli
documents and personal diaries.
|
|
Refugees' migration route
|
On July 14th 1948, the " Jewish Army" terrorized the inhabitants of al-Lydd and
al-Ramla into fleeing to Ramallah via
al-Qubab, Salbit,
Bayt Nabala, and Kufr Ein.
Close to 55,000 people clogged the
roads in and out of Ramallah for
weeks, where 350 Palestinians died due to exhaustion
and dehydration. As the refugees were departing the twin cities, many of them, especially
the women, were robbed,
stripped of their jewelry and money at roadblocks that were manned
"Jewish Army". In that respect, it's worth quoting Aharon Cizling,
the 1st Israel Agriculture Minister, who stated in July, 1948 :
". ..It's been said that . 'there were cases of rape in Ramla.
I can forgive rape, but I will not forgive other acts which seem to me much
worse. When they enter a town and forcibly remove rings from the fingers and
jewelry from someone's neck, that's a very grave matter. ... Many are guilty
of it." (1949,
The First Israelis, p. 71-72)
It's very sad that for the first time in the twentieth century,
terrorizing civilians out of their homes was used
to achieve military and political objectives. In that regard, Yigal
Allon explained how this expulsion had a "positive" impact on
the war, at least from the hit point of view. He stated in mid-July 1948:
"clogged the routes of the advance of the [Transjordan Arab] Legion and
had foisted upon the Arab economy the problem of "maintaining another
45,000 souls . . . Moreover, the phenomenon of the flight of tens of thousands
will no doubt cause demoralization in every Arab area [the refugees] reach
. . . This victory will yet have great effect on other sectors." (Benny
Morris, p. 211 & Israel:
A History, p. 218)
Often, the Israeli commanders on the scene were encouraged to
use refugees to burden the enemy's war machine, clog their roads, divert
food and other supplies away from their enemy, and to demoralization the
population and the Arab armies.
|
| City's name though
history |
al-Ramla was founded by Sulyman Ibn 'Abdel Malik ('Umayad dynasty) in 715
A.D. The city's name (which means "The female of the sand" in Arabic) may have been
named after the abundance of sand in the area, or it could have been named
after a beautiful woman
named Ramlah who was generous to Sulyman Ibn 'Abdel Malik at al-Lydd!
From the time it was founded until the Crusades' conquest in 1099 AD (almost
for 400 years), al-Ramla was the Provincial Capitol of Palestine (Jund
Filisteen).
|
|
City's size |
In 1945, al-Ramla's city covered an area of 1,769 dunums, which included
200 dunums for roads, wadies, and railroads, ... etc.
|
District's
size and population |
|
In 1945, al-Ramla's municipality covered an area of 926.7 square
kilometers of which Zionist owned 163.6 square kilometers only.
|
| Poulation |
Total |
Arabs |
Jews
|
| 1922 |
49,075 |
45,149 |
3,926 |
| 1931 |
70,579 |
N/A |
N/A |
| 1945 |
127,270 |
97,998 |
29,272 |
|
|
Nearby wadies and rivers |
To the west of the city, al-Ramla bordered Wadi al-Sarar just before it
terminates
into al-'Awja river.
|
| Weather |
| Category |
Note
|
| Temperature |
The average temperature in
al-Ramla ranged from 13 Celsius in January to 26 Celsius in August. |
| Humidity |
65% |
| Rainfall |
On average al-Ramla received
500 millimeters of rainfall every year. |
|
|
Major plantations |
In the years between 1942-1945, al-Ramla had 3,663 dunums planted with citrus
trees (of which only 18 dunums were planted by Zionists), and 7,420 dunums
were planted
with olive trees.
Since Israeli still maintains and enforces the "Law Of
Absentees", most of Ramla's industries, farms, buses, cars,
railroads, cattle, real states, ... etc. have been looted and became the
property of the "Jewish state". When similar injustices were
perpetrated against Europe's Jewish citizens by the Germans and the Swiss
during WWII, the Jews of the world demanded justice for their looted art
works and properties. The question which begs to be asked is :-
Are the Palestinian people entitled for compensation
for their looted properties?
|
| Distance from other towns |
| Town |
Distance From Jaffa
|
| Jerusalem |
45 (km) south east |
| 'Aqir |
9.5 (km) south west |
| Bab al-Wad |
21 (km) south west |
| al-Lydd station |
3.5 (km) north |
|
Beitach Tikvah (Mlabiss)
|
24 (km) north west
|
|
al-Majdal-'Asqalan
|
48 (km) south west
|
|
Sarafand prison camp
|
5 (km) north west
|
|
Weil Helma (German colony)
|
13 (km) north west
|
|
Jaffa
|
18 (km) north west
|
|
| Population |
| Year |
Total |
Muslim
Arabs |
Christian
Arabs |
Jews |
| 1922 |
7,312 |
5,837 |
1,440 |
35 |
| 1931 |
10,347 |
8,156 |
2,184 |
5 |
| 1945 |
15,160 |
11,900 |
3,260 |
N/A |
| 1947 |
16,380 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
| 1949 |
1,536 |
400* |
N/A |
N/A |
| 1950 |
10,592 |
1,368* |
N/A |
9,224 |
| 1960 |
30,000 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
| 1973 |
36,000 |
4,800* |
N/A |
31,200 |
* The statistic includes Muslim and Christian Arabs. |
| Number of houses |
In 1931, al-Ramla had 2,339 houses, which either were all looted or
destroyed by the "Jewish state". |
| City's income and expenses |
| Year |
Income* |
Expenses*
|
| 1927 |
4,590 |
4,610 |
|
1932
|
5,719
|
6,150
|
|
1935
|
5,627
|
5,847
|
|
1939
|
6,278
|
5,642
|
|
1940
|
7,540
|
5,800
|
|
1943
|
11,379
|
10,883
|
|
1944
|
25,170
|
13,808
|
* In Palestinian Pound
|
|
Schools
|
|
School
|
Notes
|
al-Ramla
Junior High*
|
Complete Junior High for boys, which had an enrollment of 890 boys
(81 seniors) in 1947-1948 school year. The school also had a staff
of 24
instructors, and it had a library that contained 2,406 books. The city
allocated for the school a land, which covered an area of 25
dunums, south of al-Nabi Salih
(east of al-Ramla).
|
Banat
al-Ramla*
|
The school was a complete elementary and a partial junior high for
girls. In 1948, it had an enrollment of 473 girls (15 seniors), and
a staff of 13 instructors, which had a library that used to contain 1,120 books.
|
Busatn
al-Ramla**
|
A mixed pre-school (up to the 1st grade) located in the southern
borders of the city. In 1948, the school had an enrollment of 145 boys and
165 girls, and a staff of 6 instructors.
|
|
al-'Islahyah**
|
Pre school located in al-Mahss neighborhood, which had an enrollment
of 100 students.
|
al-'Inath
al-Watniyah**
|
N/A
|
|
al-'Abasyah***
|
An Islamic elementary school (up to 5th grade) which had an
enrollment of 166 students in 1946.
|
|
Sait Josef***
|
Christian school for the girls.
|
Latin
Tarasanta***
|
Christian school.
|
|
* Government school
** City school, and also not that all city schools have
cumulatively 39 instructors.
*** Private school
Please also note that their were few foreign schools which we have no
data about.
Click
here, for general school statistics.
|
|
| Israeli settlements
within city borders |
The city of Ramla occupies the city plus Ahismakh in the north east,
Matsliah in the south, and Yad Rambam in south east on the road to al-Qubab. |
Soon after occupation, the city was occupied by Jewish settlers;
and for some time all the properties of the Christian and Muslim Palestinians
were used in aiding the new Jewish settlers. The old city center is intact, but
a newer Ramla has been built. The Israelis changed the name of al-Ramla's main
street to Herzl street.
The city attracted many industries including cement, pharmaceutical supplies, cigarettes,
construction materials, electrical motor supplies, ... etc. Frankly, the data we
have collected is very old, and we really appreciate any input about the current
status of the city. Please do not hesitate to share you data in the Stories
and Memories section below.
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