Al-Zeeb
Encyclopedia
Az-Zeeb or al-Zib was a Palestinian
Arab
village located 13.5 kilometres (8.4 mi) north of Acre
on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea
. Mentioned in the Bible
by its ancient name Achzib
, evidence of human settlement at the site dates back to the 18th century BCE. By the 10th century BCE, it was a propersous and fortified Phoenicia
n town. Conquered by the Assyrian empire in the 8th century BCE, it was subsequently ruled by the Persian empire. During the rule of the Roman empire
in Palestine
, it was known as Ecdippa. Arab
geographers were referring to it as az-Zeeb by the early Middle Ages
.
The Crusaders
established a fortress named Casal Humberti
there in 1099 and there are descriptions of it and the village of az-Zeeb by Arab chroniclers in the 12th and 13th centuries, just prior to and during the rule of the Mamluks in the region. Incorporated into the Ottoman empire
in the early 16th century, by its end it formed part of the subdistrict of Akka
. Its inhabitants cultivated various crops and raised livestock on which they paid taxes to the Ottoman authorities.
At the time of the British Mandate in Palestine, most the families in az-Zeeb made their living from fishing and agriculture, particularly fruit cultivation. Just before the official end to Mandate rule on May 14, 1948, az-Zeeb was attacked by captured by the Haganah
's Carmeli Brigade. The town was depopulated and razed to the ground. The Israel
i localities of Sa'ar
and Gesher HaZiv
were established on the village lands in 1948 and 1949. A domed mosque
from the village has since been restored and serves as a tourist site, and the house of the last mukhtar
is now a museum.
ite/Phoenicia
n name, Achzib
. Achzib is mentioned in the Book of Joshua
(19:29) and Book of Judges
(1:31) as a town that became of the Asher
tribe, though archaeological
evidence indicates that it was Phoenician.
Human settlement at the site dates to as early as the 18th century BCE, and by the 10th century BCE it was a walled town. A tel
in Az-Zeeb excavated between 1941–44 and 1959-1964 found evidence of settlement from the Middle Bronze Age II
, through the Roman period
and the Early Middle Ages
.
Positioned on a passage between the plain of Akko
and the city of Tyre, Achzib was an important road station. Between the 10th and 6th centuries BCE, it was a properous town, with public buildings and tombs with Phoenician inscriptions, attesting to the identity of its inhabitants at the time. Conquered by the Assyria
ns in 701 BCE and listed in Sennacherib
's annals as Ak-zi-bi, the continuation of Phoenician settlement through this period and during the decline endured during the Persian period, is evidenced in 5th and 4th century BCE Phoenician inscriptions that were found at the site. Also mentioned in the writings of Pseudo-Scylax, the site likely regained some importance in Hellenistic times. During the Roman period, the imperial authorities called it Ecdippa. By the Early Middle Ages
, Arab
geographers were referring to the area as Az-Zeeb.
With the arrival of the Crusader
s in 1099, the village was reestablished as "Casal Imbertia" or "Lambertie". Arab
geographer Ibn Jubayr
toured Palestine
in 1182 and mentioned az-Zeeb as a large fortress with a village and adjoining lands between Acre and Tyre." Under Mamluk
rule, in 1226, Arab geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi
describes az-Zeeb as a large village on the coast whose name was also pronounced "az-Zaib".
In the early 16th century, az-Zeeb was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire
, and by 1596, it was a village in the nahiya ("subdistrict") of Akka, part of Sanjak Safad. It paid taxes on several agricultural items including, wheat, barley, "summer crops", fruits, cotton, beehives, goats, and water buffalo. The 18th century Islam
ic judge and scholar Abu al-Ali az-Zibi was born in the village. British
traveler James Silk Buckingham
describes az-Zeeb in the early 19th century as a small town built on a hill near the sea with few palm trees rising above its houses. By the late 19th century, most of the village houses were built of stone, a mosque
and a clinic had been established, and the residents cultivated olive
s, fig
s, mulberries
, and pomegranate
s. In 1882, the Ottomans established an elementary school in az-Zeeb.
Az-Zeeb became a part of the British Mandate of Palestine in 1922. During the period of British rule, the main economic sectors in the village were fishing and agriculture, particularly fruit cultivation, including banana
s, citrus
, olives, and figs. There were four olive presses: two mechanized and two animal-drawn. Between 1927 and 1945, the village's annual fish catch was 16 metric tons.
, on May 14, 1948, az-Zeeb was captured by the Haganah
's Carmeli Brigade, being one of the main places targeted in Operation Ben-Ami. According to Haganah accounts, the residents immediately "fled upon the appearance of Jewish forces, and the Haganah command decided to hold onto [it]." However, Israel
i historian Benny Morris
states that the Haganah had a "long account" with az-Zeeb because it was a center of Arab resistance and that most of the inhabitants fled after the village was hit with a mortar barrage by the Haganah. Morris also writes that two IDF companies reported in mid-May 1948 that they were "attacking al Zib with the aim of blowing up the village".
Eyewitness accounts from among the villagers indicate that they mistook the incoming Israeli forces for Arab reinforcements because they had donned red and white keffiyeh
s, and that these forces quickly overwhelmed the local militia of 35-40 men. Many of the inhabitants fled to Lebanon
or nearby villages, but many also remained in az-Zeeb until they were relocated by the Israeli authorities to the Arab coastal town of Mazra'a
. Carmeli Brigade Commander Moshe Carmel
ordered az-Zeeb to be razed to the ground to "punish" the villagers and ensure they could not return. Villagers later complained that the Haganah had (as in Sumeiriya and al-Bassa
) "molested or violated" a number of women.
According to Walid Khalidi
,
to 1,910 inhabitants. In 1931, there were 251 houses in az-Zeeb. The projected population in 1948 was 2,216, and Palestinian refugee
s of az-Zeeb and their descendants were estimated to number 13,606 in 1998.
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
village located 13.5 kilometres (8.4 mi) north of Acre
Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
. Mentioned in the Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
by its ancient name Achzib
Achzib
Achziv is an archaeological site on the northern coast of Israel, 15 kilometers north of Acco. It was first settled in the Middle Canaanite II period by the Phoenicians. In the Bible, it is described as falling within territory assigned to the tribe of Asher. An Arab village, Az-Zeeb, was...
, evidence of human settlement at the site dates back to the 18th century BCE. By the 10th century BCE, it was a propersous and fortified Phoenicia
Phoenicia
Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...
n town. Conquered by the Assyrian empire in the 8th century BCE, it was subsequently ruled by the Persian empire. During the rule of the Roman empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
in Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
, it was known as Ecdippa. Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
geographers were referring to it as az-Zeeb by the early Middle Ages
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...
.
The Crusaders
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
established a fortress named Casal Humberti
Casal Humberti
Casal Humberti was the name of a fortress in the Achziv region of Israel named after the commander of the fort in 1104. It was later named Casal Umberti in 1197 and Casal Imbert in 1104. European farmes settled here in 1153 by Baldwin III and in 1232 was the site of a great battle between German...
there in 1099 and there are descriptions of it and the village of az-Zeeb by Arab chroniclers in the 12th and 13th centuries, just prior to and during the rule of the Mamluks in the region. Incorporated into the Ottoman empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
in the early 16th century, by its end it formed part of the subdistrict of Akka
Akka
Akka is traditionally a female spirit in Sámi and Finnish mythology.In Sámi mythology, the first akka was Maderakka and her daughters were Sarakka, Uksakka and Juksakka. Some Sámi thought they lived under their kota tents....
. Its inhabitants cultivated various crops and raised livestock on which they paid taxes to the Ottoman authorities.
At the time of the British Mandate in Palestine, most the families in az-Zeeb made their living from fishing and agriculture, particularly fruit cultivation. Just before the official end to Mandate rule on May 14, 1948, az-Zeeb was attacked by captured by the Haganah
Haganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
's Carmeli Brigade. The town was depopulated and razed to the ground. The Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i localities of Sa'ar
Sa'ar
Sa'ar is a kibbutz in the western Galilee in Israel. Located near Nahariya, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Asher Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 403.-History:...
and Gesher HaZiv
Gesher Haziv
Gesher HaZiv is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Situated in the Western Galilee on the coastal highway between Nahariya and the Lebanese border, opposite the Akhziv National Park, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Asher Regional Council...
were established on the village lands in 1948 and 1949. A domed mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
from the village has since been restored and serves as a tourist site, and the house of the last mukhtar
Mukhtar
Mukhtar meaning "chosen" in Arabic, refers to the head of a village or mahalle in many Arab countries as well as in Turkey and Cyprus. The name refers to the fact that mukhtars are usually selected by some consensual or participatory method, often involving an election. Mukhtar is also a common...
is now a museum.
History
The Arabic name of the village, Az-Zeeb is a shortened form of the site's original ancient CanaanCanaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
ite/Phoenicia
Phoenicia
Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...
n name, Achzib
Achzib
Achziv is an archaeological site on the northern coast of Israel, 15 kilometers north of Acco. It was first settled in the Middle Canaanite II period by the Phoenicians. In the Bible, it is described as falling within territory assigned to the tribe of Asher. An Arab village, Az-Zeeb, was...
. Achzib is mentioned in the Book of Joshua
Book of Joshua
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament. Its 24 chapters tell of the entry of the Israelites into Canaan, their conquest and division of the land under the leadership of Joshua, and of serving God in the land....
(19:29) and Book of Judges
Book of Judges
The Book of Judges is the seventh book of the Hebrew bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its title describes its contents: it contains the history of Biblical judges, divinely inspired prophets whose direct knowledge of Yahweh allows them to act as decision-makers for the Israelites, as...
(1:31) as a town that became of the Asher
Asher
Asher , in the Book of Genesis, is the second son of Jacob and Zilpah, and the founder of the Tribe of Asher.-Name:The text of the Torah argues that the name of Asher means happy/blessing, implying a derivation from the Hebrew term osher ; the Torah actually presents this in two variations—beoshri...
tribe, though archaeological
Syro-Palestinian archaeology
Syro-Palestinian archaeology is a term used to refer to archaeological research conducted in the southern Levant. Palestinian archaeology is also commonly used in its stead, particularly when the area of inquiry centers on ancient Palestine...
evidence indicates that it was Phoenician.
Human settlement at the site dates to as early as the 18th century BCE, and by the 10th century BCE it was a walled town. A tel
TEL
- Acronyms :TEL is a three-letter acronym for:* Tetra-ethyl lead, a gasoline additive to make leaded gasoline* Tokyo Electron, a semiconductor equipment manufacturer* Transporter erector launcher, a mobile missile launch platform...
in Az-Zeeb excavated between 1941–44 and 1959-1964 found evidence of settlement from the Middle Bronze Age II
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
, through the Roman period
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
and the Early Middle Ages
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...
.
Positioned on a passage between the plain of Akko
Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
and the city of Tyre, Achzib was an important road station. Between the 10th and 6th centuries BCE, it was a properous town, with public buildings and tombs with Phoenician inscriptions, attesting to the identity of its inhabitants at the time. Conquered by the Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
ns in 701 BCE and listed in Sennacherib
Sennacherib
Sennacherib |Sîn]] has replaced brothers for me"; Aramaic: ) was the son of Sargon II, whom he succeeded on the throne of Assyria .-Rise to power:...
's annals as Ak-zi-bi, the continuation of Phoenician settlement through this period and during the decline endured during the Persian period, is evidenced in 5th and 4th century BCE Phoenician inscriptions that were found at the site. Also mentioned in the writings of Pseudo-Scylax, the site likely regained some importance in Hellenistic times. During the Roman period, the imperial authorities called it Ecdippa. By the Early Middle Ages
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...
, Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
geographers were referring to the area as Az-Zeeb.
First Crusade
The First Crusade was a military expedition by Western Christianity to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem...
s in 1099, the village was reestablished as "Casal Imbertia" or "Lambertie". Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
geographer Ibn Jubayr
Ibn Jubayr
Ibn Jubayr was a geographer, traveler and poet from al-Andalus.-Early life:Born in Valencia in Spain, then the seat of an independent emirate. Ibn Jubayr was descendant of a tribe of Andalusian origins, Jubayr was the son of a civil servant...
toured Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
in 1182 and mentioned az-Zeeb as a large fortress with a village and adjoining lands between Acre and Tyre." Under Mamluk
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
rule, in 1226, Arab geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi
Yaqut al-Hamawi
Yāqūt ibn-'Abdullah al-Rūmī al-Hamawī) was an Islamic biographer and geographer renowned for his encyclopedic writings on the Muslim world. "al-Rumi" refers to his Greek descent; "al-Hamawi" means that he is from Hama, Syria, and ibn-Abdullah is a reference to his father's name, Abdullah...
describes az-Zeeb as a large village on the coast whose name was also pronounced "az-Zaib".
In the early 16th century, az-Zeeb was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, and by 1596, it was a village in the nahiya ("subdistrict") of Akka, part of Sanjak Safad. It paid taxes on several agricultural items including, wheat, barley, "summer crops", fruits, cotton, beehives, goats, and water buffalo. The 18th century Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic judge and scholar Abu al-Ali az-Zibi was born in the village. British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
traveler James Silk Buckingham
James Silk Buckingham
James Silk Buckingham was an English author, journalist and traveller.He was born at Flushing near Falmouth, the son of a farmer, and had a limited education. His youth was spent at sea, and in 1797 he was captured by the French and held as a prisoner of war at Corunna...
describes az-Zeeb in the early 19th century as a small town built on a hill near the sea with few palm trees rising above its houses. By the late 19th century, most of the village houses were built of stone, a mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
and a clinic had been established, and the residents cultivated olive
Olive
The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
s, fig
Ficus
Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
s, mulberries
Mulberry
Morus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae. The 10–16 species of deciduous trees it contains are commonly known as Mulberries....
, and pomegranate
Pomegranate
The pomegranate , Punica granatum, is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing between five and eight meters tall.Native to the area of modern day Iran, the pomegranate has been cultivated in the Caucasus since ancient times. From there it spread to Asian areas such as the Caucasus as...
s. In 1882, the Ottomans established an elementary school in az-Zeeb.
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
s, citrus
Citrus
Citrus is a common term and genus of flowering plants in the rue family, Rutaceae. Citrus is believed to have originated in the part of Southeast Asia bordered by Northeastern India, Myanmar and the Yunnan province of China...
, olives, and figs. There were four olive presses: two mechanized and two animal-drawn. Between 1927 and 1945, the village's annual fish catch was 16 metric tons.
1948 War
Just prior to the 1948 Arab-Israeli War1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
, on May 14, 1948, az-Zeeb was captured by the Haganah
Haganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
's Carmeli Brigade, being one of the main places targeted in Operation Ben-Ami. According to Haganah accounts, the residents immediately "fled upon the appearance of Jewish forces, and the Haganah command decided to hold onto [it]." However, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i historian Benny Morris
Benny Morris
Benny Morris is professor of History in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Be'er Sheva, Israel...
states that the Haganah had a "long account" with az-Zeeb because it was a center of Arab resistance and that most of the inhabitants fled after the village was hit with a mortar barrage by the Haganah. Morris also writes that two IDF companies reported in mid-May 1948 that they were "attacking al Zib with the aim of blowing up the village".
Eyewitness accounts from among the villagers indicate that they mistook the incoming Israeli forces for Arab reinforcements because they had donned red and white keffiyeh
Keffiyeh
The keffiyeh/kufiya , also known as a ghutrah , ' , mashadah , shemagh or in Persian chafiye , Kurdish cemedanî and Turkish puşi, is a traditional Arab headdress fashioned from a square, usually cotton, scarf. It is typically worn by Arab men, as well as some Kurds...
s, and that these forces quickly overwhelmed the local militia of 35-40 men. Many of the inhabitants fled to Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
or nearby villages, but many also remained in az-Zeeb until they were relocated by the Israeli authorities to the Arab coastal town of Mazra'a
Mazra'a
Mazra'a is an Arab town and local council in northern Israel, situated between Acre and Nahariyya on the Mediterranean coast.The local council was founded in 1896 and was incorporated into the Matte Asher Regional Council in 1982, before proclaiming itself an independent local council again in...
. Carmeli Brigade Commander Moshe Carmel
Moshe Carmel
Moshe Carmel was an Israeli soldier and politician who served as Minister of Transportation for eight years.-Background:Born in Mińsk Mazowiecki in the Russian Empire , Carmel emigrated to Mandate Palestine in 1924 when he was 13 years old. He was a founding member of kibbutz Na'an, and was...
ordered az-Zeeb to be razed to the ground to "punish" the villagers and ensure they could not return. Villagers later complained that the Haganah had (as in Sumeiriya and al-Bassa
Al-Bassa
al-Bassa was a Palestinian Arab village in the British Mandate of Palestine's District of Acre. It was situated close to the Lebanese border, north of the district capital, Akko , and above sea level.-Name:...
) "molested or violated" a number of women.
Walid Khalidi
Walid Khalidi is an Oxford University-educated Palestinian historian who has written extensively on the Palestinian exodus. He is General Secretary and co-founder of the Institute for Palestine Studies, established in Beirut in December 1963 as an independent research and publishing center...
,
All that remains of the village is the mosque, which has been restored for tourism, and the house of the mukhtarMukhtarMukhtar meaning "chosen" in Arabic, refers to the head of a village or mahalle in many Arab countries as well as in Turkey and Cyprus. The name refers to the fact that mukhtars are usually selected by some consensual or participatory method, often involving an election. Mukhtar is also a common...
(the village head) Husayn Ataya, which is now a museumMuseumA museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
. The house is relatively large and made of masonry. The stone mosque has a dome and a large decorative arch on the front facade.
Demographics
According to Ottoman imperial records, az-Zeeb had a population of 875 in 1596, decreasing to about 400 in the late 19th century. In the British Mandate census in 1931, there were 1,059 people living in the town, nearly doubling by the 1945 population survey by Sami HadawiSami Hadawi
Sami Hadawi was a Palestinian scholar and author. He is known for documenting the effects of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War on the Arab population in Palestine and published statistics for individual villages prior to Israel's establishment. Hadawi worked as a land specialist until he was exiled from...
to 1,910 inhabitants. In 1931, there were 251 houses in az-Zeeb. The projected population in 1948 was 2,216, and Palestinian refugee
Palestinian refugee
Palestinian refugees or Palestine refugees are the people and their descendants, predominantly Palestinian Arabic-speakers, who fled or were expelled from their homes during and after the 1948 Palestine War, within that part of the British Mandate of Palestine, that after that war became the...
s of az-Zeeb and their descendants were estimated to number 13,606 in 1998.
External links
- Welcome to al-Zeeb Palestine Remembered.
- Al-Zeeb photos, from Dr. Moslih Kanaaneh
- Al-Zib, at Khalil Sakakini Cultural CenterKhalil Sakakini Cultural CenterKhalil Sakakini Cultural Center is an organization established in 1996. It is located at 4 Raja Street, Ramallah in the West Bank. The traditional manor that houses the centre was the former family home of Khalil Salem Salah, the mayor of Ramallah between 1947/1951, is now owned by the Palestinian...