Karatiyya
Encyclopedia
Karatiyya was a Palestinian Arab
village of 1,370, located 29 kilometres (18 mi) northeast of Gaza
, situated in a flat area with an elevation of 100 metres (328.1 ft) along the coastal plain of Palestine
and crossed by Wadi al-Mufrid.
s and was subsequently captured by the Ayyubids under Saladin
in 1187. In 1226, Arab
geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi
writes of the village under Ayyubid rule as "Karatayya" as "a town near Bait Jibrin
, in the Province of Filastin
. It belongs to Jerusalem. The Mamluk
sultan al-Nasir ibn Qalawun
camped in Karatayya in 1299 on his way to fight the Mongols
. 14th century Arab geographer Al-Dimashqi reports that at times it was a part of Mamlakat Ghazzah ("Kingdom of Gaza").
In 1596, while under Ottoman
rule, Karatiyya was under the administration of the nahiya of Gaza, part of Sanjak of Gaza. A population of 253, it paid taxes on wheat, barley, fruit, vineyards, beehives, and goats. In the 19th century, a ruined tower stood atop a mound just outside the village which was built in an open plain.
During the British Mandate of Palestine period in the 20th century, the village houses were built of adobe brick and it relied on the nearby town of al-Faluja
for medical, commercial, and administrative services. Karatiyya itself, had a mosque
, a grain mill, and an elementary school—the latter was built in 1922 and had an enrollment of 128 students in the mid-1940s. Domestic water was supplied by two wells dug within the village and the primary agricultural crops were grain and prickly pears.
blew up a house in Karatiyya on the night of December 9, 1947, the orders to the Givati Brigade who executed the order had been for "two houses".
Karatiyya was captured by the Israeli Army
's 89th Mechanized Battalion, commander Moshe Dayan
, on July 18, 1948 as part of Operation Death to the Invader
. Its inhabitants fled upon their arrival, according to Dayan. According to Benny Morris
, the village "was harassed by machine-gun fire and abandoned by its inhabitants". Israeli forces intended to link their northern territory with that held by Israeli forces in the Negev
, but succeeded only partially, only taking control of Hatta and Karatiyya. After it was stormed by Dayan's troops he controversially withdrew them leaving a Givati infantry company to hold the position. A fierce battle ensued between them and the Egyptian Army
who got as far as the village outskirts. When two Egyptian tanks were on the verge of breaking the Israeli defenses from the south, a unit hiding behind a wall of prickly pear cacti, armed with anti-tank weapons "changed the course of the battle", according to Haganah
accounts.
On August 20, 1948, Ben-Gurion
together with Yehoshua Eshel, presented a plan for 32 new Jewish settlement on newly depopulated Palestinian villages, for Karatiyya one proposed a settlement named Otzem or Komemiyut
Three Israeli settlements were eventually founded on village land: Komemiyut in 1950 and Revaha
in 1953, close to the village site. Nehora
, established in 1956, is partly on village land, and partly on land belonging to al-Faluja
.
The Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi
described Karatiyya in 1992: "Piles of debris are scattered on the site, and a destroyed cemetery (partially hidden among eucalyptus trees) can be seen. An agricultural road runs through it. Grain and alfalfa are grown by Israeli farmers on the site and surrounding lands."
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...
village of 1,370, located 29 kilometres (18 mi) northeast of Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
, situated in a flat area with an elevation of 100 metres (328.1 ft) along the coastal plain of 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....
and crossed by Wadi al-Mufrid.
History
In the 12th century, a castle called Galatie was built on the village site by the CrusaderCrusades
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...
s and was subsequently captured by the Ayyubids under Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
in 1187. In 1226, 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 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...
writes of the village under Ayyubid rule as "Karatayya" as "a town near Bait Jibrin
Bayt Jibrin
Bayt Jibrin was a Palestinian Arab village located northwest of the city of Hebron. The village had a total land area of 56,185 dunams or , of which were built-up while the rest remained farmland.The early inhabitants of Bayt Jibrin are the Canaanites...
, in the Province of Filastin
Jund Filastin
Jund Filastin was one of several sub-provinces of the Ummayad and Abbasid Caliphate province of Syria, organized soon after the Muslim conquest of Syria in the seventh century. According to al-Biladhuri, the main towns in the district at its capture by the Rashidun Caliphate, were Gaza, Sebastiya,...
. It belongs to Jerusalem. The 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...
sultan al-Nasir ibn Qalawun
Al-Nasir Muhammad
Al-Nasir Muhammad b. Cairo 1285, d...
camped in Karatayya in 1299 on his way to fight the Mongols
Mongols
Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...
. 14th century Arab geographer Al-Dimashqi reports that at times it was a part of Mamlakat Ghazzah ("Kingdom of Gaza").
In 1596, while under Ottoman
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...
rule, Karatiyya was under the administration of the nahiya of Gaza, part of Sanjak of Gaza. A population of 253, it paid taxes on wheat, barley, fruit, vineyards, beehives, and goats. In the 19th century, a ruined tower stood atop a mound just outside the village which was built in an open plain.
During the British Mandate of Palestine period in the 20th century, the village houses were built of adobe brick and it relied on the nearby town of al-Faluja
Al-Faluja
al-Faluja was an Arab village in the British Mandate of Palestine, located 30 kilometers northeast of Gaza City. The village and the neighbouring village of Iraq al-Manshiyya formed part of the Faluja pocket, where 4,000 Egyptian troops were besieged for four months by the newly established Israel...
for medical, commercial, and administrative services. Karatiyya itself, had 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...
, a grain mill, and an elementary school—the latter was built in 1922 and had an enrollment of 128 students in the mid-1940s. Domestic water was supplied by two wells dug within the village and the primary agricultural crops were grain and prickly pears.
1948 War, and aftermath
As a part of a new policy the HaganahHaganah
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 :...
blew up a house in Karatiyya on the night of December 9, 1947, the orders to the Givati Brigade who executed the order had been for "two houses".
Karatiyya was captured by the Israeli Army
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
's 89th Mechanized Battalion, commander Moshe Dayan
Moshe Dayan
Moshe Dayan was an Israeli military leader and politician. The fourth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces , he became a fighting symbol to the world of the new State of Israel...
, on July 18, 1948 as part of Operation Death to the Invader
Operation Death to the Invader
Operation Death to the Invader , also Death to the Invaders, was an Israeli military operation during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. It was carried out on July 16–18, 1948 in the northwestern Negev desert. The operation's objective was to link Jewish villages in the Negev desert with the rest of...
. Its inhabitants fled upon their arrival, according to Dayan. According to 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...
, the village "was harassed by machine-gun fire and abandoned by its inhabitants". Israeli forces intended to link their northern territory with that held by Israeli forces in the Negev
Negev
The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The Arabs, including the native Bedouin population of the region, refer to the desert as al-Naqab. The origin of the word Neghebh is from the Hebrew root denoting 'dry'...
, but succeeded only partially, only taking control of Hatta and Karatiyya. After it was stormed by Dayan's troops he controversially withdrew them leaving a Givati infantry company to hold the position. A fierce battle ensued between them and the Egyptian Army
Egyptian Army
The Egyptian Army is the largest service branch within the Egyptian Armed Forces and holds power in the current Egyptian government. It is estimated to number around 379,000, in addition to 479,000 reservists for a total of 858,000 strong. The modern army was created in the 1820s, and during the...
who got as far as the village outskirts. When two Egyptian tanks were on the verge of breaking the Israeli defenses from the south, a unit hiding behind a wall of prickly pear cacti, armed with anti-tank weapons "changed the course of the battle", according to 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 :...
accounts.
On August 20, 1948, Ben-Gurion
David Ben-Gurion
' was the first Prime Minister of Israel.Ben-Gurion's passion for Zionism, which began early in life, led him to become a major Zionist leader and Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization in 1946...
together with Yehoshua Eshel, presented a plan for 32 new Jewish settlement on newly depopulated Palestinian villages, for Karatiyya one proposed a settlement named Otzem or Komemiyut
Komemiyut
Komemiyut is an ultra-orthodox-Hasidic moshav in south-central Israel. Located in the southern Shephelah near Kiryat Gat, it falls under the jurisdiction of Shafir Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 248.The village was established in 1950....
Three Israeli settlements were eventually founded on village land: Komemiyut in 1950 and Revaha
Revaha
Revaha is a religious moshav in south-central Israel. Located in the southern Shephelah near Kiryat Gat, it falls under the jurisdiction of Shafir Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 449....
in 1953, close to the village site. Nehora
Nehora
Nehora is a moshav in the southern Israeli Coastal Plain about 5 km west Kiryat Gat in south-central Israel. It belongs to the Lakhish Regional Council. It is located just east of Route 352, across the road from Noga....
, established in 1956, is partly on village land, and partly on land belonging to al-Faluja
Al-Faluja
al-Faluja was an Arab village in the British Mandate of Palestine, located 30 kilometers northeast of Gaza City. The village and the neighbouring village of Iraq al-Manshiyya formed part of the Faluja pocket, where 4,000 Egyptian troops were besieged for four months by the newly established Israel...
.
The Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi
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...
described Karatiyya in 1992: "Piles of debris are scattered on the site, and a destroyed cemetery (partially hidden among eucalyptus trees) can be seen. An agricultural road runs through it. Grain and alfalfa are grown by Israeli farmers on the site and surrounding lands."
External links
- Welcome To Karatiyya
- Karatiyya, 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...