Daliyat al-Rawha'

Daliyat al-Rawha'
Daliyat al-Rawha'
Arabic	دالية الروحاء
Name Meaning	"fragrant vine"
Also Spelled	Daliyat al Ruha, Daliyat ar Ruha
District	Haifa
Coordinates	32°35′28.15″N 35°04′41″E / 32.5911528°N 35.07806°E / 32.5911528; 35.07806Coordinates: 32°35′28.15″N 35°04′41″E / 32.5911528°N 35.07806°E / 32.5911528; 35.07806
Population	600[1] (1945)
Area	10,008[1] dunums
Date of depopulation	late March 1948[2]
Cause(s) of depopulation	Whispering campaign
Secondary cause	Military assault by Yishuv forces
Current localities	Ramot Menashe?[3]Daliyya[4]

Daliyat al-Rawha' (Arabic: دالية الروحاء‎, Dâliyat er Rûhâ "fragrant vine") was a Palestinian village located 24.5 kilometers (15.2 mi) southeast of Haifa.^[5] It was the site of the signing of a ceasefire agreement between the forces of the Mamluks and the Crusaders in the 13th century. A small village of 60 Arab Muslims in the late 19th century, the Jewish colony of Dalia was established on land purchased in the village in 1939. The population in 1945 reached 600 people: 280 Arabs and 320 Jews.^[1] It was depopulated of its Arab inhabitants in late March during the 1948 Palestine War.

History

In 1281, the Mamluk sultan Qalawun stayed in Daliyat al-Rawha' while his forces battled against those of the Crusaders. According to Al-Maqrizi, the two sides signed a temporary peace treaty (hudna) in the village.^[4]

In 1859 the population was estimated to be about 60, who cultivated 10 faddans of land. At the end of the 19th century, Daliyat al-Rawha' is described by The Survey of Western Palestine (1881) as being situated on the west side of a watershed with a good spring close by on the south.^[6] The villagers, who were Muslims, also raised livestock. The village had a rectangular layout from east to west. The houses were grouped closely together and made of stone, held together with mud or cement. The main water sources for the village were located nearby.^[4]

By the 20th century, the Arabs of Daliyat al-Rawha were tenant farmers.^[7] The Palestine Jewish Colonization Association (PICA) purchased 10,073 dunams of land in Daliyat al-Rawha and neighboring Umm ed-Dafuf (now Kibbutz Dalia) in 1936.^[8] The Jewish colony of Dalia was established in 1939 to the south of the built up area of Daliyat al-Rawha' on village lands.^[4]

1948 war, aftermath

Benny Morris relates that Yosef Weitz was concerned with the problem posed by Arab tenant farmers in the area as early as January 1948. A diary entry Weitz made following a meeting with officials of the Jewish National Fund states:

"Is not now the time to be rid of them [he was referring specifically to the tenant farmers in Yoqne'am and Daliyat ar Ruha]? Why continue to keep in our midst these thorns at a time when they pose a danger to us? Our people are considering [solutions]."^[9]

In March 1948, Weitz organized with the Jewish settlers of Kibbutz Kfar Masayrek to evict the tenant communities at Daliyat al-Rawha' and Buteimat.^[9]

The New York Times reports the village was captured on April 14, 1948, during the Battle of Mishmar HaEmek.^[4] By mid-June 1948, according to David Ben-Gurion as based on a report written by Weitz, Daliyat al-Rawha' had been destroyed by the Israeli authorities, while the destruction of Buteimat and Sabbarin was about to begin.^[10] According to Morris, Ramot Menashe was established on the village lands almost immediately thereafter.^[3] Khalidi writes that Ramot Menashe is actually located on the lands of neighboring Sabbarin.^[4]

In 1995, a committee representing internally displaced Palestinians from Daliyat al-Rawha' joined the Association for the Defense of the Rights of the Internally Displaced (ADRID), a national committee in Israel that advocates for these internal refugees' right of return.^[11]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Hadawi, 1970, p. 47.
2. ^ Morris, 2004, p. xviii, village #162. Also gives causes of depopulation.
3. ^ ^{a b} Morris, 2004, p. xx, settlement #4.
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Khalidi, 1992, p. 158.
5. ^ Khalidi, 1992, p. 157.
6. ^ Conder, Claude Reignier and H.H. Kitchener: The Survey of Western Palestine. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund, 1881, II, p.41 Also cited in Khalidi, 1992, p.158
7. ^ Morris, 2004, p. 372.
8. ^ Avneri, 1984, p. 220.
9. ^ ^{a b} Morris, 2004, p. 131-2.
10. ^ Morris, 2004, p. 350.
11. ^ Masalha, ed., 2005, p. 99.

Bibliography

• Avneri, Aryeh L. (1984), The claim of dispossession: Jewish land-settlement and the Arabs, 1878-1948 (Illustrated ed.), Transaction Publishers, ISBN 0878559647, 9780878559640 
• Conder, Claude Reignier and H.H. Kitchener (1881): The Survey of Western Palestine: memoirs of the topography, orography, hydrography, and archaeology. London:Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. vol 2 p.41
• Hadawi, Sami (1970), Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine, Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center, http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html 
• Khalidi, Walid (1992), All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948, Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies, ISBN 0-88728-224-5 
• Nur Masalha, ed. (2005), Catastrophe remembered: Palestine, Israel and the internal refugees : essays in memory of Edward W. Said (1935-2003), Zed Books, ISBN 1842776231, 9781842776230 
• Morris, Benny (2004), The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521009677, 9780521009676 

External links

• Welcome To Daliyat al-Rawha'
• Daliyat al-Rawha' from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center