Iraq Suwaydan

Iraq Suwaydan
Iraq Suwaydan
Arabic	عراق سويدان
Also Spelled	Iraq al-Suweidan
District	Gaza
Coordinates	31°38′54.86″N 34°41′19.09″E / 31.6485722°N 34.6886361°E / 31.6485722; 34.6886361Coordinates: 31°38′54.86″N 34°41′19.09″E / 31.6485722°N 34.6886361°E / 31.6485722; 34.6886361
Population	660[1] (1945)
Area	7,529[1] dunums 7.5 km²
Date of depopulation	July 8, 1948[2]
Cause(s) of depopulation	Military assault by Yishuv forces
Current localities	Yad Natan, Otzem, Sde Yoav

Iraq Suwaydan (عراق سويدان) was a Palestinian Arab village located 27 kilometers northeast of Gaza City. It was captured by Israeli forces in the offensive Operation Yoav against the defending Egyptian Army during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The town structures were subsequently destroyed, with the exception of a British police station. In 1931, the village had 81 houses.

History

In the late nineteenth century, Iraq Suwaydan was described as a moderate-sized village situated on a plain.^[3]

In 1942 the villagers established an elementary school, which from 1947 they shared with the neighboring villages of Ibdis and Bayt 'Affa. The total number of student was 104 in the mid-1940s.^[4]

The main crop of the village was grain, but small areas was also planted with almond trees and grapes. In 1944/45 a total of 7,329 dunums was allocated to cereals, 9 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards.^[4][5]

1948, and after

Israeli soldiers with the fortress of Iraq Suwaydan in the distance

On May 15th the British authorities gave the local population control over the police fortress. Despite eight separate attacks, the Israelis failed to capture the fort, which controlled the road between al-Majdal and Bayt Jibrin as well as the main road to the Negev. It finally fell on 9 November 1948 after a massive bombardment including air strikes by B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft.^[4]

The bombardment, 9 November 1948.

In 1953 Yad Natan was founded to the east of the site on village land. In 1955 Otzem was established on village land, to the southeast of the site. In 1956 Sde Yoav was established to the west of the site, close to village land.^[4]

According to the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, the remaining structures on the village land were in 1992: "The debris of houses are hidden within a forest of eucalyptus trees that cover the village center. Cacti and the remnants of a pool are visible. Two old village streets, one passing through the site and the other through the land, are clearly recognizable. The British police station is still in use and is now called Metzodat Yo'av. The surrounding lands are now cultivated by Israeli farmers."^[4]

See also

Itzhak Sadeh visits the police fortress at Iraq Suwaydan, November 8, 1948

• List of Arab towns and villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Hadawi, 1970, p.45
2. ^ Morris, 2004, p xx, village #380. Also gives the cause for depopulation
3. ^ Conder and Kitchener, SWP III, 1881, p.259. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p.108
4. ^ ^{a b c d e} Khalidi, 1992, p.109
5. ^ Hadawi, 1970, p.87

Bibliography

• 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 3
• 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 
• Benvenisti, Meron (2002), Sacred Landscape: The Buried History of the Holy Land Since 1948, University of California Press, ISBN 9780520234222, http://books.google.com/?id=7itq6zYtSJwC  P. 42
• Khalidi, Walid (1992), All That Remains, Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies, ISBN 0887282245 
• Morris, Benny (2004). Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521009677
• Gregory Seriy (2007): ‘Iraq Suweidan Final Report, Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel, No. 119.

External links

• Iraq-Suwaydan
• 'Iraq Suwaydan, from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center