Jimzu

:"This article is about the former Arab village, for the moshav see Gimzo"Infobox Former Arab villages in Palestine
name=Jimzu


imgsize=
caption=
arname=جمزو
meaning=
altSp=Gimzo
district=rl
population=1,510 [ [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/al-Ramla/Page-067.jpgAl-Ramla District Stats] from [http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine] (1970) Hadawi, Sami. The Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center]
popyear=1945
area=9,681
areakm=
date=10 - 11 July 1948
cause=M
cause2=
cause3=
curlocl=Moshav Gimzo

Jimzu ( _ar. جمزو, also known as Gimzo) was a Palestinian village, located three miles southeast of Lydda. Under the 1947 UN Partition Plan of British Mandate Palestine, Jimzu was to form part of the proposed Arab state. [ [http://domino.un.org/maps/m0103_1b.gifMap of UN Partition Plan] ] During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the village was depopulated in a two-day assault by Israeli forces.

Under the 1949 armistice agreement, Jimzu's lands fell under the "de facto" governance of the newly created state of Israel. A year later, Moshav Gimzo was established at the site of the former village and is now populated by 700 Israeli Jewish residents.

Jimzu is also thought to be the site of ancient Gimzo, a city in the plain of Judah whose villages were seized by the Philistines (as recorded in the Book of Chronicles).cite web|title=Gimzo ... Glass|publisher=The Illustrated Bible Dictionary|accessdate=2007-12-03|url=http://emeagwali.com/books/bible/ebd/ebd149.shtml]

History

Biblical history

Gimzo is first mentioned in the Bible when the Plishtim conquered the area from King Ahaz in an attempt to enlarge their borders. In the Book of Chronicles II:28:18, it is recorded as one of many city centers with their surrounding villages that was invaded and settled by the Philistines.

Gimzo was the home of the Jewish sage, Nahum of Gimzo.

1948 war

Jizmu was occupied by the Yiftach Brigade of the Haganah on July 10, 1948, in the first phase of Operation Dani.cite web|title=Jizmu:District of al-Ramla|publisher=Palestine Remembered|accessdate=2007-12-03|url=http://www.palestineremembered.com/al-Ramla/Jimzu/index.html]

According to Benny Morris:

"The intention, from the first, was to depopulate [Jimzu and surrounding villages] . On 10 July, Yiftah Brigade HQ informed Dani HQ: Our forces are clearing the 'Innaba-Jimzu-Daniyal area and are torching everything that can be burned.'" [Benny Morris, 2004: "The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited", p. 435]

The following day (11 July) Yiftach informed Dani Headquarters, that its forces had conquered Jimzu and Daniyal and were "busy clearing the villages and blowing up the houses ["´oskot betihur hakfarim u´fitzutz habatim"] " [Yiftah HQ∖Intelligence to Dani HQ, etc., 11 July 1948, IDFA 922∖75∖∖1237. Quoted in Morris, 2004, pp.435] All of Jimzu's inhabitants left as a result of the assault by Israeli forces. Its 434 homes were demolished on September 13 1948.

Founding of Moshav Gimzo

An Israeli moshav named Gimzo was founded by a group of Jewish settlers from Hungary called "Etz Chaim" ("tree of life"), affiliated with the Poalei Agudat Yisrael political party, on February 28, 1950.cite web|title=Moshav Gimzo|publisher=Moshav Gimzo|accessdate=2007-12-03|url=http://www.gimzo.org.il/html/english-about.html] In 1951, the Israeli government settled a group of immigrants from Morocco there to enlarge the population. In 1977, a new group of 12 young families settled there as well.

Presently, the approximately 700 residents of Moshav Gimzo include Charedi and Orthodox Jewish residents of both Sephardic and Ashkenazi backgrounds who lead a "religious-Zionist lifestyle".

ee also

*List of villages depopulated during the Arab-Israeli conflict

External links

* [http://www.gimzo.org.il/html/english-about.html Homepage of Moshav Gimzo]
* [http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=2140&ed=140&edid=140 Carob, Fennel, and the Red Soil of Gimzo: Crafting Palestinian Identity]

References