Salama (town)

Infobox Former Arab villages in Palestine
name=Salama


imgsize=
caption=
arname=سلمة
meaning=
altSp=
district=jf
population=3,691
popyear=1931
area=6,782
areakm=
date=25 April 1948 [Morris, (2004): p. XVIII, village #208. Also gives the cause of depopulation.]
cause=M
cause2=
curlocl=Tel Aviv

Salama ( _ar. سلمة) was a Palestinian Arab village, located five kilometers east of Jaffa, that was depopulated in the lead up the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The town was named for Salama Abu Hashim, a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. His tomb, two village schools, and ten houses from among the over 800 houses that had made up the village, are all that remain of the structures of the former village today. [Khalidi, (1992), p.254, 255] cite web|title=Welcome to Salama|publisher=Palestine Remembered|accessdate=2007-12-04|url=http://www.palestineremembered.com/Jaffa/Salama/]

History, pre-1948

In 1596 Salama was a village in the nahiya of Ramla (liwa´ of Gaza), with a population of 94. It paid taxes on a number of crops, including wheat and barley, as well as on other types of property, such as goats and beehives. [Hütteroth, Wolf-Deiter and Kamal Abdulfattah (1977), Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. p. 154. Quoted in Khalidi (1992), p. 254.]

In 1931, the town had a population of 3,691 inhabitants according to a census conducted by the British Mandate authorities. [ [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Jaffa/Page-053.jpgJaffa 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] An elementary school for boys was opened in 1920, and by 1941 it had 504 boys enrolled. In 1936 an elementary school for girls was opened, which had 121 girls enrolled by 1941. [Khalidi (1992), p. 255.]

In 1944/45 the town had 6,730 inhabitants, of whom 6,670 were Muslims and 60 Christians. [Khalidi (1992), p. 254, 255.]

History, 1948, post-1948

In January and February 1948 Palmah raiders destroyed houses in Yazur and Salama. Their operational orders for Salama were:

The villagers do not express opposition to the actions of the gangs and a great many of the youth even provide [the irregulars with] active cooperation ...The aim is...to attack the northern part of the village...to cause deaths, to blow up houses and to burn everything possible. [12: Battalion OC to platoons, etc., ´Operational Order´, undated but from early January 1948, and unsigned, `Report on Salama Operation´, 3 Jan. 1948, both in IDFA (=Israel Defence Forces and Defence Ministry Archive) 922∖75∖∖1213. Quoted in Morris (2004), p. 343]

Salama was finally attacked and captured by pre-state Israeli forces of Alexandroni Brigade during Operation Chametz on 25 April 1948 from the Arab Liberation Army and local militias, the town's defenders. Its inhabitants fled the assault and were rendered refugees. When Ben-Gurion visited Salama on 30 April he encountered "only one old blind woman". [372: Entry for 30 Apr. 1948, David Ben-Gurion "Yoman Hamilhama" (the war diary) II, 377. Quoted in Morris (2004), p. 217] A day or two later, hooligans from Tel Avivs Hatikva Quarter torched several buildings. [373: Unsigned logbook entry, `2.5.48,´HA (=Haganah Archive) 105∖94. Quoted in Morris (2004), p. 217]

Today, the city of Tel Aviv (see: Kfar Shalem) lies upon the former village's lands.

ee also

* Kafr 'Ana
* List of villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war

People from Salama

*Mustafa Al-Hallaj

References

Bibliography

*Walid Khalidi (1992): All That Remains, Washington D.C., Institute for Palestine Studies, ISBN 0887282245
*Benny Morris (2004): The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited, Cambridge University Press ISBN 0521009677

External links

* [http://www.nakbainhebrew.org/index.php?id=405 A Palestinian Village in the Heart of Tel Aviv?] by Omer Carmon, August 15 2005