Bil'in, Gaza

Bil'in was a Palestinian Arab village in the Gaza Subdistrict. It was depopulated by the Israel Defense Forces during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War on July 8, 1948, under Operation An-Far. It was located 39 km northeast of Gaza and the village contained two wells which supplied it with drinking water.

This article is about the Palestinian village depopulated during the 1948 war. For the Palestinian village in the West Bank, see Bil'in.
Bil'in
بعلين
Village
Etymology: Balin, from personal name[1]
1870s map
1940s map
modern map
1940s with modern overlay map
A series of historical maps of the area around Bil'in, Gaza (click the buttons)
Bil'in is located in Mandatory Palestine
Bil'in
Bil'in
Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 31°41′20″N 34°49′11″E
Palestine grid132/121
Geopolitical entityMandatory Palestine
SubdistrictGaza
Date of depopulationNot known[2]
Area
[3]
 • Total8,036 dunams (8.036 km2 or 3.103 sq mi)
Population
 (1945)
 • Total180[4][3]
Current LocalitiesQedma[5]

History

In 1838 it was noted as a Muslim village, Ba'lin, in the Gaza district,[6] being smaller than nearby Barqusya.[7]

In 1863 Victor Guérin noted it as a small village on a mound.[8]

In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described it as being a small adobe village, "with no traces of antiquity."[9]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Bil'in had a population of 101 Muslims,[10] increasing by the 1931 census to 127, still all Muslim, in 32 houses.[11]

In the 1945 statistics, the village together with Ard el Ishra had a population of 180 Muslims,[4] and the land area was 8,036 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[3] Of this, 143 dunams were for plantations and irrigable land, 6,972 for cereals,[12] while 6 dunams were built-up areas.[13]

Bi'lin had an elementary school which was founded in 1937 and a shrine for al-Shaykh Ya'qub.[14]

Bil'in 1945 1:250,000 (bottom left quadrant)
Bil'in 1948 1:20,000

Post 1948

Qedma started using some of the village land after 1948.[5]

In 1992 the village site was described: "All that remains is the rubble of a few houses, with wild herbs and thorns growing on the site, along with some trees and cactus plants. The site is surrounded by barbed wire. Parts of the surrounding land are planted with mango trees and grapes, while others serve as pastures."[5]

References
  1. Palmer, 1881, p.265
  2. Morris, 2004, p. xix, village #290. Morris gives both cause and date for depopulation as "Not known"
  3. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 45
  4. Government of Palestine,Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 31
  5. Khalidi, 1992, p. 91
  6. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. 119
  7. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 2, p. 368
  8. Guérin, 1869, p. 121
  9. Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 409, cited in Khalidi, 1992, p.90
  10. Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Gaza, p. 9
  11. Mills, 1932, p. 3
  12. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 86
  13. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 136
  14. Khalidi, 1992, p. 90

Bibliography
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