Islin

Islin
Islin
Arabic	عسلين
District	Jerusalem
Coordinates	31°47′04.95″N 35°00′22.69″E / 31.7847083°N 35.0063028°E / 31.7847083; 35.0063028Coordinates: 31°47′04.95″N 35°00′22.69″E / 31.7847083°N 35.0063028°E / 31.7847083; 35.0063028
Population	302 (1948[1])
Area
Date of depopulation	18 July, 1948[2]
Cause(s) of depopulation	Military assault by Yishuv forces
Current localities	Eshta'ol[3]

Islin (Arabic: عسلين‎is a former Palestinian village located 21 kilometers west of Jerusalem. The village had a population of 302 inhabitants and was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.^[4][5] It was occupied by Israeli forces, possibly from the Fourth Battalion of the Harel Brigade, on 18 July 1948 during Operation Dani, causing its inhabitants to leave.^[5] Eshtaol, a moshav, was built on the village's land.

History

In 1596, Islin appeared as Islit in Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Ramla of the Liwa of Jaffa. It had a population of 14 Muslim households and paid taxes on wheat, barley, and goats or beehives.^[6]

In the lated 1870s the place was uninhabited, with ruins still visible.^[7] It was probably re-established at the beginning of the century.^[5]

Of the site today, Walid Khalidi writes:

"Partially destroyed walls and stone terraces can be seen throughout the site. A thick forest, bushes, and grass grow over and around the stone rubble. Many carob trees and some olive trees grow on the northern edge of the site, and eucalyptus and fir trees grow in the south. The site also houses a bus repair yard belonging to the Israeli public transportation cooperative, Egged."^[5]

See also

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

References

1. ^ Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
2. ^ Morris, 2006, p. xviii, village #330. Also gives the cause for depopulation
3. ^ Morris, 2006, p. xix, settlement #78. 1949
4. ^ Jerusalem District Stats from Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine (1970) Hadawi, Sami. The Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center
5. ^ ^{a b c d} Khalidi, 1992, p. 295
6. ^ Wolf-Dieter Hütteroth 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. 152. 
7. ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1881, III:83. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p.295

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 
• Khalidi, Walid (1992), All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948, Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies, ISBN 0887282245 
• Morris, Benny (2004). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521009676. http://books.google.com/?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=benny+morris&q. 

External links

• Welcome To 'Islin
• 'Islin, from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center