Balad ash-Sheikh

Infobox Former Arab villages in Palestine
name=Balad ash-Sheikh


imgsize=
caption=
arname=بلد الشيخ
meaning="The town of the sheikh"
altSp=Balad al-Shaykh
district=hf
population=4,120
popyear=1945
area=9,849
areakm=9.8
cause=M
curlocl=Nesher
date=April 25, 1948

Balad ash-Sheikh or Balad al-Shaykh ( _ar. بلد الشيخ) is a former Palestinian town located just north of Mount Carmel, 7 kilometers southeast of Haifa. The town is named after Sheikh Abdullah as-Sahli, a renowned Sufi and the town contains a "maqam" dedicated to him. Izz ad-Din al-Qassam's grave is located in Balad ash-Sheikh - which was vandalized in 1999. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/Haifa/Balad-al-Shaykh/index.html Haifa District: Balad al-Shaykh Town Statistics and Facts] ]

The town had a total land area of 9,849 dunams although only 5,844 dunams were Arab-owned; Most of the remainder was public property. In 1945, the town had a population of 4,120 Arab inhabitants making it one of the larger localities in the area. [ [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Haifa/Page-047.jpgHaifa 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] Most of the fleeing or exiled residents of Balad ash-Sheikh are internally displaced Palestinians and presently reside in various Arab neighborhoods in Haifa or to Acre. Currently the town's land is located within the jurisdiction of the Israeli city, Nesher.

Capture by Israelis

On December 31, 1947, Haganah troops entered the town disguised as Arabs and killed 14 residents, 10 of whom were women and children. The attack was in response to an attack by Arabs on the oil refinery in Haifa the previous night. [ [http://www.robincmiller.com/melinkfr.htm Research Guide to the Israel-Palestinian conflict: Balad esh-Sheikh] Robin C. Miller cites Wilson, Cordon and Search, pp. 158 and Walid Khalidi in his book "All That Remains", pp.151-154.] According to Israeli historian Aryeh Yitzhaki, the attack took place on January 30 when a coalition of Palmach and Haganah forces entered the town and mostly fought in houses. Because of this most of the sixty residents that were killed were non-combatants. [ [http://www.robincmiller.com/melinkfr.htm Research Guide to the Israel-Palestinian conflict: Balad esh-Sheikh] Robin C. Miller cites Arieh Yitzhaqi in the April 14, 1972, issue of the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot, translated in "From the Hebrew Press," Journal of Palestine Studies, vol. 1, no. 4 (summer 1972), p. 144. Also quoted by Sami Hadawi, Bitter Harvest, pp. 88.] The town was captured by the Haganah's Carmeli Brigade during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War on April 25, 1948, in the offensive, Operation Chametz.

Walid Khalidi - a prominent Palestinian historian, describes the town:

Many of the Arab houses and shops are still standing and are occupied by the settlement's inhabitants. The cemetery is visible and is in a state of neglect. [ [http://www.palestineremembered.com/Haifa/Balad-al-Shaykh/ Balad al-Shaykh: Town Today] quotes historian Walid Khalidi in his book, [http://palestine-studies.org/final/en/books/item.php?id=214 "All That Remains"] (1992)]

ee also

*Balad al-Shaykh massacre
*List of villages depopulated during the Arab-Israeli conflict

References