al-Batani al-Sharqi البطاني الشرقي | |
|---|---|
| Etymology: The eastern Butani[1] | |
.jpg) 1870s map.jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map.jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Al-Batani al-Sharqi (click the buttons) | |
  al-Batani al-Sharqi Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:31°45′07″N34°43′24″E / 31.75194°N 34.72333°E /31.75194; 34.72333 | |
| Palestine grid | 123/128 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Gaza |
| Date of depopulation | May 13, 1948[4] |
| Area | |
• Total | 5.8 km2 (2.2 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 650[2][3] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault byYishuv forces |
| Current Localities | None |
Al-Batani al-Sharqi (Arabic:البطاني الشرقي) was aPalestinian Arab village in theGaza Subdistrict, located 36.5 kilometers (22.7 mi) northeast ofGaza situated in the flat terrain on the southern coastal plain ofPalestine. It had a population of 650 in 1945. Al-Batani al-Sharqi was depopulated during the1948 Arab-Israeli War.[5]
Ceramics from theByzantine era have been found here, together with coins from reigns ofPhocas andConstantine IV.[6]
One mention of al-Batani indicates that it was founded as a ranch by theUmayyad caliphMu'awiya I in the 8th century CE.[5]
Al-Batani al-Sharqi, like the rest ofPalestine, was incorporated into theOttoman Empire in 1517, and in thetax registers of 1596, it was a village in thenahiya of Gaza, east ofIsdud, north ofBayt Daras and part of theSanjak of Gaza with a population of 39. Al-Batani paid taxes on wheat, barley, fruit, beehives, goats, and vineyards.[7] The whole population wasMuslim.[8] The village appeared as an unnamed village on the map ofPierre Jacotin compiled in 1799.[9]
In 1838,Robinson notedel-Butaniyeh, the east, as Muslim village located in the Gaza district.[10]
In 1863 the French explorerVictor Guérin visited the village which he calledBathanieh Ech-Charkieh. He found about 100adobe brick houses, and ancient stones lying on the ground near a well. Tobacco plantations grew in gardens surrounded by cactus hedges.[11]
Socin, citing an official Ottoman village list compiled around 1870, noted that Al-Batani al-Sharqi had 89 houses and a population of 265, though the population count included men, only.[12]Hartmann found thatel-batanije esch-scharkije had 85 houses.[13]
In 1882, thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine (SWP) described al-Batani al-Sharqi as being situated on low ground and extended from east to west in a rectangular shape. Patches of garden and a number of wells surrounded the village.[14]
In the1922 census of Palestine, conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities,Batani Sharqi had a population of 304 inhabitants, all Muslims,[15] increasing in the1931 census to 404, still all Muslim, in 85 houses.[16]
Construction expanded westward—the Wadi al-Mari's winter flooding impeded eastward expansion—along the road that linked toal-Batani al-Gharbi until the distance between the two villages was less than 2 kilometers (1.2 mi). Village houses, made of adobe, with wood-and-cane roofs, were built close together along narrow alleys. The two al-Batanis shared an elementary school that was opened in 1947; its initial enrollment was 119 students. The village had a mosque and a number of small shops. The entire population wasMuslim.[5]
In the1945 statistics Al-Batani al-Sharqi had a population of 650, all Muslims,[2] with 5,764dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[3] Of this, 319 dunams were allocated to citrus and banana plants, 474 plantations and irrigable land, 4,733 used for cereals,[17] while 32 dunams were built-up land.[18]
In early May, 1948, theAl-Majdal Arab National Committee (NC), ordered the villagers of Al-Batani al-Sharqi, together with those ofAl-Batani al-Gharbi,Yasur,Bayt Daras and the three Sawafir villages to stay put.[19]
It became depopulated shortly afterwards as part ofPalmach's 'Operation Lightning' (Mivtza Barak). After they had hitBayt Daras, the operational orders to Haganah on the 10 May was to "subdue" Al-Batani al-Gharbi and Al-Batani al-Sharqi, "with the same means used vis-à-visAqir,Bashshit andBayt Daras".[20]
Together with nearbyBashshit andBarqa, al-Batani al-Sharqi was captured by theHaganah'sGivati Brigade, just before the end of theBritish Mandate period in Palestine.[5] According toIsraeli historianBenny Morris, it fell on May 13, 1948, as part ofOperation Barak in which the Haganah moved southwards in anticipation of an engagement withEgyptian forces.[4]
TheHistory of the War of Independence, however, states that it was captured by Israeli Jewish forces under the Givati Brigade's Eighth Battalion on June 10–11. Palestinian historianWalid Khalidi said that this may have meant that the village briefly changed hands in the course of Israeli-Egyptian battles on the southern front before the first truce came into effect on June 11.[5]
In early 1949 AmericanQuaker relief workers reported that many those living in tents in what becameMaghazi refugee camp had come from Al-Batani al-Sharqi.[21]
Following the war the area was incorporated into theState of Israel, with the villages lands remaining undeveloped.[22] In 1992 the village site was described: "Only a dilapidated police station from the Mandate period survives. It is a complex of three single-storey, concrete flat-roofed buildings. One of the buildings is higher than the other two; all three have rectangular doors and windows. A village street is clearly visible. Cactuses and fig, eucalyptus, and sycamore trees are scattered over the site. Israeli farmers cultivate citrus on the adjacent lands."[22]
