Al-Haditha الحديثة | |
|---|---|
| Etymology: "new"[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-Haditha, Ramle (click the buttons) | |
  Al-Haditha Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:31°57′48″N34°57′07″E / 31.96333°N 34.95194°E /31.96333; 34.95194 | |
| Palestine grid | 145/152 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Ramle |
| Date of depopulation | July 12, 1948[4] |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 760[2][3] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault byYishuv forces |
| Current Localities | Hadid[5][6] |
Al-Haditha was aPalestinian village in theRamle Subdistrict. It was located 8 km northeast ofRamla, on the bank of Wadi al-Natuf. The site, now known as Tel Hadid, has yielded significant archaeological remains from many periods. Al-Haditha was depopulated during the1948 Arab-Israeli War on July 12, 1948, under the first stage ofOperation Dani.
Al-Haditha (Arabic: 'New') is the Arabic renditions ofHebrewHadid, mentioned in theBook of Ezra (II, 33) and later in theMishna as a city ofJudea fortified byJoshua.[7]Hadid was called 'Adida (Άδασά ) in theBook of Maccabees, whileEusebius referred to it asAdatha orAditha.[7] The Greek transcription masks three differentSemiticphonemes. ʽAddāsi may be a survival of either Ḥdšh or ʽdšh (nomen unitatis of ʽdšym “lentils”) if thegemination of the -d- and the legthening of -a- are secondary. The disappearance of thelaryngeals might have been caused by the Roman prohibition of Jewish presence in that area after theBar-Kochva revolt.[8]
Al-Haditha is identified with the site of the biblical village ofHadid.[8]
In the 18th or early 19th centuries, a feud broke betweenBayt Nabala and al-Haditha as part of theQays and Yaman conflicts in the area.[9]
In 1870,Victor Guérin visited and "at a quarter of an hour's distance south-east of Haditheh, [he] found several ancienttombs cut in the rock. The village of Haditheh he found to be on the site of an ancient town.Cisterns, a birket, tombs, and rock-cut caves, with cut stones scattered about, are all that remain."[10]
An officialOttoman village list of about 1870 showed that "El Hadite" had 28 houses and a population of 145, though the population count included only men.[11][12]
In 1882 thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine (SWP) described the village as "a moderate-sized village on a terraced Tell at the mouth of a valley at the foot of the hills, with awell on the east. There are remains of a considerable town round it, tombs and quarries exist ; and the mound on which the village stands is covered with pottery."[13]
In acensus conducted in 1922 by theBritish Mandate authorities, Hadata had a population of 415Muslims,[14] increasing in the1931 census to 520, still all Muslims, in a total of 119 houses.[15]In the1945 statistics, the village had a population of 760 Muslims,[2] with a total of 7,110dunums of land.[3] A total of 10 dunams of village land were used forcitrus andbananas, 4,419 dunums were used for cereals, 246 dunums were irrigated or used for plantations,[16] while 16 dunams were built–up, or urban, land.[17]
Early in 1948, theMukhtar of Al-Haditha met to negotiate a non–belligerent agreement with the neighbouringBen Shemen.[18] However, Al-Haditha was depopulated during the1948 Arab-Israeli War on July 12, 1948, under the first stage ofOperation Dani.[4]
In September, 1948,Ben-Gurion asked the ministerial committee for permission to destroy 14 villages, one of which was Al-Haditha.[19]
In 1992 the village site was described: "The stone and concrete rubble of destroyed houses is visible on the site. Only one house remains; it is sealed and deserted. It has a gabled, tiled roof, and a sign ('BROADWAY 80') is glued to one of its walls. There are also clusters of trees on the site, including Christ's–thorn, olive and eucalyptus trees. The old village road remains and has been enlarged. The surrounding land is cultivated."[6]
