Bayt Jiz بيت جيز Beit Jiz | |
|---|---|
 The old school of Bayt Jiz | |
| Etymology: The ruin of the house of the valley side[1] | |
.jpg) 1870s map.jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map.jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Bayt Jiz (click the buttons) | |
  Bayt Jiz Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:31°48′46″N34°57′15″E / 31.81278°N 34.95417°E /31.81278; 34.95417 | |
| Palestine grid | 145/135 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Ramle |
| Date of depopulation | 20 April 1948[4] |
| Area | |
• Total | 8,357dunams (8.357 km2; 3.227 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 550[2][3] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault byYishuv forces |
| Current Localities | Har'el,[5][6]Tzelafon,[6]Gizo[6] |
Bayt Jiz (Arabic:بيت جيز) was aPalestinian Arab village situated on undulating land in the western foothills of theJerusalem heights, 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) southwest ofRamla. In 1945, it had a population of 550. It was occupied byIsraeli forces in the1948 Arab–Israeli War and became depopulated.[7]
Nearby Khirbet Bayt Jiz has been claimed as the site of the Biblical Gizo and has been linked to theCrusader settlement of Gith, although the latter association was dubbed as doubtful by some historians.[8]
Since 1136, the village belonged to thecanons of theChurch of the Holy Sepulchre.[9]By 1171, Gith was one of five villages within theLydda diocese, in which the canons were permitted by the village bishop to have or build a church and control half the village'stithes.[10]
Bayt Jiz is not recorded in earlyArabic sources.[8]According to local legend, themaqam ("sacred Muslim tomb") was built in 1334 to house the sarcophagus of Shaykh Zayd, a local sage. A stone with Arabic inscriptions was found near themaqam, attributing the building of the structure to aMamluk commander named Sayf ad-Din Aqul. It is the only evidence of earlyIslamic activity in the village thus far.[11]
In 1838, it was noted as a place "in ruins or deserted."[12]
In 1883, thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine described the place, calledKhurbet Beit Jiz, as having "traces of ruins and a sacredMukam. To the south are caves. There are foundations andcisterns among the ruins. On the south-west, in Wady el Kharjeh, are a number of pits containing a perennial supply of good water."[13]
The modern village of Bayt Jiz was founded in the early 20th century.[8] Residents fromKasla, Jerusalem settled the site, establishing it as a dependency - or satellite village - of their home village.[14]
In the1922 census of Palestine, conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities,Bait Jiz had a population of 203 inhabitants, allMuslims,[15]increasing in the1931 census to 371, still all Muslims, in a total of 67 houses.[16]
It had a rectangular plan, narrow streets, and houses constructed ofadobe and stone. The village center included amosque, some shops, and a school built in 1947, shared with nearbyBayt Susin. Bayt Jiz's economy was based on agriculture, with the main crops being grains, figs, vegetables, almonds, and olives. A part of the surrounding land was grassland, enabling the villagers to raise sheep and goats.[7]
In the1945 statistics the population was 550, all Muslims,[2] while the total land area was 8,357 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[3] Of this, a total of 6,529 dunums of village land was used forcereals, 36 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards,[17]while 29 dunams were classified as built-up public areas.[18]
According toIsraeli historianBenny Morris, on 11 January 1948,Kfar Uriah was attacked by Arabs who came through neighboring Beit Jiz and Khirbet Beit Far.[19]According toMorris, the residents of Bayt Jiz fled their village following an Israeli military assault against it on 20 April 1948. Nevertheless, Palestinian historianAref al-Aref points out that the village had not been evacuated for the first assault of theBattle of Latrun that took place on May 22. He points out that the Israeli attack partly failed because the Israeli forces had received mistaken reports that the village had been evacuated. Consequently, they were surprised to encounter fierce resistance from the local militia as well as fromJordanian regulars in theLatrun sector who sent troops to the village.[6][20]
Bayt Jiz was occupied by the7th Armored Brigade of theHaganah in the interval betweenthe first and second assaults on Latrun in late May 1948.[21]A correspondent forThe New York Times reported that the unsuccessful Israeli assault on Latrun spread to Bayt Jiz on May 25. He noted the battle around the village was the "biggest, single clash of the war to date". AnIsraeli army official announced the capture of Bayt Jiz on May 27,[22]but al-Aref puts it at May 30.[6]
A few days after, theBurma Road that crossed the village of Bayt Jiz was built by Israeli to counter the Latrun sector and to supplyJerusalem.[21]
Three Jewish settlements were built on village lands, includingHar'el in 1948,Tzelafon in 1950, andGizo in 1986. Palestinian historianWalid Khalidi described the remains of Bayt Jiz in 1992:
"The school is the only remaining landmark and is used as a recreation facility, although a fire observation tower has been added to it. A number of houses remain. Some are used for storage, others are deserted. One of the storage houses is a large, stone structure, with a flat roof and a three paneled, lancet-arched side window. Three of the deserted houses are two-story structures"
Petersen, inspecting the place in 1996, found that the most distinctive extant building was theMaqam of Shayk Zaid.[23]It was a tall, square building, covered with a domical vault. On the north wall there is a low doorway on the eastern side. Directly opposite the entrance (on the southern wall), is a shallow (0.35 m deep)mihrab. There is a small window (0.4m wide) in the middle of the east wall, while the west wall has collapsed.[24][25]
The inhabitants of Bayt Jiz were entirelyMuslim,[7] and in a1922 survey, they amounted to 203.[15] In the1931 British Mandate census there were 370 inhabitants[16] and by1945,Sami Hadawi recorded a population of 550.[2][3] The projected population in 1948 was 638. According toSalman Abu Sitta,Palestinian refugees from Bayt Jiz and their descendants numbered 3,918 in 1998.[26]
