Al-Haram | |
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Village | |
 Sidna Ali Mosque in Al-Haram | |
.jpg) 1870s map.jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map.jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Al-Haram, Jaffa (click the buttons) | |
  Al-Haram Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:32°11′17″N34°48′24″E / 32.18806°N 34.80667°E /32.18806; 34.80667 | |
| Palestine grid | 131/177 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Jaffa |
| Date of depopulation | 3 February 1948[3] |
| Area | |
• Total | 2,681dunams (2.681 km2; 1.035 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 520[1][2] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Fear of being caught up in the fighting |
Al-Haram (El Haram ʿAly Ibn ʿAleim, alsoSayyiduna Ali orSidna Ali "sanctuary of ʿAli [Ibn ʿAleim]",[4]Hebrew:אל-חרם,Arabic:الحرم), was aPalestinian Arab village in theJaffa Subdistrict,[5] in Mandatory Palestine. It was located 16 km (10 miles) north ofJaffa, adjacent to the ruins of the medieval walled city ofArsuf, and its extent was estimated to range between 9,653 and 11,698 dunams of which 5,150 were accounted for in the cadastral registrations.[5] It was depopulated during the1948 war.
The medieval walled city of Arsuf was captured from theKingdom of Jerusalem byBaibars in 1265, after 40 days of siege. Its inhabitants were killed or sold as slaves and the town completely razed.[6] The site was fully abandoned for about a century; according to the geographerAbulfeda (writing in c. 1330), the site contained no inhabitants ("Tabula Syriæ", 82). It appears that a minor village was re-established in the 16th century in the vicinity of theSidna Ali Mosque. Themosque is mentioned byMujir al-Din (writing c. 1496) as having been dedicated at the tomb of a Muslim saint, ʿAli Ibn ʿAleim (d. 1081), and that SultanBaybars had prayed at the tomb for victory prior to retaking Arsuf in 1265.[7][8]
Al-Haram was one of four villages founded during theOttoman period, near the coast north of theYarkon River (along with the villages ofAl-Shaykh Muwannis,Ijlil, andUmm Khalid). According to historianRoy Marom, the establishment of Al-Haram "demonstrates that the expansion of settlement in the southern Sharon was the result of the internal expansion of the core settlement by residents of the mountainous highlands of Samaria, and not by Egyptian ‘penetrators’ as previously claimed."[9]
In 1596, in theOttoman era, a third of the revenues from a place called "Arsuf" went to thewaqf ofʿAli Ibn ʿAleim.[10]Pierre Jacotin called the villageAli Ebn harami on his map from 1799.[11]
In 1870/1871 (1288AH), an Ottoman census listed the village in thenahiya (sub-district) of Bani Sa'b.[12]
In 1880, it was described in thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine as anadobe village of moderate size on high ground, with springs to the north, and on the west a mosque. The full name was recorded asEl Haram 'Aly Ibn 'Aleim.[13]
In the1922 census of Palestine conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities,Al-Haran had a population of 172, allMuslims[14] increasing the1931 census to 313, still all Muslims, in a total of 83 houses.[15]
During the 1920s, thePalestine Land Development Company (PLDC) bought part of the village land on behalf of theAmerican Zion Commonwealth from the Omri family ofBeirut, to found the settlement ofHerzliya.[16][17] Later purchases of village land by the PLDC,Jewish National Fund,Keren Hayesod and private Jewish buyers was used to establishKfar Shmaryahu andRishpon.[18][19] At the time, during thePalestinian revolt against the British Mandate, two al-Haram villagers were brought before the rebel leader Aref Abd al-Razeq, and condemned for having sold land there to the Jews, as documents are showing.[20] According to some testimonies,[21] the relationship between the villagers of Al-Haram and theJews ofHerzliya andRishpon was friendly. The early settlers of Herzliya mentionArab peddlers in the streets of the town. Some of the villagers were employed in construction. Former Arab residents of al-Haram testified that before the war, representatives of theJewish towns assured them they were safe.[22]
In the1945 statistics the village had a population of 880, with 360 Jewish inhabitants.[1][2] Al-Haram had an elementary school for boys founded in 1921, and in 1945 it had an enrollment of 68 students. The village also contained a mosque and the shrine ofal-Hasan ibn 'Ali (d. AD 1081), a descendant of the second Muslim caliph, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab.[19]
According toMorris, the villagers were evacuated on 3 February 1948 out of fear of Jewish attack, afterHaganah orIrgun attacks on nearby villages.[23]
The only trace of the former village is theSidna Ali shrine and the cemetery which surrounds it. The cemetery is used as a parking lot by tourists.[24] Many Muslim graves are mentioned in a 1998 archaeological publication to the west and south of the structure.[25]
The shrine is located between the Sidna Ali Beach aka Nof Yam, and the Reshef neighbourhood of Herzliya.
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