Al-Shaykh Muwannis الشيخ مونّس Sheikh Muwannis | |
|---|---|
 The former home of the villagesheikh, aka "The Green house", presently part ofTel Aviv University | |
| Etymology: "The Sheikh Muwannis"[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-Shaykh Muwannis (click the buttons) | |
  Al-Shaykh Muwannis Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:32°06′30″N34°48′15″E / 32.10833°N 34.80417°E /32.10833; 34.80417 | |
| Palestine grid | 131/168 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Jaffa |
| Date of depopulation | March 30, 1948[4] |
| Area | |
• Total | 15,972dunams (15.972 km2; 6.167 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 1,930[2][3] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault byYishuv forces |
| Secondary cause | Fear of being caught up in the fighting |
| Current Localities | Tel Aviv |
Al-Shaykh Muwannis (Arabic:الشيخ مونّس), alsoSheikh Munis, was a smallPalestinian Arab village in theJaffa Subdistrict ofMandatory Palestine,[5] located approximately 8.5 kilometers from the center ofJaffa city in territory earmarked forJewish statehood under theUN Partition Plan.[6] The village was abandoned in March 1948 due to the threats of Jewish militias, two months before the1948 Arab–Israeli war. Today,Tel Aviv University lies on part of the village land.[5]
According to local legend, the village was named for a local religious figure, al-Shaykh Muwannis, whosemaqam was in the village.[7]
Al-Shaykh Muwannis was founded in the 18th century.[8]Pierre Jacotin named the villageDahr on his map from 1799.[9]
Al-Shaykh Muwannis was noted in December 1821, as being "located on a hill surrounded by muddy land that was flooded with water despite the moderate winter".[10] In 1856 the village was namedSheikh Muennis onKiepert's map of Palestine published that year.[11]
In 1870,Victor Guérin noted about al-Shaykh Muwannis: "It contains four hundred inhabitants and is divided into several quarters, each under the jurisdiction of a particularsheikh. On the outskirts one can note some gardens where succulent watermelons grow, with hardly any horticultural care."[12] In 1882, thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine (SWP) noted "ruins of a house near thekubbeh",[13] while Al-Shaykh Muwannis was described as an ordinaryadobe village.[14] Most of the villagers were members of theAbu Kishk tribe.[15]
The village population was 315 in 1879.[16]
In the1922 census of Palestine conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities,Shaik Muannes had a population of 664 residents, allMuslims.[17] This had increased in the1931 census whenEsh Sheikh Muwannis had 1154 inhabitants, still all Muslims, in 273 houses.[18]
In the 1920s, the government of theBritish mandate attempted to gain title to lands lying to the west of Al-Shaykh Muwannis and extending to the coast of theMediterranean Sea on the grounds that it was "waste and uncultivated."[19] According to the authors of a book on the Israeli-Arab conflict, the Arabs of the Jaffa-Tel Aviv region "understood the implications of theZionist-cum-British discourses of development generally and their implementation through town planning schemes."[20] In 1937, the Arabic dailyal Ja'miah al-Islamiyya commented on British plans to build a bypass road for Tel Aviv residents on what they claimed were village lands:[21] "[I]n reality the plan in the Town Planning Commission now including Sheikh Muwannis is not really a 'plan', but rather a plan to take the land out of the hands of its owners."[20]
There were two schools in the village, a boys' school built in 1932 and a girls' school built in 1943. 266 students were registered in these schools in 1945.[7] The villagers worked in agriculture, particularly citrus cultivation. In the1945 statistics, 3,749dunums were used for growing citrus and bananas, and 7,165 dunums of village land was used forcereals. 66 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards, irrigation water was drawn from al-Awja river and a large number ofartesian wells.[7][22] 41 dunams of village lands were classified as built-up areas.[23]
In 1946, three Arab villagers raped a Jewish girl. In the midst of the court proceedings, members of theHaganah shot and wounded one of the attackers, and kidnapped andcastrated another.[15] In 1947, in the wake of growing hostility in the days leading up to the war, some of the villagers began to leave. Most stayed, as village notables had secured Haganah protection in exchange for keeping the peace and preventingArab Liberation Army (ALA) irregulars from using the village to attack Yishuv forces.[15]
Before the 1948 war, the population of al-Shaykh Muwannis was 2,000.[7]
.png)
In 1948, the population was largely made up offellaheen who enjoyed friendly relations withJews, despite occasional tension.[15] While occasional shots were fired from the village toward Jewish residential areas in January and February 1948, there were no casualties, and the Abu Kishk abided by their promise to keep out ALA irregulars. The emissary of the ALA was informed by the Abu Kishk that "the Arabs of the area will cooperate with the Jews against any outside force that tries to enter."[15]
Some intelligence reports, which were never corroborated, suggested that in early 1948 the village, which overlooked both theSde Dov Airport and theReading Power Station, was being infiltrated by heavily armed Arab irregulars.[24] On 7 March, theHaganah'sAlexandroni Brigade imposed a 'quarantine' on the village by closing off all access roads to it and the two smaller satellite villages of Jalil al Shamaliyya and Jalil al Qibliya and may even have occupied houses on the edge of the village.[15] The undergroundStern Gang (LHI) maintained one of its encampments in the village,[25] and, five days later, on 12 March, militants from either theIrgun or Lehi groups kidnapped five village notables.[24][26] The Jewish Intelligence Services noted that "many of the villagers ... began fleeing following the abduction of the notables of Sheikh Muwannis. The Arab learned that it was not enough to reach an agreement with theHaganah and that there were 'other Jews' of whom to beware, and possibly to be aware of more than the Haganah, which had not control over them."[26]
The villagers then protested that Jewish forces in the area were subjecting them to intimidation, looting and shooting at them randomly.[24] The notables were turned over to the Haganah on the 23 March and returned to Shaykh Muwannis, but many villagers left out of fear.[15] Tawfiq Abu Kishk threw a large parting 'banquet' for the remaining villagers and their Jewish friends on the 28 March 1948.[15] The village lands were allocated for Jewish use[15] and incorporated into the municipality of Tel Aviv.[19]
In the days following, the Abu Kishk leaders attributed their abandonment of the village to: a) the [Haganah] roadblocks ... b) the [Haganah] limitations on movement by foot, c) the theft of vehicles, and d) the kidnapping of Sheikh Muwannis men. Many villagers of Shaykh Muwannis resettled inQalqilya andTulkarem.[15]
According to thePalestinian historianWalid Khalidi, the village's remaining structures in 1992 consisted of several houses occupied by Jewish families and the wall of a house.[7] Soon after the war, they were used to accommodate members of the newIsraeli Air Force and men fromMahal units. From 1949, Jews from North Africa were housed there temporarily, after which it became part of the campus ofTel Aviv University.[27] The former home of the village sheikh, known as the 'Green House', serves as the University's faculty club.[5][28] The Israeli historianShlomo Sand suggested to the Tel Aviv University to set up a museum in the 'Green House' to commemorate theNakba of the uprooted inhabitants of Al-Shaykh Muwannis.[29]
In aright of return march organized by theIsraeli groupZochrot onNakba Day in 2004, participants called upon the Tel Aviv municipality to name six streets in the city after Palestinian villages that had existed there until 1948, among them, Al-Shaykh Muwannis.[30]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
