Jimzu جمزو Gimzo | |
|---|---|
| Etymology: Sycamore[1] | |
.jpg) 1870s map.jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map.jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Jimzu (click the buttons) | |
  Jimzu Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:31°55′51″N34°56′47″E / 31.93083°N 34.94639°E /31.93083; 34.94639 | |
| Palestine grid | 145/148 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Ramle |
| Date of depopulation | 10 July 1948[4] |
| Area | |
• Total | 9,681dunams (9.681 km2; 3.738 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 1,510[2][3] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault byYishuv forces |
| Current Localities | MoshavGimzo[5] |
Jimzu (Arabic:جمزو), also known asGimzo (meaning "sycamore plantation"), was aPalestinian village, located three miles southeast ofLydda. Under the 1947UN Partition Plan ofMandatory Palestine, Jimzu was to form part of the proposedArab state.[6] During the1948 Arab–Israeli War, the village was depopulated in a two-day assault byIsraeli forces.
Under the1949 Armistice Agreements, Jimzu's lands fell under thede facto governance of the newly created state of Israel. A year later, moshavGimzo was established at the site of the former village and is now populated by 700Israeli Jewish residents.
Jimzu is identified with the ancientGimzo, a city mentioned in theBible as being in the plain ofJudah whose villages were seized by thePhilistines (as recorded in the2 Chronicles 28:18).[7]The town was home to theTannaic sageNahum of Gimzo.[8]
Jimzu, along with the whole ofPalestine, came under the rule of theOttoman Empire after it defeated the Mamluks at theBattle of Marj Dabiq in 1516. The village was incorporated into the Ottomannahiya (subdistrict) ofRamla (al-Khalīl) under theLiwa of Gaza ("District of Gaza"). In the 1596tax records, it is recorded that the village of Jimzu had 28 families, all Muslim; an estimated population of 154. They paid a tax rate of 25% on agricultural products, includingwheat,barley and fruits, as well as goats and beehives, in addition to "occasional revenues"; a total of 6,990Akçe.[9]
Biblical scholarEdward Robinson passed through the village in 1838, and reported it to be "rather large", situated on an eminence, "to make quite a show at a distance". He also noted that the village had many subterranean magazines for storing grain.[10] It was noted as being situated in the Ramleh district.[11]
In 1863Victor Guérin found the village have 400 inhabitants, and to be surrounded by olive and palm trees. The village also had aMakam for aSidi Ahmed. Each family had its ownsilo.[12]
An Ottoman village list of about 1870 counted 83 houses and a population of 325 inDschimzu, though the population count included men, only.[13][14]
In 1882, thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Jimzu as a village built ofadobe bricks and situated on the side of a low hill, surrounded by cactus hedges and olive trees.[15]
In the1922 census of Palestine, conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities,Jemzu had a population of 897 inhabitants, allMuslims,[16] increasing in the1931 census to 1,081, still all Muslims, in a total of 268 houses.[17]
The villagers of Jimzu maintained amosque. An elementary school was established in the village in 1920, and by the mid-1940s it had 175 students.[18]
Most villagers worked in agriculture.[18] In the1945 statistics, the population was 1,510, all Muslims,[2] while the total land area was 9,681dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[3] Of this, a total of 77dunums was devoted tocitrus andbananas, while 5,577 dunums were allocated to cereals. 1,605 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards, of which 1,400 dunums was forolives,[18][19] while 50 dunams were classified as built-up public areas.[20]
Jizmu was occupied by theYiftach Brigade, of the newly formed Israeli army, on July 10, 1948, in the first phase ofOperation Dani.[21]
According toBenny Morris:
"The intention, from the first, was to depopulate [Jimzu and surrounding villages]. On 10 July, Yiftah Brigade HQ informed Dani HQ: Our forces are clearing the'Innaba-Jimzu-Daniyal area and are torching everything that can be burned.'"[22]
The following day (11 July) Yiftach informed Dani Headquarters, that its forces had conquered Jimzu and Daniyal and were "busy clearing the villages and blowing up the houses ['oskot betihur hakfarim u'fitzutz habatim]"[23] All of Jimzu's inhabitants left as a result of the assault by Israeli forces. Its 434 homes were demolished on September 13, 1948.[21]
The settlement ofGimzo was established on village land in 1950.[5] Palestinian historianWalid Khalidi described the remains of Jimzu in 1992: "All that remains of the houses are stones, strewn over the site, and some crumbled walls. The site is overgrown with shrubs and thorny plants. Other kind of vegetation also grow on village land, including Christ's-thorn trees, foxtail, cactuses, and some abandoned olive trees."[5]
