Al-Murassas

Al-Murassas
Arabic المرصص
Name meaning the place of the rubble[1]
Subdistrict Baysan
Palestine grid 195/218
Population 460 (1945)
Date of depopulation May 16, 1948[2]
Cause(s) of depopulation Influence of nearby town's fall

Al-Murassas was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Baysan. It was depopulated by the Israel Defense Forces during the 1948 War on May 16, 1948. The village was attacked as part of Operation Gideon.

History

Johann Ludwig Burckhardt mentions passing the village (which he called Meraszrasz) during his travels in the early 19th century.[3]

In 1882 the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described the it as "A small village on high ground, entirely built of mud, and standing amid plough-land. The water supply appears to come from the valley beneath (Wady Yebla)."[4]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the Mandatory Palestine authorities, Murassas had a population of 319 Muslims,[5]increasing in the 1931 census to 381; 375 Muslims and 6 Christians, in a total of 89 houses.[6]

The village had a population of 460 in 1945; 450 Muslims and 10 Christians,[7] while the total land area was 14,477 dunams.[8] Of this, Arabs used 16 dunums for plantations and irrigable land, 9,897 for cereals,[9] while 16 dunums were classified built–up (urban) land.[10]

1948, aftermath

In June 6, 1948, a platoon from the Israeli Barak brigade raided Danna, Al-Bira, Kafra, Yubla, Jabbul and Al-Murassas. They would first fire “a few two-inch mortar rounds into its centre,“ then move in. Al-Murassas was found to be empty.[11] The destruction of Al-Murassas was later criticised by a veteran local Israeli leader, who thought that the villagers would have be willing to cooperate with the Yishuv and “allocate part of their lands for our settlements.“[12]

In July, 1948, The Israeli kibbutz Beit HaShita took over 5,400 dunams of land from the newly depopulated Palestinian villages of Yubla and Al-Murassas.[13]

References

  1. Palmer, 1881, p. 166
  2. Morris, 2004, p. xvii, village #117. Also gives cause of depopulation.
  3. Burckhardt, 1822, pp. 342-343
  4. Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 85
  5. Barron, 1923, Table IX, p. 31
  6. Mills, 1932, p. 79
  7. Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 6
  8. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 43
  9. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 85
  10. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 135
  11. Morris, 2004, pp. 261-262, 308
  12. Morris, 2004, p. 357
  13. Fischbach, 2012, p. 13

Bibliography

External links

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