Ayn al-Mansi

Summary

Ayn al-Mansi (Arabic: عين المنسي, Ein el Mansî) was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Jenin of the Mandatory Palestine. It was depopulated as a result of a military attack in mid-April during the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine.[2]

Ayn al-Mansi
عين المنسي
'Ein al-Mansi
Etymology: el Mensi= "the forgotten"[1]
1870s map
1940s map
modern map
1940s with modern overlay map
A series of historical maps of the area around Ayn al-Mansi (click the buttons)
Ayn al-Mansi is located in Mandatory Palestine
Ayn al-Mansi
Ayn al-Mansi
Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 32°35′36″N 35°10′38″E / 32.59333°N 35.17722°E / 32.59333; 35.17722
Palestine grid166/222
Geopolitical entityMandatory Palestine
SubdistrictJenin
Date of depopulationmid-April 1948[2]
Area
 • Total1,295 dunams (1.295 km2 or 320 acres)
Population
 (1945[3][4])
 • Total90
Cause(s) of depopulationMilitary assault by Yishuv forces

History edit

During the 19th and first half of the 20th century, Ayn al-Mansi was one of the settlements of the so-called "Fahmawi Commonwealth" established by Hebronite clans belonging to Umm al-Fahm. The Commonwealth consisted of a network of interspersed communities connected by ties of kinship, and socially, economically and politically affiliated with Umm al Fahm. The Commonwealth dominated vast sections of Bilad al-Ruha/Ramot Menashe, Wadi 'Ara and Marj Ibn 'Amir/Jezreel Valley during that time.[5]

In the 1882 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described El Mensi as: "A small ruined village, with springs."[6]

British Mandate era edit

In the 1931 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Ein el Mansi had 73 Muslim inhabitants, in a total of 15 houses.[7]

In the 1945 statistics, Ayn al-Mansi had a population of 90 Muslims,[3] and the jurisdiction of the village was 1,295 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[4] Of this, 186 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land, 868 dunams were used for cereals,[8] while 2 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[9]

1948 and aftermath edit

Ayn al-Mansi became depopulated after Military assault in mid-April 1948.[2]

References edit

  1. ^ Palmer, 1881, p. 151
  2. ^ a b c Morris, 2004, p. xviii, village #386. Also gives cause of depopulation.
  3. ^ a b Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 16 Archived 2018-09-05 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ a b Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 54 Also gives total land area in dunums.
  5. ^ Marom, Roy; Tepper, Yotam; Adams, Matthew J. (2024-01-03). "Al-Lajjun: a Social and geographic account of a Palestinian Village during the British Mandate Period". British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies: 8–11. doi:10.1080/13530194.2023.2279340. ISSN 1353-0194.
  6. ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 67
  7. ^ Mills, 1932, p. 68
  8. ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 98
  9. ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 148

Bibliography edit

  • Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1882). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. Vol. 2. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
  • Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945.
  • Hadawi, S. (1970). Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine. Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center.
  • Khalidi, W. (1992). All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948. Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies. ISBN 0-88728-224-5.
  • Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
  • Morris, B. (2004). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-00967-6.
  • Palmer, E.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.

External links edit

  • Welcome To 'Ayn al-Mansi
  • 'Ayn al-Mansi, Zochrot
  • Survey of Western Palestine, Map 8: Wikimedia commons
  • 3ein Al-Mansi, Dr. Moslih Kanaaneh
  • Booklet about Ayn al-Mansi (2006), downloadable, from Zochrot