Ma'alul

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Ma'alul
Arabic معلول
Also Spelled Ma'lul, Maalul, Maaloul, Mahlul
District Nazareth
Population 390 (1931)
Jurisdiction  dunams
Date of depopulation 15 July 1948
Cause(s) of depopulation
Current localities Migdal ha-'Emeq, Kefar ha-Choresh, Timrat, and an Israeli military base

Ma'lul was an Arab village in Palestine, made up primarily of Palestinian Christians, that was depopulated and destroyed by Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Located six kilometers west of the city of Nazareth,[1] many of its inhabitants became internally displaced refugees, after taking refuge in Nazareth[2] and the neighouring town ofYafa.[3] Despite having never left the territory that came to form part of Israel, the majority of the villagers of Maalul, and other Palestinian villages like Andor and Al-Mujidal, were declared "absentees", allowing for the confiscation of their land under the Absentees Property Law.[4]

Today, much of the former village's lands are owned by the Jewish National Fund.[5] All that remains of its former structures are two churches, a mosque and a Roman era mausoleum, known locally as Qasr al-Dayr ("Castle of the monastery").[1]

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[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Ma'lul. Palestine Remembered. Retrieved on 2008-03-31.
  2. ^ Rabinowitz, 1997, p. 27.
  3. ^ Nihad Bokae'e (February 2003). Palestinian Internally Displaced Persons inside Israel:Challenging the Solid Structures. Badil.
  4. ^ Hal Draper (Winter 1957). "Israel’s Arab Minority:The Great Land Robbery". New International Vol. XXIII No. 1: pp. 7-30. 
  5. ^ Merrilee Langenbrunner (December 1, 2002). Mourning the departure of Arab Christians. Catholic New Times. Retrieved on 2008-03-31.

[edit] Bibliography