Jerusalem 1948
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SRAECOND EVISED ND EEXPANDED DITION Salim Tamari Cover Photo: Jerusalem families in Nablus, 1925 This gathering brought together members of prominent Christian and Muslim families from Jerusalem and Jaffa, as well as Nablus. At the center of the gathering, standing, bare- JERUSALEM 1948 headed and in a white suit, is Ya'qub Editor Farraj, the doyen of the Palestinian ACCLAIM FOR THE FIRST EDITION OF Greek Orthodox community, who The fold out map 'JERUSALEM 1948' succeeded Musa Kazem Pasha al- accompanying this volume The Arab Neighbourhoods Huseini as the head of the Palestine Executive Committee at the latter's shows the property distribution in Jerusalem 1948 is an eye-opening, scholarly account of what death in 1934. In the first standing row, Jerusalem, by population Jerusalem was in 1948, before it was conquered by Zionist forces. The and their Fate in the War group, as was documented in revelations focus on what was a vibrantly alive group of preponderantly JERUSALEM 1948 the second gentleman from the left is 1946. This map was produced Palestinian quarters, later emptied of their inhabitants, and re-populated a leader of the Jewish Samaritan by the Palestine Arab Refugee with new residents from elsewhere. A tragic story of loss and community of Nablus. Dr. Hassan Office after 1948. Sami Hadawi, dispossession, told with objectivity and patience, this is the story of Khalidi, a physician, and Suleiman a former official in the Palestine how Israeli West Jerusalem came into existence." Tuqan, later mayor of Nablus and Government Department of --Edward W. Said, Columbia University defense minister in 1958 in the ill-fated Land Settlement, created this Iraqi-Jordanian Confederation, are map based on the Palestine This book presents a series of innovative academic studies that succeed in redefining the third and fourth in the row, the forgotten Palestinian element in western Jerusalem and its environs. The survey maps and taxation respectively. Standing behind Tuqan testimony presented here, which describes in detail the variegated Arab populations records of the British Mandate is Linda Khouri, mother of Hanna Nasir, living in the area, and their fate during and after the 1948 war, systematically current president of Birzeit University. To administration. overturns the accepted view that distinguishes between "West Jerusalem" (Jewish) her left is Mitri Farraj who worked for the and "East Jerusalem" (Arab) as two monolithic and historically static categories. Instead, the book proposes a more profound and sophisticated historical perspective, British Mandate administration as a which shows that the "seam" created in the heart of Jerusalem by the 1949 cease-fire District Commissioner in Nablus. agreements is random, arbitrary and divorced from important elements in the city's Standing below Mitri Farraj and to the urban development. left of Ya'qub Farraj is Andoni Khouri, --Danny Rabinowitz, Anthropology Dept., Tel Aviv University the mukhtar of the Greek Orthodox community in Jaffa and a timber Rigorous Scholarship....serves as a benchmark for Palestinian studies in terms of the merchant. The lady behind the priest is quality of research presentation and accessibility. Evelyn Khouri Baramki, mother of Gabi --Michael Dumper, Dept of History, Exeter University Baramki, former vice-president of Birzeit University. The seated lady, [Jerusalem 1948 presents the case for] a looming custody battle second from the right, is Nada Khouri --Danny Rubenstein, Haaretz The Institute of Jerusalem Studies Farraj, Mitri's wife. The child she is holding is Fuad, formerly Jerusalem 1948 is an informative, enlightening, candidly descriptive and analytical & Badil Resource Center history that presents a side of Jerusalem's 20th Century history that is all too often representative for Jerusalem in the overlooked by both academia and the general public. Jerusalem 1948 is a highly Jordanian parliament. Reprinted from recommended, long needed addition to personal, school, and community library Before their Diaspora, edited by Walid Mideast studies reference collections. Khalidi. Washington DC: Institute for --Midwest Book Review, Oregon, WI , February 22, 2001 Palestine Studies, 1991. Photo by Khalil Raad Salim Tamari Editor The Institute of Jerusalem Studies & Badil Resource Center FIRST1.PM5 1 8/22/102, 3:19 PM ii Second Revised Edition ©2002 The Institute of Jerusalem Studies, Jerusalem, Fax 972-2-5828901 & Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights, Bethlehem, Fax 972-2-2747346 ISBN 0-88728-274-1 FIRST1.PM5 2 8/22/102, 3:19 PM iii Table of Contents Page Introduction The Phantom City Salim Tamari 1 Chapter One Ottoman Jerusalem Rochelle Davis 10 Chapter Two The Growth of the Western Communities Rochelle Davis 30 Chapter Three The City and its Rural Hinterland Salim Tamari 68 Chapter Four The Fall of the New City Nathan Krystall 84 Chapter Five Photographing Jerusalem at War Issam Nassar 142 Chapter Six Assessing Palestinian Property in the City Dalia Habash 167 & Terry Rempel Chapter Seven Dispossession and Restitution Terry Rempel 200 Chapter Eight Documenting Arab Property in West Jerusalem a. Problems of Documentation Ahmad Jadallah 251 & Khalil Tufakji b. Notes on UNCCP Records on Land and Landowners Salman Abu-Sitta 254 Appendices I. The Fall of the Old City (The Mavrides Diaries) Introduction Musa Budeiri 272 Diaries (May 15- December 30, 1948) Constantine Mavrides 277 II. The Growth of the Namamreh Quarter in Baq'a Taher al-Nammari 294 List of Maps 1. Jerusalem and its Suburbs, 1948 66-67 2. Jerusalem District Villages, 1948 83 3. Fighting and Operations in Jerusalem up until May 15th, 1948 140 4. Fighting and Operations after May 15th, 1948 142 5. Property Distribution in Jerusalem, by Population Group, 1946 198-199 6. Enlarged Version of Map 5 back jacket Photographic Section 145-166 FIRST1.PM5 3 8/22/102, 3:19 PM iv FIRST1.PM5 4 8/22/102, 3:19 PM v Acknowledgements This book was launched as a joint project by Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights and the Institute of Jerusalem Studies in September 1996, when a workshop was held at the Ambassador hotel to discuss the fate of the Arab neighborhoods and villages that were either destroyed or appropriated during the war of 1948. The idea of transforming papers presented at that workshop into a book came out in that meeting. Ingrid Jaradat Gassner, who was the chief rapporteur for the workshop, contributed selflessly for the success of this project. Terry Rempel, Rochelle Davis, and Dalia Habash spent endless hours in writing and re-writing chapters of this book. Terry in particular was crucial in helping to obtain rare photographs and in editing translations from Arabic. Rochelle Davis reviewed the final production of the copy. Nathan Krystall helped in obtaining original Hebrew sources and in the initial preparation for the book. Thanks also to Martina Rieker and Julia Hawkins for their comments on earlier drafts, and Hassan Khader for his Arabic editing. Issam Nassar gave invaluable help in the selection of the photographs. The Arab Studies Society (in particular Fedwa al-Sha'ir), the Institute of Palestine Studies, the Fondation Arabe pour lImage in Beirut, Dr. Issam Nassar, and Birzeit University deserve our gratitude for letting us reprint photos from their collections. Dr. Yanni (John) Tleel was very generous in contributing his time and energies in tracing the Mavrides diaries at the Library of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem, and in translating them from the Greek. Rudi Schwenk and Abdel Hadi Qawasmi, from UNRWA headquarters in Amman, provided me with detailed information about Jerusalem refugees from the Unified Registration System. Angela Williams, head of the Relief and Registration Department in Amman (and now Damascus) was very kind in giving me full access to the UNRWA staff for consultation. Omar Mariedi, in particular, was a mine of information on all problems of refugee registration. Finally our gratitude goes to those generous donors who provided the material support and moral encouragement in bringing this project to lifein particular the Institute of Palestine Studies in Beirut and Washington. For the second edition the editor would like to thank the thoughful corrections and additions provided by Mr. Bandali Al-Issa. Adam Abu Sharar and Nour al-Ashhab were responsible for the new index. Please note: We have tried to maintain a uniform system of spelling and transliteration of proper names in this work. However, because of the large number of citations and great variety of individual contributions, the reader will notice some variation in names of people and places. FIRST1.PM5 5 8/22/102, 3:19 PM vi Credits Maps Muhammad Nakkhal Translation (Greek) John Tleel Translation (English) Buthaina Darwish and Haifa Khalidi Photographs Rochelle Davis, Issam Nassar, Terry Rempel Abstracts Ingrid Jaradat Gassner Proofreading and Copy Editing Melanie Main, Rochelle Davis, Terry Rempel Arabic Processing May Douani Formatting and Book Design Turbo Design Processing of PCC Data Salman Abu-Sitta FIRST1.PM5 6 8/22/102, 3:19 PM vii JERUSALEM 1948 Preface to the Second Edition The first edition of this book, published in 1999, was sold out only eighteen months after it appeared. The positive public reaction was considerably beyond our expectations. The reason, in my view is that, the pivotal impact of the war of 48 on Palestinian Arab society, was hardly addressed in the existing literature. Although there are a number of essays, monographs and memoirs on the war itself, almost none of them dealt with the social transformations the war had on the city; the social fabric of ante bellum Jerusalem, the fate of the refugees, and the consequences of the war on the newly divided city. Moreover the book appeared on the eve of final status negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. The collapse of the Camp David talks in the summer of 2000 followed significant progress over the future of the city.