al-'Abisiyya

Al-‘Abbasiyya was a village located on flat terrain in the central coastal plain. It was connected by several roads to Jaffa, Lydda, and Ramla. The railway line connecting Jaffa to Lydda passed just south of the village, and the Lydda airport was located approximately 1 km to its south.

In ancient times, the village was known as Yehud and was under the control of the tribe of Dan. During the Roman period, it was known as Iudaea, and during the post-Roman period, it was referred to as Judea.

In 1596, Al-‘Abbasiyya was a village in the nahiya (subdistrict) of Ramla, under the liwa’ (district) of Gaza, with a population of 693. The villagers paid taxes on various agricultural products such as wheat, barley, fruits, and sesame, as well as on livestock such as goats and beehives.

The Syrian Sufi traveler al-Bakri al-Siddiqi, who traveled through the region in the mid-18th century, reported that he visited the shrine of Prophet Hud in the village and stayed there at the invitation of a friend (mentioned in Khalidi, 1968: p. 226).

By the late 18th century, the population of the village ranged between 800 and 1,000 people. The houses were built of mudbrick and surrounded by palm trees. The residents sourced their water from a nearby pool.

In 1932, the village was renamed Al-‘Abbasiyya, in honor of a local sheikh named al-‘Abbas, who was buried there, and also as a reference to the Abbasid Caliphate. At the time, the population was entirely Muslim except for about twenty Christians. The village had two mosques, one of which was large, with a 21-meter-high minaret located in the village center, and a smaller one in the northwestern corner.

There were two schools in the village — one for boys and one for girls. The boys' school was established in 1919 and became a junior high school in 1941. It had 14 teachers and 293 students at that time, making it the largest village school in the district. The school owned 27 dunums of land used for agricultural training. The girls’ school opened in 1943 and initially enrolled 101 students. The residents also founded a cultural and social club named Al-‘Abbasiyya Club, which maintained a library and a football team.

The economy of Al-‘Abbasiyya was primarily based on agriculture and mat weaving using papyrus reeds brought from the swamps of Lake Hula. During World War II, villagers also began raising Holstein cattle. In 1944–45, a total of 3,879 dunums was planted with citrus and bananas, 12,348 dunums with grains, and 1,019 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards. Irrigation water was sourced from several artesian wells. The village also held a popular weekly Saturday market, attracting residents from neighboring villages who came to trade in agricultural products, livestock, and textiles.

Occupation and Depopulation of the Village

On 13 December 1947 (during the Jewish festival of Hanukkah), the Zionist Irgun militia launched an attack on the village. According to the Haganah’s historical account, Irgun, as part of a series of coordinated raids on Palestinian cities and villages, infiltrated the village in four vehicles and planted explosives near several homes before withdrawing.

The New York Times reported that the attack left seven people dead and seven seriously wounded, two of whom — a five-year-old child and a twenty-year-old woman — later died from their injuries. Five more were reported injured in the following days. The attackers, numbering 24, were reportedly disguised as British soldiers. The report noted that they "opened fire in Yehud, blew up several houses, and hurled grenades into others."

Another NYT correspondent noted that a group of assailants shot at villagers sitting in front of a café, while others planted time bombs near homes and threw grenades to deter villagers from resisting. The newspaper Filastin reported that the attackers left behind a car bomb, which exploded and caused further injuries. According to reports, British troops arrived during the attack but did not intervene, instead partially encircling the village and leaving a northern route open for the assailants to escape.

On 24 February 1948, Zionist forces raided the village again as part of Operation Hametz, a Haganah campaign to seize villages south and east of Jaffa, aimed at isolating the city for eventual capture. Concurrently, the Irgun launched a full-scale attack on Jaffa on 25 April. Four days later, Haganah's Alexandroni Brigade captured the area around Al-‘Abbasiyya during the operation.

On 4 May 1948, Irgun forces captured the village itself, as part of the broader Haganah plan to expel Palestinians from the coastal area between Tel Aviv and Zikhron Ya’akov (south of Haifa). According to the New York Times, the attack began on the night of 3 May and the first stage was completed by approximately 6:00 AM the next day. The Irgun occupied the village for five weeks, until an Arab counterattack on 11 June, the eve of the first truce in the war, forced them to withdraw.

Israeli forces later stationed in Kafr ‘Ana resumed attacks on Al-‘Abbasiyya during the truce, and clashes continued sporadically. According to The New York Times, the village remained under Arab control for about a month. After the truce ended, the village was recaptured by Israeli forces on 10 July 1948, during Operation Dani, which targeted villages east of Jaffa. The History of the Haganah states that Al-‘Abbasiyya fell without resistance, along with six neighboring villages, in a coordinated encirclement and assault on Ramla and Lydda.

It is likely that the residents were expelled during the May 3 attack. On 13 September 1948, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion requested government approval to destroy the village, in accordance with newly enacted laws requiring approval from the Ministerial Committee on Abandoned Properties. The request, submitted on behalf of Central Front commander General Tzvi Ayalon, is described by Israeli historian Benny Morris, although it is unclear whether the destruction was fully carried out. Evidence suggests that there were plans to settle Jewish immigrants in the remaining structures of the village.

The Village Today

The main mosque and the shrine of Prophet Hud are still standing. The mosque is abandoned and has begun to crack in several areas, while the shrine is stone-built with a domed roof. An Israeli café called "Café Tahar" operates at the entrance of the main road known as Zuqaq al-Raml (Sand Alley).

Several village houses remain. Some are inhabited by Israeli residents of the Yehud settlement, while others are used for various purposes. One intact cement house has a sloped roof, rectangular doors and windows, and a corrugated metal awning above its entrance. Another two-story cement house has been converted into a commercial building. It features rectangular openings and a tent-like tiled roof.

Only part of the surrounding land has been built upon. The remainder is overgrown with pine trees and Christ's thorn bushes.

Zionist Settlements on Village Lands

The settlement of Yehud (grid ref. 139160) was established on the village site in 1948. One year later, Magshimim (grid ref. 140161) was established to the east. In subsequent years, Ganne Yehuda (138161), Ganne Tiqwa (138163), and Savyon (138162) were established in 1951, 1953, and 1954, respectively.

All of these settlements, including Ben Gurion Airport, were built on land belonging to Al-‘Abbasiyya.

Source: All That Remains by Walid Khalidi.