al-Maliha

Jewish Families seized houses near the mosque  (1987)

The village of Al-Maliha was located 5.5 kilometers from Jerusalem, situated on a hilltop that overlooked wide areas in all directions except the north. A newer section of the village had been built on the southeastern slope of an adjacent hill. A short secondary road connected Al-Maliha to the main road leading to Jerusalem, while additional dirt roads linked it to neighboring villages. ‘Ayn Yalu was located in a valley to the south of Al-Maliha.

The village had a rectangular layout, and most of its houses were built of stone. The majority of its inhabitants were Muslims; in 1945, the Christian population did not exceed ten individuals, while the total population was 1,940. Al-Maliha had a government-run primary school, a medical clinic, and a municipal council. The village also featured a large mosque known as the Mosque of Umar ibn al-Khattab, named after the second Rashidun Caliph.

A report published by the newspaper Filastin, which was issued in Jaffa, notes that the first attack on Al-Maliha occurred on 6 March 1948. According to the Israeli historian Benny Morris, the village was evacuated in two stages. The first occurred in April, following the massacre at Deir Yassin, which took place nearby on 9 April.

However, the village was not entirely depopulated until mid-July, as a result of a direct military assault that followed the first truce. Al-Maliha fell into Zionist hands after a fierce battle that lasted several days and culminated on the night of 13–14 July.

In 1949, the Zionists established the neighborhood of Manahat on the village site. Many of the original village houses still stand and are now inhabited by Jewish families, although some houses in the southern corner of the village were demolished. Generally, the surviving stone houses are two stories high, featuring arched windows and doorways.

Source: pal48.ps