Al-Batani al-Gharbi

One mention of al-Batani indicates that it was founded as a ranch by the Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I in the 8th century CE.Khalidi, 1992, pp. 83–84

The village appeared as an unnamed village on the map that Pierre Jacotin compiled of the area in 1799.Karmon, 1960, p. [http://www.jchp.ucla.edu/Bibliography/Karmon,_Y_1960_Jacotin_Map_(IEJ_10).pdf 171] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222063351/http://www.jchp.ucla.edu/Bibliography/Karmon,_Y_1960_Jacotin_Map_(IEJ_10).pdf |date=2019-12-22 }}

In 1838, Robinson noted el-Butaniyeh, the west, as Muslim village located in the Gaza district.Robinson and Smith, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/118/mode/1up 118]

In 1863 the French explorer Victor Guérin found the village, which he called Bathanieh el-Gharbieh, to have 400 inhabitants. He further noted three grey white mutilated marble columns by the well. By the well, there were oxen which made the water rise in a huge bucket. Guérin noted that he had seen a similar system several other places in Palestine, as well as in Tunis.Guérin, 1869, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongog02gu#page/80/mode/1up 80] –81

An Ottoman village list of about 1870 indicated 91 houses and a population of 247, though the population count included men only.Socin, 1879, p. [https://archive.org/stream/zeitschriftdesde01deut#page/148/mode/1up 148] Located in Gaza districtHartmann, 1883, p. [https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_BZobAQAAIAAJ#page/n942/mode/1up 134] also noted 91 houses

In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described the two Butani villages as being made of adobe and "situated on low ground, with patches of garden and wells. The western one has also a pond."Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp02conduoft#page/409/mode/1up 409]

According to the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Al-Batani al-Gharbi had a population of 556 inhabitants, all Muslims,Barron, 1923, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n11/mode/1up 9] which had increased in the 1931 census to 667, still all Muslim.Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 2]

file:Al-Batani 1930.jpg

File:Isdud 1945.jpg

The population in the 1945 statistics was 980 Muslims, with 4,574 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 170 dunams were used for citrus and banana plants, 95 were for plantations and irrigable land, 4,152 used for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Gaza/Page-086.jpg 86] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930174740/http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Gaza/Page-086.jpg |date=2013-09-30 }} while 34 dunams were classified as built-up land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Gaza/Page-136.jpg 136] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930174728/http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Gaza/Page-136.jpg |date=2013-09-30 }}

Al-Batani al-Gharbi had an elementary school for boys founded in 1947 and it had an initial enrollment of 119 students. The village had one mosque.

In early May, 1948, the Al-Majdal Arab National Committee (NC), ordered the villagers of Al-Batani al-Gharbi, together with those of Al-Batani al-Sharqi, Yasur, Bayt Daras and the three Sawafir villages to stay put.Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA179 179], note [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA271 #112], this was according to Haganah intelligence

Al-Batani al-Gharbi became depopulated as part of Palmach's 'Operation Lightning' (Mivtza Barak). The objective was to compel the Arab inhabitants of the area to 'move' and by striking one or more population centres to cause an exodus, which was foreseen given the wave of panic that was sweeping Arab communities after the Deir Yassin massacre.Ramzy Baroud, [https://web.archive.org/web/20130418014511/http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-01-160413.html 'Beit Daras and a buried history of massacres,'], in Asia Times, 16 April 2013. After Haganah had hit Bayt Daras, the operational orders to them on the 10 May was to "subdue" Al-Batani al-Gharbi and Al-Batani al-Sharqi, "with the same means used vis-à-vis Aqir, Bashshit and Bayt Daras".Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA256 256], note [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA305 #752]

The village was depopulated around May 13, 1948. Following the war the area was incorporated into the State of Israel. In early 1949 American Quaker relief workers reported that many those living in tents in what became Maghazi refugee camp had come from Al-Batani al-Gharbi.Gallagher, Nancy (2007) ‘’Quakers in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: The Dilemmas of NGO Humanitarian Activism’’ The American University in Cairo Press. {{ISBN|977-416-105-X}} p 75

In 1992 the village site was described: "Cactuses and fig and sycamore trees grow on the site, and some of the village street are still clearly recognizable. The adjacent land is partially cultivated by the nearby kibbutz. A stone quarry is also located on village lands."Khalidi, 1992, p. 84

{{Reflist|25em}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book|editor =Barron, J. B.|title =Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922|url =https://archive.org/details/PalestineCensus1922|publisher =Government of Palestine|year =1923}}
• {{cite book|last1=Conder|first1=C.R.|author-link1=Claude Reignier Conder|last2=Kitchener|first2=H. H.|author-link2=Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|year=1882|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp02conduoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology|location=London|publisher=Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund|volume=2}}
• {{cite book|title=Village Statistics, April, 1945|url=http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nli/Hebrew/library/Pages/BookReader.aspx?pid=856390|author=Department of Statistics|year=1945|publisher=Government of Palestine}}
• {{cite book|last=Guérin|first=V.|author-link=Victor Guérin|year=1869|url=https://archive.org/details/descriptiongog02gu|title=Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine.|volume=1: Judee, pt. 2|publisher=Paris, L'Imprimerie Imp.}}
• {{cite book|title=Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine|url=http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html|first=S.|last=Hadawi|author-link=Sami Hadawi|year=1970|publisher=Palestine Liberation Organization Research Centre|access-date=2009-08-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181208215837/http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html|archive-date=2018-12-08|url-status=dead}}
• {{cite journal | last = Hartmann | first = M. | author-link = Martin Hartmann | title = Die Ortschaftenliste des Liwa Jerusalem in dem türkischen Staatskalender für Syrien auf das Jahr 1288 der Flucht (1871) | journal = Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins | volume = 6 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_BZobAQAAIAAJ/page/n131 102]–149 | url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_BZobAQAAIAAJ | year = 1883 }}
• {{cite journal | author = Karmon, Y. | title = An Analysis of Jacotin's Map of Palestine | url = http://www.jchp.ucla.edu/Bibliography/Karmon,_Y_1960_Jacotin_Map_(IEJ_10).pdf | journal = Israel Exploration Journal | volume = 10 | issue = 3,4 | year = 1960 | pages = 155–173; 244–253 | access-date = 2015-03-22 | archive-date = 2019-12-22 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191222063351/http://www.jchp.ucla.edu/Bibliography/Karmon,_Y_1960_Jacotin_Map_(IEJ_10).pdf | url-status = dead }}
• {{cite book|title=All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_By7AAAAIAAJ|first=W.|last=Khalidi|author-link=Walid Khalidi|year=1992|location=Washington D.C.|publisher=Institute for Palestine Studies|isbn=0-88728-224-5}}
• {{cite book | editor = Mills, E. | title = Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas | url = https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas | publisher = Government of Palestine | location = Jerusalem | year = 1932 }}
• {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C |first=B. |last=Morris |author-link=Benny Morris |year=2004 |title=The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited |isbn=978-0-521-00967-6 |publisher=Cambridge University Press }}
• {{cite book|last=Palmer|first=E. H.|author-link=Edward Henry Palmer|year=1881|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp00conduoft|title=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|publisher=Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund}}
• {{cite book|last1=Robinson|first1=E.|author-link1=Edward Robinson (scholar)|last2=Smith|first2=E.|author-link2=Eli Smith|year=1841|url=https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearch03robiuoft|title=Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838|location=Boston|publisher=Crocker & Brewster|volume=3}}
• {{cite journal | last = Socin | first = A. | author-link = Albert Socin | title = Alphabetisches Verzeichniss von Ortschaften des Paschalik Jerusalem | journal = Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins | volume = 2 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/zeitschriftdesde01deut/page/135 135]–163 | url = https://archive.org/details/zeitschriftdesde01deut | year = 1879 }}

{{refend}}

• [http://www.palestineremembered.com/Gaza/al-Batani-al-Gharbi/index.html Welcome To al-Batani al-Gharbi]
• [http://www.zochrot.org/village/view?id=49027 al-Batani al-Gharbi], Zochrot
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 16: [http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8378 IAA], [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.16.jpg Wikimedia commons]
• [http://alnakba.org/villages/gaza/gharbi.htm al-Batani al-Gharbi], from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center

{{Palestinian Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Al-Batani Al-Gharbi}}

Category:Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War

Category:District of Gaza