Kasla, Jerusalem

File:כסלון4.jpg

Kasla has been identified with the ancient Canaanite settlement of Chesalon,Khalidi, 1992, p. 298 and is believed to preserve its ancient name.Finkelstein et al, 2021, [https://www.academia.edu/49108847/Excavations_at_Kiriath_jearim_2019_Preliminary_Report Excavations at Kiriath-jearim, 2019: Preliminary Report]Albright, 1923 Chesalon is mentioned in the Book of Joshua as one of the landmarks on the boundary of Tribe of Judah.{{Bibleverse|Joshua|15:10}}Carta's Official Guide to Israel and Complete Gazetteer to all Sites in the Holy Land. (3rd edition 1993) Jerusalem, Carta, p.268, {{ISBN|965-220-186-3}}Yizhaqi, Arie (ed.): Madrich Israel (Israel Guide: An Encyclopedia for the Study of the Land), Vol.9: Judaea, Jerusalem 1980, Keter Press, p.383 {{in lang|he}} During the Roman period, Chesalon was a Jewish settlement; it was mentioned in a document found in Wadi Murabba'at and dated to 55/6 CE.Ganor and Klein, 2015, [http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=17743&mag_id=122 Khirbat el-Mitraz]{{Cite book |last=Eshel |first=Hanan |author-link=Hanan Eshel |title=The Bar Kokhba Revolt: The Archeological Evidence |last2=Zissu |first2=Boaz |author-link2=Boaz Zissu |publisher=Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi |year=2019 |isbn=978-965-217-429-1 |edition=1 |location=Jerusalem |publication-date=2019 |pages=154-157 |language=English}} Remains from the Roman era has been found in a cave by the village. It is unknown whether it continued to exist in the aftermath of the First Jewish-Roman War and up to the Bar Kohkva Revolt.

Ancient ashlar stones have been found at Kasla,Dauphin, 1998, p. 903 and the village had several khirbas, including a shrine for a local sage known as al-Shaykh Ahmad.

In the early 4th century Onomasticon, Eusebius described Chasalon as a large village in the territory of Aelia.{{Cite journal |last=Avi-Yonah |first=Michael |date=1976 |title=Gazetteer of Roman Palestine |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43587090 |journal=Qedem |volume=5 |pages=49 |jstor=43587090 |issn=0333-5844}}

Kasla was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 with all of Palestine, and in 1596 it appeared in the tax registers under the name of Kisli, or Kisla, as being in the nahiya ("subdistrict") of Ramla, which was under the administration of Gaza Sanjak. It had a population of 11 household;Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 155 an estimated 61 persons, who were all Muslims. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, fruit trees, sesame, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues; a total of 1,280 akçe. All of the revenue went to a waqf.

In 1838, Kesla was noted as a Muslim village in the el-Arkub district, southwest of Jerusalem.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 2, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearc00smitgoog#page/n386/mode/1up 364]Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/126/mode/1up 126]

In 1863 Victor Guérin described it a being situated on a ridge,Guérin, 1869, p. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongog02gu#page/11/mode/1up 11] while an Ottoman village list of about 1870 showed Kesla with a population of 83, in 29 houses, though the population count included men only. It was also noted that to was located 3 1/2 to 4 hours west of Jerusalem.Socin, 1879, p. [https://archive.org/stream/zeitschriftdesde01deut#page/156/mode/1up 156]Hartmann, 1883, p. [https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_BZobAQAAIAAJ#page/n953/mode/1up 145], also noted 29 houses

In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Kesla as "a small stone village in a conspicuous position on the top of a rugged ridge, with a deep valley to the north. There is a spring to the east, and two more in a valley to the south. This is the site of Chesalon."Conder and Kitchener, 1883, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp03conduoft#page/25/mode/1up 25]-26

In 1896 the population of Kesla was estimated to be about 207 persons.Schick, 1896, p. [https://archive.org/stream/zeitschriftdesde19deut#page/n230/mode/1up 123]

By the beginning of the 20th century, residents from Kasla settled Bayt Jiz near al-Ramla, establishing it as a dependency – or satellite village – of their home village.{{Cite journal |last=Marom |first=Roy |author-link=Roy Marom |date=2022 |title=Lydda Sub-District: Lydda and its countryside during the Ottoman period |url=https://www.academia.edu/79946175/Lydda_Sub_District_Lydda_and_its_countryside_during_the_Ottoman_period_%D7%A0%D7%A4%D7%AA_%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%93_%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%93_%D7%95%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%A8%D7%97%D7%91_%D7%94%D7%A2%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%A4%D7%99_%D7%A9%D7%9C%D7%94_%D7%91%D7%AA%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%A4%D7%94_%D7%94%D7%A2%D7%AA%D7%9E%D7%90%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%AA |journal=Diospolis – City of God: Journal of the History, Archaeology and Heritage of Lod |volume=8 |pages=124}}

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Kasala had a population of 233 Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Jerusalem, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n17/mode/1up 15] increasing in the 1931 census to 299 Muslims, in 72 houses.Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 41]

In the 1945 statistics, the village had a population of 280 Muslims, while the total land area was 8,004 dunams, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 440 were used for plantations and irrigable land, 2,265 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/Jerusalem/Page-103.jpg 103] while 10 dunams were classified as built-up areas.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Jerusalem/Page-153.jpg 153]

File:Kasla 1943.jpg|Kasla 1943 1:20,000 (below centre)

File:Yalu 1945.jpg|Kasla 1945 1:250,000

File:Latroun (10 mai).png|Kasla May 10, 1948 (lower right quadrant)

Kasla, along with four other villages, were overtaken by the Israeli Harel Brigade on 17–18 July 1948 in Operation Dani. The villages had been on the front line since April 1948 and most of the inhabitants of these villages had already left the area. Many of those who stayed fled when Israeli forces attacked and the few who remained at each village were expelled.Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA436 436]

Israel established two moshavs on Kasla's land: in 1948, Ramat Raziel; while in 1952 Ksalon was founded 1 km south of the village site, on the archeological site named Khirbat Sa'ra.

In 1992 the village site was described: "Wild grass covers the entire site and grows amid the rubble of the stone houses, which is difficult to distinguish from the rubble of ruined terraces. Almond trees grow on top of the mountain and cactuses grow along the site’s southern slopes. Northeast of the village, two carob trees are surrounded by the remains of a vineyards. On the slopes, thick wild grass grows on several terraces, which are still intact."

File:KaslaJerusalemJune052023 03.jpg|The hill on which Kasla was located and behind it, Ksalon which was built on its lands

File:KaslaJerusalemJune052023 06.jpg|The saddle between the two hills of Kasla

File:KaslaJerusalemJune052023 07.jpg|The location of the houses of Kasla

{{reflist|25em}}

{{refbegin}}

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{{refend}}

• [http://www.palestineremembered.com/Jerusalem/Kasla/index.html Welcome To Kasla]
• [http://www.zochrot.org/en/village/49220 Kasla], Zochrot
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 17: [https://web.archive.org/web/20181103051759/http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8379 IAA], Wikimedia commons
• [http://www.alnakba.org/villages/jerusalem/kasla.htm Kasla], from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center

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

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

Category:District of Jerusalem