Shahma
| Shahma | |
 Shahma
|
|
| Arabic | شحمة |
| Also Spelled | Shameh[1] |
| Sub-district | Ramla |
| Coordinates | 31°49′25.92″N 34°48′39.62″E / 31.8238667°N 34.8110056°ECoordinates: 31°49′25.92″N 34°48′39.62″E / 31.8238667°N 34.8110056°E |
| Population | 280[2] (1945) |
| Area | 6,875[2] dunums
6.9 km² |
| Date of depopulation | May 14, 1948[3] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Influence of nearby town's fall |
Shahma (Arabic: شحمة) was a Palestinian Arab village located 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) southwest of Ramla.[4] Depopulated on the eve of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, the village lands today form part of a fenced in area used by the Israeli Air Force.[3][5]
Contents |
[edit] Location
The village was situated on the coastal plain, 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) southwest of Ramla, in a flat area that was slightly higher that the terrain to the south and southeast. Wadi al-Sarar ran about 1 kilometer (0.62 mi) southwest of it, and a secondary road linked Shahma to al-Ramla. Durind World War II, the British built RAF Aqir military airport just north of the village, Shahma military base lay to the north and east.[4]
[edit] History
In the late nineteenth century, Shahma was described as a small village built of adobe bricks, whose inhabitants drew their water from a well to the south of the village.[6]
In the British Mandate -era, the village was classified as a hamlet by the Palestine Index Gazetteer. During this time the village was divided into two sections, north and south of a secondary road. Some of its houses were built in part with stone remains from previous settlements.[4]
In 1944/45 the village had a population of 280. A total of 152 dunums of village land was used for citrus and bananas, 4,911 dunums were used for cereals, and 33 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards.[4][7]
[edit] 1948, and aftermath
The Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi described the place in 1992: "The site has been incorporated into a fenced-in military airfield. It is marked by cactuses and bushes that are visible from the outside."[5]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] Bibliography
- Conder, Claude Reignier and H.H. Kitchener (1881): The Survey of Western Palestine: memoirs of the topography, orography, hydrography, and archaeology. London:Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. vol 2
- Hadawi, Sami (1970), Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine, Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center, http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html
- Khalidi, Walid (1992), All That Remains, Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies, ISBN 0-88728-224-5
- Morris, Benny (2004), The birth of the Palestinian refugee problem revisited (Second, illustrated, revised ed.), Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-00967-7, 9780521009676
- Robinson, Edward; Smith, Eli (1841), Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the Year 1838, Crocker & Brewster
