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Daniyal

Coordinates: 31°55′52″N 34°55′53″E / 31.93111°N 34.93139°E / 31.93111; 34.93139
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For other uses, see Daniyal (disambiguation).
Daniyal
دانيال
Village
Pre-1948 structure from Daniyal, photo taken in 2014
Pre-1948 structure from Daniyal, photo taken in 2014
Etymology: Daniel[1]
1870s map
1940s map
modern map
1940s with modern overlay map
A series of historical maps of the area around Daniyal (click the buttons)
Daniyal is located in Mandatory Palestine
Daniyal
Daniyal
Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 31°55′52″N 34°55′53″E / 31.93111°N 34.93139°E / 31.93111; 34.93139
Palestine grid143/148
Geopolitical entityMandatory Palestine
SubdistrictRamle
Date of depopulationJuly 10, 1948[4]
Area
[3]
 • Total
2,808 dunams (2.808 km2 or 1.084 sq mi)
Population
 (1945)
 • Total
410[2][3]
Cause(s) of depopulationMilitary assault by Yishuv forces
Current LocalitiesKfar Daniel[5][6]

Daniyal (Arabic: دانيال) was a Palestinian village in the Ramle Subdistrict that was located 5 km east of Ramla and southeast of Lydda. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War on July 10, 1948, by the Yiftach Brigade under the first phase of Operation Dani, as part of the broader 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight and Nakba.

History

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In 1838, Edward Robinson stopped by the village well, west of the village. He estimated the depth of the well to be 160 feet.[7] The villagers were Muslim, and the village was noted as being in the Lydda District.[8] It was populated by residents from Rafat, Jerusalem who established it as a dependency - or satellite village - of their home village.[9]

In 1863, Victor Guérin noted: "a small mosque situated on a height; it contains the tomb of a saint, called Neby Danyal. Some olive trees and a palm tree surround it. Near there is a village of about forty houses, also called Danyal. I observed there, not far from the dwellings, a considerable number of silos, intended to preserve straw, barley, and wheat."[10]

An official village list of about 1870 showed that the village had 24 houses and a population of 80, though the population count included men, only.[11][12]

In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Neby Danial: "A small settlement round the sacred shrine of the Prophet, with a well to the west. The tomb of Dan is shown here, and is believed by the Samaritans to be the true site."[13] They further noted that: "The village of Neby Danial includes the Mukam of Neby Dan, from which it is said by the natives to take its name."[14]

British Mandate era

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In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Danial had a population of 277 Muslims,[15] increasing slightly in the 1931 census to 284 Muslims, in a total of 71 houses.[16]

In the 1945 statistics, it had a population of 410 Muslims[2] with a total of 2,808 dunums of land.[3] Of this, 37 dunums were for plantations and irrigable land, 2,599 dunums were for cereals,[17] while a total of 15 dunams were classified as built-up areas.[18]

An elementary school for boys which is still standing today was founded in 1945, and had an enrollment of 55 students.[19]

1948 war and depopulation

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Part of a series on the
Nakba
Precipitating events
  • Background
1948 expulsion and flight
Discourse
Notable writers
Symbols and memory
Ongoing
Lists

During the 1948 Palestine war, the village was depopulated by Israeli forces as part of the broader 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight. The village was attacked by the IDF on the 10 July 1948.[4] On that day, the Yiftach Brigade reported: "Our forces are clearing the Innaba – Jimzu – Daniyal area and are torching everything that can be burned." On July 11, they reported that they had conquered Jimzu and Daniel and were "busy clearing the villages and blowing up the houses."[20]

Historian Saleh Abdel Jawad writes that upon the Israeli conquest of the village that "indiscriminate killings" occurred in Daniyal, with the IDF having first shelled the village to induce civilian flight and afterwards killing any residents who remained, with at least 9 residents being killed after the capture of the village.[21]

In September, 1948, Daniyal was among the Palestinian villages that Ben Gurion wanted destroyed.[clarification needed][22]

The Israeli settlement of Kfar Daniel was established on village land in 1949.[5]

In 1992 the remains of the village was described by historian Walid Khalidi: "The shrine of al-Nabi Daniyal, the school, and seven well built houses are all that remain of the village. The shrine, deserted and weathered amid weeds and a few trees, is made of stone, with a second story rising on one side. The first story has arched windows and doors and the second has a porch and a rectangular window. The school is presently used by residents of Kefar Daniyyel. The houses are built of stone and are all flat-roofed, with a mix of arched and rectangular doors and windows. One house is used as a warehouse."[5]

Its Arab settlers left to neighboring countries and territories such as Jordan and the West Bank. Others later settled in the United States of America in the States of Texas and Illinois. The descendants of those who were forced to leave their homes face many difficulties from local Israeli authority when attempting to revisit the land where the village once stood.

  • Daniyal 1942 1:20,000
    Daniyal 1942 1:20,000
  • Daniyal. Survey of Palestine. 1945. Scale 1:250,000
    Daniyal. Survey of Palestine. 1945. Scale 1:250,000
  • Depopulated villages in the Ramle Subdistrict
    Depopulated villages in the Ramle Subdistrict

References

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  1. ^ Palmer, 1881, p. 216
  2. ^ a b Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 29
  3. ^ a b c Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 66
  4. ^ a b Morris, 2004, p. xix village #232. Also gives cause of depopulation.
  5. ^ a b c Khalidi, 1992, p. 374
  6. ^ Morris, 2004, p. xxi settlement #73
  7. ^ Robinson and Smith, vol. 3, p. 56
  8. ^ Robinson and Smith, vol. 3, 2nd Appendix, p. 121
  9. ^ Marom, Roy (2022). "Lydda Sub-District: Lydda and its countryside during the Ottoman period". Diospolis - City of God: Journal of the History, Archaeology and Heritage of Lod. 8: 124.
  10. ^ Guérin, 1868, p. 335
  11. ^ Socin, 1879, p. 151 Also noted to be in the Lydda district
  12. ^ Hartmann, 1883, p. 138 also noted 24 houses
  13. ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 252
  14. ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 279
  15. ^ Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Ramleh, p. 22
  16. ^ Mills, 1932, p. 19
  17. ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 114
  18. ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 164
  19. ^ Khalidi, 1992, p. 373
  20. ^ Morris, 2004, p. 435
  21. ^ Saleh Abdel Jawad, 2007, Zionist Massacres: the Creation of the Palestinian Refugee Problem in the 1948 War. "Indiscriminate killings occur. IDF shelling induces most villagers to flee. All who remain are killed. Two Egyptian stable hands and three old women are instantly killed. Troops find one elderly man hiding with his wife in a cave. The couple is shot. The man is killed, but his wife is only injured. She receives medical treatment from the Israelis. Another three old women remain in the village for a relatively long time, but are also subsequently killed."
  22. ^ Morris, 2004, p. 354

Bibliography

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