Abu Shusha

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title: "Abu Shusha" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["arab-villages-depopulated-during-the-1948-arab–israeli-war", "district-of-ramla", "massacres-in-mandatory-palestine", "zionist-political-violence", "gezer"] topic_path: "geography/israel" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Shusha" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

FieldValue
nameAbu Shusha
native_nameأبو شوشة
native_name_langar
etymologyFather of the top-knots
pushpin_mapMandatory Palestine
pushpin_mapsize200
coordinates
grid_namePalestine grid
grid_position142/140
subdivision_typeGeopolitical entity
subdivision_nameMandatory Palestine
subdivision_type1Subdistrict
subdivision_name1Ramle
established_title1Date of depopulation
established_date114 May 1948
established_title2Repopulated dates
unit_prefdunam
area_total_km29.4
area_total_dunam9,425
population_as_of1945
population_total870-950-870
blank_name_sec1Cause(s) of depopulation
blank_info_sec1Military assault by Yishuv forces
blank3_name_sec1Current Localities
blank3_info_sec1Ameilim, Pedaya
::

::callout[type=note] the former village in Ramle Sub-district ::

| name = Abu Shusha | native_name = أبو شوشة | native_name_lang = ar | settlement_type = | etymology = Father of the top-knots | pushpin_map = Mandatory Palestine | pushpin_map_caption = Location within Mandatory Palestine | image_map = | map_caption = A series of historical maps of the area around Abu Shusha (click the buttons) | pushpin_mapsize = 200 | coordinates = | grid_name = Palestine grid | grid_position = 142/140 | subdivision_type = Geopolitical entity | subdivision_name = Mandatory Palestine | subdivision_type1 = Subdistrict | subdivision_name1 = Ramle | established_title1 = Date of depopulation | established_date1 = 14 May 1948 | established_title2 = Repopulated dates | unit_pref = dunam | area_total_km2 = 9.4 | area_total_dunam = 9,425 | population_as_of = 1945 | population_total = 870-950-870 | blank_name_sec1 = Cause(s) of depopulation | blank_info_sec1 = Military assault by Yishuv forces | blank3_name_sec1 = Current Localities | blank3_info_sec1 = Ameilim, Pedaya

Abu Shusha () was a Palestinian Arab village in the Ramle Subdistrict of Mandatory Palestine, located 8 km southeast of Ramle. It was ethnically cleansed in May 1948.

Abu Shusha was located on the slope of Tell Jezer/Tell el-Jazari, which is commonly identified with the ancient city of Gezer. In April–May 1948, during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Abu Shusha was attacked several times. The final assault began on May 13, one day prior to Israel's declaration of independence. Abu Shusha residents attempted to defend the village, but the village was occupied on May 14. The civilians who had not already fled or been killed were expelled by May 21. With their descendants, they numbered about 6,198 in 1998.

Name

Abu Shusheh is said to derive its name from a derwish who prayed for rain in a time of drought, and was told by a sand-diviner that he would perish if it came. The water came out of the earth (probably at Et Tannur) and formed a pool, into which he stepped and was drowned. The people, seeing only his topknot left, cried Ya Abu Shusheh (“Oh Father of the Topknot”).

History

The Crusaders called the place Mont Gisart. In 1177 the Crusaders won a battle against Saladin there. Ceramics and coins from the 13th century have been found here.

Ottoman era

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Tell_Jezer_from_the_1871-77_Palestine_Exploration_Fund_Survey_of_Palestine.jpg" caption="Abu Shusha in the 1871-77 [[PEF Survey of Palestine"] ::

A Maqam (shrine) was built there possibly in the 16th century. In 1838, Abu Shusheh was noted as a Muslim village in the Ibn Humar area in the District of Er-Ramleh. Edward Robinson also noted the village on his travels in the region in 1852.

In 1869 or 1872, the village lands were purchased by Melville Peter Bergheim of Jerusalem, a Protestant of German origin. Bergheim established a modern agricultural farm, using European methods and equipment. Bergheim's ownership of the land was hotly contested by the villagers, by legal and illegal means, including the murder of Bergheim's son Peter on 12 October 1885. After the Bergheim company went bankrupt in 1892, Abu Shusa's lands were managed by a government receiver.

In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) noted that the extent of land farmed by Mr. Bergheim at Abu Shusheh was 5,000 acres. The boundaries was shown on the Survey's map as a dotted line: ____ . . . . _____ . . . . SWP further described Abu Shusha as a small village built of stone and adobe and surrounded by cactus hedges, populated by about 100 families.

Elihu Grant, who visited the village, described it as "tiny" in 1907. In 1910s, part of the land was sold by the government receiver to the villagers and the rest to the Jewish Colonization Association, which gave the villagers one third of their purchase in order to settle the dispute. After World War I, the land in Jewish hands was sold to the Maccabean Land Company, and later transferred to the Jewish National Fund.

In November, 1917, the British 6th Mounted Brigade charged a Turkish detachment defending the heights above Abu Shusheh. The Turks suffered 'heavy casualties'.

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Abu Shusheh had a population of 603 residents; all Muslims, increasing in the 1931 census to 627, still all Muslims, in a total of 145 houses.

The village had a mosque and a number of shops. A village school was founded in 1947, with an initial enrollment of 33 students.

In the 1945 statistics the population of Abu Shusha was 870, all Muslims, while 24 dunams were built-up (urban) areas.

File:Salbit 1942.jpg|Abu Shusha 1942 1:20,000 File:Kharruba 1942.jpg|Abu Shusha 1945 Scale 1:250,000 File:גזר - גזר העתיקה - מקום מושבו של ברנהיים-JNF040447.jpeg|Abu Shusha 1945 File:Lydda and Ramla area - 9 July 1948.PNG|Depopulated villages in the Ramle Subdistrict 9 July 1948

1948 massacre and aftermath

Main article: Abu Shusha massacre

The village was attacked by the Givati Brigade on May 13–14, 1948 during Operation Barak. A few inhabitants fled but most remained. The Givati troops were immediately replaced by militia men from kibbutz Gezer, who were later replaced by troops from Kiryati Brigade. On May 19, Arab Legion sources claimed that villagers were being killed. On May 21, Arab authorities appealed to the Red Cross to stop "barbaric acts" they said were being committed in Abu Shusha. A Haganah soldier was reported to have twice attempted to rape a 20-year-old woman prisoner. The residents that had remained in the village were expelled, apparently on 21 May.

More recent research, including that conducted by Birzeit University, suggests that around 60 residents were massacred by the Givati Brigade during the attack. In 1995 a mass grave with 52 skeletons was discovered, but their cause of death is undetermined.

The Israeli settlement of Ameilim was founded nearby later in 1948, while Pedaya was established in 1951; both on village land.

In 1992 the village site was described: "The Israeli settlement of Ameilim occupies much of the site. Figs and cypress trees, cactuses and one palm tree grow on the site. The surrounding valleys are planted in apricots and figs, and various kinds of fruit trees are cultivated on the heights."

References

Bibliography

References

  1. Palmer, 1881, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00conduoft#page/265/mode/1up 265]
  2. Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp02conduoft#page/444/mode/1up 444]
  3. Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PR19 xix], village #246. Also gives cause of depopulation
  4. [[Efraim Karsh. Karsh, Efraim]]. "How Many Palestinian Arab Refugees Were There?" ''Israel Affairs'' 17.2 (2011): 224-246. ''Academic Search Premier.'' Web. 29 May 2013.
  5. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p29.jpg 29]
  6. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/al-Ramla/Page-066.jpg 66]
  7. Khalidi, 1992, p. 358
  8. Morris, 2004, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA256 256]-257
  9. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/120/mode/1up 120]
  10. Robinson and Smith, 1856, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/laterbiblicalre01smitgoog#page/n192/mode/1up 143], [https://archive.org/stream/laterbiblicalre01smitgoog#page/n195/mode/1up 146]
  11. Peter Bergheim'sche Kriminalsache: Meuchelmond, JM-ISA/RG67/1-866/575-603/581, Israel State Archives
  12. [[Ruth Kark]], Changing patterns of landownership in nineteenth-century Palestine: the European influence, ''Journal of Historical Geography'', vol 14, no 4 (1984) 357-384.
  13. Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SWPp.407.png 407] Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 358
  14. Grant, 1907, p. [https://archive.org/stream/peasantrypalest01grangoog#page/n27/mode/1up 17], quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 358
  15. Bruce, 2002, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=3R_UrQEACAAJ&pg=PA152 152]
  16. Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Ramleh, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n23/mode/1up 21]
  17. Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 18]
  18. dunums]] of village land were allotted to [[cereal]]s, 54 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/al-Ramla/Page-114.jpg 114]
  19. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/al-Ramla/Page-164.jpg 164]
  20. Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA205 205]
  21. Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA257 257]
  22. "Doron" (Maoz) to HIS-AD, "The Interrogation of Women Prisoners in the village of Abu Shusha", 24 Jun. 1948, HA 105\92 aleph. Quoted in Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA257 257]
  23. "Abu Shusha - The Massacre". Birzeit University.
  24. Ghanim, Honaida. (2011). ["The Palestinians in Israel: Readings in History, Politics and Society"](https://www.academia.edu/download/36516672/The_Palestinians_in_Israel_Readings_in_History_Politics_and_Society.pdf#page=16 }}{{Dead link).
  25. Benvenisti, 1996, p. [https://archive.org/details/cityofstonehidde00benvrich/page/248 248]
  26. The remains of the village were destroyed in 1965 as part of a government operation to clear the country of abandoned villages, which were regarded by the [[Israel Land Administration]] as "a blot on the landscape".Aron Shai, The fate of abandoned Arab villages in Israel, 1965-1969, ''History and Memory'', Vol 18 (2006) pp86-106.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

arab-villages-depopulated-during-the-1948-arab–israeli-wardistrict-of-ramlamassacres-in-mandatory-palestinezionist-political-violencegezer