The District of Jerusalem

Allar
Stone rubble, concrete blocks and slabs, and steel bars litter the site, the former school building, still stands. Almond and cypress trees and cacti grow along the terraces.

Aqqur
A thick forest of fir and cypress trees has been planted on the site. Within the forest, stone rubble and ruins of walls with arched opening and terraces are visible. Cacti and fig, almond, and olive trees also grow on the site, along with grass and thorns. The forest was established by the Jewish National Fund in memory of 5 American donors from Los Angeles & Detroit.

Artuf
The settlement of Nacham was established in 1950 on the ruins of the village. Beyt Semesh was established near the site in 1950. One stone house has been expanded, and is now inhabited by a Jewish family. The village cemetery has been levelled. Part of the British police headquarters is still standing.

Ayn Karim
Ayn Karim was one of the very few villages to survive its depopulation with its buildings intact. The village houses are inhabited by Jewish families. One Christian Palestinian family, exiled from the village of Iqrit, lives in the village, in an old school building attached to the Franciscan monastery. There are 7 Christian churches, and monasteries, & a cemetery. The Muslim cemetery in the center of the village, is covered with refuse and dirt. The village mosque, in a state of disrepair, still stands with its minaret. An Israeli hospital, Hadassa, has been built on the village site. Israeli tourist facilities with hotels and swimming pools have been built northeast of the village.

Bayt Itab
The site is covered with large amount of rubble from the demolished village house. The remains of a crusader fortress are prominent on it. There are two cemeteries east and west of the village. Some of the graves are open, and human bones are visible. Part of the surrounding agricultural land is cultivated by Israeli settlers.

Bayt Mahsir
Several village houses have been spared, and are for the most part interspersed among the houses of the settlement of Beyt Me’ir. Two large, rectangular- shaped, almost identical houses built of limestone rise above the Israeli settlement’s cabin -like residences. The remains of a flour mill, can still be seen. The woodland in the outskirts of the village has been designated as a reserve area by the Jewish National Fund, and dedicated to "The Lions International-Israel.

Bayt Naqquba
A few houses are used either as dwellings by the settlement of Beyt Neqofa or as stables. Stones recovered from the ruins of the village houses have been used as steps for entrances to the new Jewish homes. Almond and olive trees and cacti cover the village site. In what was probably a unique case among all the villages occupied and depopulated, a new Arab village with the same name was established south of the original site in 1962, and some refugees from the old village were allowed to live there.

Bayt Thul
Piles of rubble are spread over a wide area on the hill. The ruins of a large house are on the eastern side of the site, surrounded by a dilapidated wall. Graves on the southern edge of the village are covered with weeds. A memorial has been erected for two Israeli pilots whose plane crashed on the site. Another forest on the site was dedicated to Hadassah/Canada.

Bayt Umm Al-Mays
The site is covered with wild grass. The dried-out stems of vines can be seen among the grass. The remains of 2 demolished houses, stand at the northern end of the village.

Al-Burayi
The site is now part of a large military base called Kanaf Staim (Wing Two). A large area is fenced in, and a watchtower has been built. The site is inaccessible to the public.

Dayr Aban
High piles of stone rubble, collapsed roofs, iron rafters, and part of standing walls are visible on the site. Olive, almond, cypress, and eucalyptus trees grow on the site, along with cacti..

Dayr 'Amr
The site is surrounded with a fence and a guarded gate. All the houses still stand and new extensions have been added to some of them. The Israeli telephone and television company has established a large facility, with radar equipment, at the southern edge of the site. The psychiatric hospital of Eytanim is nearby.

Dayr Al-Hawa
The stone rubble of houses is mixed with the ruined walls of terraces. The "Two Hundred Years" Park, commemorating the U.S. bicentennial, was established by the Jewish National Fund on the village lands, & on those of a few neighboring villages. Fir trees have been recently planted near the park. The Hubert Humphrey Parkway passes through it.

Dayr Rafat
The site is covered with large piles of stone rubble and stone terraces. A monastery, owns the village lands.

Dayr Al-Shaykh
The shrine of al- Shaykh Sultan Bader, is now an Israeli tourist site. The rubble of houses and terraces can be seen on the site.

Dayr Yasin
The site of the most infamous massacre of the Nakba (see testimonies section). Many of the village houses on the hill are standing and have been incorporated into an Israeli hospital for the mentally ill (Originally housing Holocaust survivors with mental trauma..). Some houses outside the fence of the hospital grounds are used for residential and commercial purposes. Outside the fence, there are carob and almond trees and the stumps of olive trees. The old village cemetery, is unkempt. The rest of the village site is now the Giv’at Shaul West Jerusalem suburb. See the Links section for further information on the massacre.

Ishwa
Only a few of the village houses remain on the site, interspersed among a settlement’s houses, some serve as residences and warehouses. The village cemetery, has been levelled and planted with grass. At the western edge of the village is soccer field. The walls and fallen roofs of destroyed houses can be seen at its edge.

Islin
Partially destroyed walls and stone terraces can be seen throughout the site. The Jewish National Fund has established a plant nursery on the southern edge of the village. The site also houses a bus repair yard belonging to the Israeli public transportation cooperative, Egged.

Khirbat Ism Allah
This area has been repopulated by a Jewish shepherd family that renovated and occupied one of the houses. The walled area is used as a goat barn, and the entire area has become a grazing site for the family’s flock.

Jarash
The site is overgrown with grass, interspersed with the debris of destroyed houses. The ruins of a cemetery lie northwest of the site.

Al-Jura
The only structures that still stand are two limestone houses on the valley floor at the southern edge of the village. One can see the ruins of houses, staircases, and wells. The site is surrounded by cypress forests.

Kasla
Wild grass covers the entire site and grows amid the rubble of the stone houses. On the slopes, thick wild grass grow on several terraces, which are still intact.

Al-Lawz, Khirbat
A thick forest of cypress and fir trees has been planted around the site, dedicated to the memory of Moshe Dayan.

Lifta
The ruins of the village are clearly visible at the entrance of Jerusalem, from the Tel Aviv road. Most of the remaining houses are deserted, although some have been restored for the use of Jewish families. The mosque and the village club are still visible. Jewish families have moved into three of the old village houses.

Al-Maliha
Many houses are still standing and are occupied by Jewish families, although a few houses have been demolished. The school building is abandoned and its classrooms are filled with refuse. The village cemetery is on the southern edge of the site. One of the graves is open, and human bones are visible. Part of the Israeli Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Daniya surround the village site.

Al-Qabu
The site abounds in the ruins and remains of the houses. Seven graves can be seen; bones are visible in some of the open ones. The village mosque still stands, abandoned and neglected. Much of the surrounding land has been covered by a forest planted by Israel.

Qalunya
Only a few houses still stand, in the southwestern part of the site, by the cemetery. One of the hoses is now occupied by a Jewish family.

Al-Qastal
The site of one of the most important battles of the Nakba, and of the death of military leader Abd-el-Qader El-Husseini in March 1948. The southern, northern, and eastern slopes of the site are covered with stone rubble. The ruins of the old castle that gave the village its name lie on the mountain top. An underground shelter has been built on the site. Military trenches can be seen north and east. The entire site, including part of the fortress, serves as an Israeli tourist attraction.

Ras Abu 'Ammar
The stone rubble of the village houses is strewn across the site. Wild vegetation grows among the debris, the schoolhouse still stands.

Sar'a
Stone rubble and iron girders are strewn among the trees. On the western edge of the site stands a shrine containing the tombs of two local religious teachers.

Sataf
Many half-destroyed walls still stand. The area around the village spring, has been turned into an Israeli tourist site. A Jewish family has settled on the west side of the village, and has fenced in some of the village area. A forest around the site was planted by the Jewish National Fund; it is an extension of the Moshe Dayan forest planted on the lands of Khirbat al- Lawz.

Suba
Many of the village buildings still stand. The remnants of a Crusader fortress are present on the site. Networks of trenches dug by the Israeli army are visible on the northeastern side of the mountain top.

Sufla
Stone rubble from houses is scattered throughout the site, which has become an open grazing area.

Khirbat Al-Tannur
Six houses have been destroyed and their rubble is strewn over the site; four others still stand.

Khirbat Al-'Umur
Stone rubble and window and door frames, partly hidden by wild grass, are scattered across the village site. The village cemetery, is covered with dirt and grass but many graves are visible; tombstones stand at the head and foot of each one.

Al-Walaja
A few stone houses still stand on the village site. Otherwise, the site is covered with stone rubble. The village area is used as an Israeli Canada Park now lies north of it.


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