Ra'na Explained

Ra'na
Native Name:رعنة
Native Name Lang:ar
Etymology:The spur of a Hill[1]
Pushpin Map:Mandatory Palestine
Pushpin Mapsize:200
Coordinates:31.6658°N 34.8786°W
Grid Name:Palestine grid
Grid Position:138/119
Subdivision Type:Geopolitical entity
Subdivision Name:Mandatory Palestine
Subdivision Type1:Subdistrict
Subdivision Name1:Hebron
Established Title1:Date of depopulation
Established Date1:22–23 October 1948[2]
Established Title2:Repopulated dates
Unit Pref:dunam
Area Total Dunam:6.925
Population As Of:1945
Population Total:190[3] [4]
Blank Name Sec1:Cause(s) of depopulation
Blank Info Sec1:Military assault by Yishuv forces
Blank3 Name Sec1:Current Localities
Blank3 Info Sec1:Gal On

Ra'na (Arabic: رعنة) was a village located approximately 26 km northwest of Hebron. It was occupied by the Israeli army during Operation Yo'av in October 1948. It was one of 16 villages in the Hebron district that were depopulated.

History

In 1838, during the Ottoman empire, Edward Robinson noted it as Muslim village, located in the Gaza district.[5] He further reported that the fields of Ra'na were planted with tobacco and cotton.[6]

In 1863 Victor Guérin described it as a "village now reduced to a few huts, but that once had been much more considerable, judging by two beautiful wells dug in the rock and by a number of great stones scattered here and there".[7] An Ottoman village list of about 1870 showed that Ra'na had 8 houses and a population of 30, though the population count included men, only.[8] [9]

In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Ra'na as a village built of stone and adobe, and it had a pool and gardens.[10]

In 1896 the population of Ra'na was estimated to be about 99 persons.[11]

British Mandate era

Ra'na was classified as hamlet by the Palestine Index Gazetteer.[12] In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Ra'ana had a population of 126 inhabitants, all Muslims,[13] increasing in the 1931 census to 150, still all Muslim, in a total of 36 inhabited houses.[14]

In 1945 statistics the population of Ra'na was 190, all Muslims.[3] [4] In 1944/45 a total of 5,882 dunums of land was planted with cereals, while 112 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards. Grain was the dominant crop, but during the final year of the British Mandate of Palestine, the villagers also grew grapes, carob and olives.[12] [15] 14 dunams were classified as built-up (urban) areas.[16]

The kibbutz of Gal On was established in 1946 on what had traditionally been village land.[12]

1948, and after

The village was attacked by the Giv'ati Brigade on 22–23 October 1948. Those villagers who had not already fled were expelled and the village destroyed.[12]

Following the war, the area was incorporated into the State of Israel. Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi described that the site of the village in 1992: "The site is fenced in with barbed wire and is overgrown in part by cactuses, especially where there is limestone soil, and by carob trees. No houses or rubble remains."[12]

People from Ra'na

See also

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Palmer, 1881, p. 273
  2. Morris, 2004, p. xix, village #296. Also gives cause of depopulation
  3. Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 23
  4. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 50
  5. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 119
  6. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 2, p. 354. Also cited in Khalidi, 1992, p. 221.
  7. Guérin, 1869, p. 197
  8. Socin, 1879, p. 158
  9. Hartmann, 1883, p. 143 also noted 8 houses
  10. Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p.415. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p.221
  11. Schick, 1896, p. 123
  12. Khalidi, 1992, p. 221
  13. Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Hebron, p. 10
  14. Mills, 1932, p. 33
  15. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 93
  16. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 143

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