Daliyat al-Rawha (, Dâliyat er Rûhâ, "vineyards (دالية) of al-Rawha") was a Palestinian village located southeast of Haifa.Khalidi, 1992, p. 157. It was the site of the signing of a ceasefire agreement between the forces of the Mamluks and the Crusaders in the 13th century. A small village of 60 Arab Muslims in the late 19th century, the kibbutz of Dalia was established on land purchased in the village in 1939. The population in 1945 reached 600 people: 280 Arabs and 320 Jews.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 47. It was depopulated of its Arab inhabitants in late March during the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine. Its remains lie at the very center of the Ramat Menashe Park of the JNF covered by the kibbutz of the same name.The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, Ilan Pappe, Oneworld, Oxford, 2006, p.231
History In 1281, the Mamluk sultan Qalawun stayed in Daliyat al-Rawha' while his forces battled against those of the Crusaders. According to Al-Maqrizi, the two sides signed a temporary peace treaty (hudna) in the village.Khalidi, 1992, p. 158.
Ottoman era In 1859 the population was estimated to be about 60, who cultivated 10 faddans of land. In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Daliyat al-Rawha' as being a village of moderate size, situated on the west side of a watershed, with a good spring close by on the south.Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 41. Also cited in Khalidi, 1992, p. 158
A population list from about 1887 showed that Daliet er Ruhah had about 195 inhabitants, all Muslim,Schumacher, 1888, p. 180 while Khiryet Umm ed Duff had about 80 Muslim inhabitants.Schumacher, 1888, p. 179
British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Dalia al-Ruha had a population 135, while Umm al-Defuf had a population of 44, all Muslims.Barron, 1923, Table xi, Sub-district of Haifa, p. 34 In the 1931 census Daliat el Rauha had 163 Muslim inhabitants, in 46 houses,Mills, 1932, p. 89 while Umm ed Dufuf had 49 Muslim inhabitants in 10 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 98
The villagers also raised livestock. The village had a rectangular layout from east to west. The houses were grouped closely together and made of stone, held together with mud or cement. The main water sources for the village were located nearby.
By the 20th century, the Arabs of Daliyat al-Rawha were tenant farmers.Morris, 2004, p. 372 The Palestine Jewish Colonization Association (PICA) purchased 10,073 dunams of land in Daliyat al-Rawha and neighboring Umm ed-Dafuf in 1936.Avneri, 1984, p. 210, note #87, on p. 297 The kibbutz of Dalia was established in 1939 to the south of the built up area of Daliyat al-Rawha' on village lands. By 1939, the people of Umm ed-Dafuf, previously independent, were included in Daliyat al-Rawha'.The Palestine Gazette, 1939, p. 1537
In the 1945 statistics the population was 280 Muslims, and a total of 10,008 dunams of land, most of it Jewish owned, according to an official land and population survey. Arabs used 98 dunams for plantations and irrigable land, 56 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 89 while 24 dunams were built-up (urban) land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 139
Types of land use in dunams in the village in 1945:
Land Usage Arab Jewish Irrigated and plantation 98 0 Cereal 56 9,595 Urban 24 19 Cultivable 154 9,595
The land ownership of the village before occupation in dunams: Owner Dunams Arab 178 Jewish 9,614 Public 216 Total 10,008
1948 war and aftermath Benny Morris relates that Yosef Weitz was concerned with the problem posed by Arab tenant farmers in the area as early as January 1948. A diary entry Weitz made following a meeting with officials of the Jewish National Fund states:"Is not now the time to be rid of them [he was referring specifically to the tenant farmers in Qira and Daliyat ar Ruha]? Why continue to keep in our midst these thorns at a time when they pose a danger to us? Our people are considering [solutions]."Morris, 2004, pp. 131-2 In March 1948, Weitz organized with the Jewish residents of kibbutz Kfar Masaryk the eviction of the tenant communities at Daliyat al-Rawha' and Buteimat.
The New York Times reports the village was captured on April 14, 1948, during the Battle of Mishmar HaEmek. By mid-June 1948, according to David Ben-Gurion as based on a report written by Weitz, Daliyat al-Rawha' had been destroyed by the Israeli authorities, while the destruction of Buteimat and Sabbarin was about to begin.Morris, 2004, p. 350 According to Morris, Ramot Menashe was established near the village lands almost immediately thereafter.Morris, 2004, p. 405, note #177 Khalidi writes that Ramot Menashe is actually located on the lands of neighboring Sabbarin.
In 1995, a committee representing internally displaced Palestinians from Daliyat al-Rawha' joined the Association for the Defense of the Rights of the Internally Displaced (ADRID), a national committee in Israel that advocates for these internal refugees' right of return.Masalha, ed., 2005, p. 99
References
Bibliography
External links Welcome To Daliyat al-Rawha' Daliyat al-Rawha', Zochrot Survey of Western Palestine, Map 8: IAA, Wikimedia commons Daliyat al-Rawha' from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center