Jimzu

Jimzu جمزو Gimzo
Etymology: Sycamore[1]
1870s map 1940s map modern map 1940s with modern overlay map A series of historical maps of the area around Jimzu (click the buttons)
Geopolitical entity		Mandatory Palestine
Subdistrict	Ramle
Date of depopulation	10 July 1948[4]
Area [3]
• Total	9,681 dunams (9.681 km2 or 3.738 sq mi)
Population  (1945)
• Total	1,510[2][3]
Cause(s) of depopulation	Military assault by Yishuv forces
Current Localities	Moshav Gimzo[5]

Jimzu (

Under the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Jimzu's lands fell under the de facto governance of the newly created state of Israel. A year later, moshav Gimzo was established at the site of the former village and is now populated by 700 Israeli Jewish residents.

History

Jimzu is identified with the ancient Gimzo, a city mentioned in the Bible as being in the plain of Judah whose villages were seized by the Philistines (as recorded in the 2 Chronicles 28:18).^[7] The town was home to the

Biblical scholar Edward Robinson passed through the village in 1838, and reported it to be "rather large", situated on an eminence, "to make quite a show at a distance". He also noted that the village had many subterranean magazines for storing grain.^[10] It was noted as being situated in the Ramleh district.^[11]

In 1863 Victor Guérin found the village have 400 inhabitants, and to be surrounded by olive and palm trees. The village also had a Makam for a Sidi Ahmed. Each family had its own silo.^[12]

An Ottoman village list of about 1870 counted 83 houses and a population of 325 in Dschimzu, though the population count included men, only.^[13][14]

In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Jimzu as a village built of adobe bricks and situated on the side of a low hill, surrounded by cactus hedges and olive trees.^[15]

British Mandate era

In the

The villagers of Jimzu maintained a mosque. An elementary school was established in the village in 1920, and by the mid-1940s it had 175 students.^[18]

Most villagers worked in agriculture.^[18] In the 1945 statistics, the population was 1,510, all Muslims,^[2] while the total land area was 9,681 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.^[3] Of this, a total of 77 dunums was devoted to citrus and bananas, while 5,577 dunums were allocated to cereals. 1,605 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards, of which 1,400 dunums was for olives,^[18][19] while 50 dunams were classified as built-up public areas.^[20]

• 
  Jimzu 1942 1:20,000
• 
  Jimzu 1945 1:250,000
• 
  Palestinian villages depopulated in the area around Lydda and Ramla (coloured in green)

1948 war

Jizmu was occupied by the

The following day (11 July) Yiftach informed Dani Headquarters, that its forces had conquered Jimzu and Daniyal and were "busy clearing the villages and blowing up the houses ['oskot betihur hakfarim u'fitzutz habatim]"[23] All of Jimzu's inhabitants left as a result of the assault by Israeli forces. Its 434 homes were demolished on September 13, 1948.^[21]

The settlement of Gimzo was established on village land in 1950.^[5] Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi described the remains of Jimzu in 1992: "All that remains of the houses are stones, strewn over the site, and some crumbled walls. The site is overgrown with shrubs and thorny plants. Other kind of vegetation also grow on village land, including Christ's-thorn trees, foxtail, cactuses, and some abandoned olive trees."^[5]

See also

• Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel
• List of villages depopulated during the Arab-Israeli conflict

References