Ayn al-Mansi

Place in Jenin, Mandatory Palestine

Ayn al-Mansi عين المنسي 'Ein al-Mansi
Etymology: el Mensi= "the forgotten"^[1]
1870s map 1940s map modern map 1940s with modern overlay map A series of historical maps of the area around Ayn al-Mansi (click the buttons)
32°35′36″N 35°10′38″E / 32.59333°N 35.17722°E / 32.59333; 35.17722
Palestine grid	166/222
Geopolitical entity	Mandatory Palestine
Subdistrict	Jenin
Date of depopulation	mid-April 1948^[2]
Area
• Total	1,295 dunams (1.295 km² or 320 acres)
Population (1945^[3]^[4])
• Total	90
Cause(s) of depopulation	Military assault by Yishuv forces

Ayn al-Mansi (Arabic: عين المنسي, Ein el Mansî) was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Jenin of the Mandatory Palestine. It was depopulated as a result of a military attack in mid-April during the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine.^[2]

History

During the 19^th and first half of the 20^th century, Ayn al-Mansi was one of the settlements of the so-called "Fahmawi Commonwealth" established by Hebronite clans belonging to Umm al-Fahm. The Commonwealth consisted of a network of interspersed communities connected by ties of kinship, and socially, economically and politically affiliated with Umm al Fahm. The Commonwealth dominated vast sections of Bilad al-Ruha/Ramot Menashe, Wadi 'Ara and Marj Ibn 'Amir/Jezreel Valley during that time.^[5]

In the 1882 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described El Mensi as: "A small ruined village, with springs."^[6]

British Mandate era

In the 1931 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Ein el Mansi had 73 Muslim inhabitants, in a total of 15 houses.^[7]

In the 1945 statistics, Ayn al-Mansi had a population of 90 Muslims,^[3] and the jurisdiction of the village was 1,295 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.^[4] Of this, 186 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land, 868 dunams were used for cereals,^[8] while 2 dunams were built-up (urban) land.^[9]

1948 and aftermath

Ayn al-Mansi became depopulated after Military assault in mid-April 1948.^[2]

References

^ Palmer, 1881, p. 151
^ ^a ^b ^c Morris, 2004, p. xviii, village #386. Also gives cause of depopulation.
^ ^a ^b Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 16 Archived 2018-09-05 at the Wayback Machine
^ ^a ^b Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 54 Also gives total land area in dunums.
^ Marom, Roy; Tepper, Yotam; Adams, Matthew J. (2024-01-03). "Al-Lajjun: a Social and geographic account of a Palestinian Village during the British Mandate Period". British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies: 8–11. doi:10.1080/13530194.2023.2279340. ISSN 1353-0194.
^ Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 67
^ Mills, 1932, p. 68
^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 98
^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 148

Bibliography

Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1882). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. Vol. 2. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945.
Hadawi, S. (1970). Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine. Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center.
Khalidi, W. (1992). All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948. Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies. ISBN 0-88728-224-5.
Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
Morris, B. (2004). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-00967-6.
Palmer, E.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.