Barbara
March 3, 2024
al-Batani al-Gharbi
March 3, 2024
The village stood on flat land in the coastal plain area, about 7 kilometers from the sea. It was a secondary road connected to the coastal highway, so it was connected to Gaza and the civilian centers to the north. It might have been built on the sites of the Greek town of Barka, which the Romans called Barka. The shape of the village was irregular, and its brick houses were mostly close to each other, separated only by narrow alleys. Its inhabitants were Muslims, and there were several shrines surrounding its mosque, which they referred to as the shrines of Sheikh Muhammad, Sheikh Zarruq, and Prophet Barq. There were some small shops in the middle. Its children were studying in the school of the nearby village of Al-Batani Al-Gharbi . Agriculture was the mainstay of its economy, which combined
basic crops such as grains and vegetables with fruits, especially citrus fruits. In 1944/1945, 667 dunums were allocated to citrus and bananas, 3,898 dunums to grains, and 47 dunums to be irrigated or used for orchards. The village residents dug several wells for irrigation, although agriculture remained mostly rain-fed. Cyrenaica contained Greek antiquities, including a well, stone inscriptions, and fragments of pottery.
Occupying the village and ethnically cleansing it
It is said that the village’s residents abandoned it when the Givati Brigade began its attack between May 10 and May 13, 1948. This brigade was expanding its area of control to the south and west within the scope of the Barak operation.
The village today
Two of her homes remain on the site. The first is used as a storeroom, is built with cement, and has a covered porch on both sides. The other, a stone house with rectangular doors, windows, and a flat roof, stands out abandoned among the wild plants. The site is covered with grasses interspersed with cactus, eucalyptus, and palm trees. The zionist colonists cultivated the lands surrounding the site.
Zionist settlements on village lands
There are no Zionist colonies on the village lands, but the colony of Gan Yavneh (122132), which was established in 1931, is located near the village site to the north of it, as for the colony of Shtolm (120131). Built in 1950, it is close to the village, but on the lands of Ashdod.
