Info
District: Tulkarm
Population 1948: 140
Occupation date: 15/03/1948
Jewish settlements on village/town land before 1948: None
Jewish settlements on village/town land after 1948: Moshav Sde Yitzhak, Hadera
Background:
Raml Zayta Before 1948
The village stood on a flat, sandy spot on the central coastal plain. A secondary road linked it to the coastal highway, with dirt paths linking other neighboring villages. Houses consisted of mud, cement, and stone, and were displaced in no particular pattern; most built amongst farms. Small shops were scattered among the houses.
Water was obtained from domestic wells, and most villagers worked in agriculture and livestock breeding. Agriculture, which was irrigated and rainfed from water drawn from wells, was based on grain, vegetables, and watermelons. To the east of the village lay the popular Ottoman village in the Haifa district called Khirbat Tall Duru.
Occupation and Depopulation:
Although no information on the impact of Haganah policies on Raml Zayta directly, nearby villages were largely affected. Nearby Wadi al-Hawarith was attacked and its resident were pressured into leaving on 15 March, while the inhabitants of ‘Arab al-Fuqara’ were expelled on 10 April following a Haganah General Staff decision to depopulate the village.
Israeli Settlements on Village Lands
The settlement of Sde Yitzchaq was founded in 1952 and on the village land of Raml Zayta. The city of Chadera, which was originally a settlement in 1890, has expanded so that some of its suburbs are now on village land.
The Village Today
Only two of the original village houses remain on the land, one of them is still inhabited by the only Palestinian family that stayed in the village. The second house has been renovated and expanded to house a Jewish family. Eucalyptus, fig, mulberry and pomegranate trees, in addition to cactuses grow on the site. Vegetables and orchards are grown by Israelis throughout the village lands.
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Source: al-Khalidi, Walid (ed.). All that remains: the Palestinian villages occupied and depopulated by Israel in 1948. Washington DC: 1992.
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