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Welcome To al-Nabi Rubin - النبي روبين (א-נבי רובין)

District of al-Ramla
Ethnically cleansed days ago
العربية

Google Earth
Picture for al-Nabi Rubin Village - Palestine: : General View of the Mosque and the shrine of Nabi Robin, 2005
 Gallery (60)
Statistic & Fact Value
Occupation Date June 1, 1948
Distance From District 14.5 (km) West of al-Ramla
Elevation less than 25 (meters)
Before & After Nakba, Click Map For Detailswhat's new
Pre-Nakba Map showing before and after destruction
Map Location See location #13 on the map

View from satellite
Military Operation Second stage of Operation Barak
Attacking Units Giv'ati Brigade
Exodus Cause Expulsion by Zionist troops
Village Temains The village was mostly destroyed with the exception of the village shrine and its mosque.
Ethnically Cleansing Some villagers managed to stay behind until the end of the harvest time, then they were kicked out.
Pre-Nakba
Land Ownership
Ethnic Group Land Ownership (Dunums)*
Arab 30,994
Jewish 0
Public 8
**Total 31,002
*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics
**Town Lands' Demarcation Maps
Land Usage
As of 1945
Land Usage Arab (Dunum)*
Citrus Groves 683
Irrigated & Plantation 184
Planted W/ Cereal 4,357
Arable 5,224
Non-Arable 25,778
*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics
Population
Year Population*
1945 1,420
1948 1,647
Est. Refugees 1998 10,116
*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics
Near By Townswhat's new
Jaffa
↑
(N)
Bayt Dajan
↗        
Mediterranean  ←
al-Nabi Rubin
→   Wadi Hunayn
↓
'Arab Suqrir
↘           
Yibna
Schools An elementary school for boys which was founded in 1946, and in 1945 it had an enrollment of 55 students.
Inhabitants Place of Origin The village itself was inhabited by members of the Abu Sawayrih tribe, descendants of the al-Maliha Bedouin tribe who had lived in the Sinai desert.
Places of Warship One large mosque which remains standing to this date.
Shrines / Maqams A shrine for al-Nabi Rubin who was honored with an annual mawsim.
Nearby Wadies & Rivers The village is located on the southern banks of the Rubin River (Wadi al-Sarar).
Exculsive Jewish Colonies
That Usurped Village Lands		 Kibbutz Palmachim, Gan Soreq, & Hatsofim Dalet.
Featured Video

Village Before Nakba

The village was located on the south bank of the Rubin River, 3 km away from the Mediterranean. For Palestinians al-Nabi Rubin had great significance because it was the site of a shrine for al-Nabi (the Prophet) Rubin, who was honored with an annual mawsim (pilgrimage season), during which Islamic and popular celebrations were held. In the Judaic tradition Rubin (or Reuben) was the firstborn son of Jacob and Leah and was known for his scrupulous honesty, in contrast with his half-brother, Esau; while Esau looted and plundered the property of others, Reuben would not even collect plants from a field unless he knew they were ownerless (Genesis 30:14). It was not uncommon for Palestinian Muslims to honor such Old Testament prophets by building shrines for them; there was a shrine for the prophet Moses, for example, south of Jericho, not far from the region in which he is said to have been buried. It is thought that the shrine for al-Nabi Rubin was built in the same place where a Canaanite temple once had stood, and that the mawsim itself was pagan in origin.

The mawsim lasted from July through September and was one of two prominent mawsims for Old Testament prophets in Palestine-the other being dedicated to al-Nabi Musa (the prophet Moses). People flocked to the shrine from Jaffa, Lydda, Ramla, and the region's villages. They sang religious as well as secular/popular songs; danced the dabka; held dhikr sessions (Islamic devotional exercises led by adherents of Sufi mysticism); watched horse races and magic shows; and listened to preachers or zajjals (popular poets). The participants camped in tents and were served refreshments at makeshift cafés and restaurants. They shopped for wares at booths that entrepreneurs set up for the occasion (see photos).

The village itself was inhabited by members of the Abu Sawayrih tribe, descendants of the al-Maliha Bedouin who had lived in the Sinai. The village's land area, most of which was covered by sand dunes, was the second largest in the sub-disctrict after that of Yibna and was designated as an Islamic waqf (pious endowment). Some of the houses, which were scattered across the site without any discernable nucleus, were also built inside the fruit orchards. Shops as well as a movie theater were built in the neighborhood of the shrine. Water was provided by wells and springs. The population of al-Nabi Rubin was predominantly Muslim. An elementary school for boys was established in the village in 1946, with an enrollment of fifty-six students in the mid-1940s.

The villagers worked in agriculture and animal husbandry; they also catered to the visitors during the mawsim. They cultivated mainly grain, followed by citrus and other fruits, such as figs and grapes. In 1944/45 a total of 683 dunums was devoted to citrus and bananas and 4,357 dunums were allocated to cereals; 184 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards. Eucalyptus and chinaberry trees grew along the river bank and covered large portions of village land. On the far southwest edge of the land lay Manarat Rubin ('The Lighthouse of Reuben'), which was built over the ruins of the old port of Yibna (the Iamnitarum Portus of Roman times). Recent excavations there have located a squarish, beaten-earth rampart measuring 800 m on a side that dates to the second millennium B.C.

Village Occupation and Ethnic Cleaning

Circumstantial evidence indicates that the village was occupied during the second stage of the Israeli army's Operation Barak (see al-Batani al-Gharbi, Gaza sub-disctrict). Israeli historian Benny Morris reports that the villagers were expelled on 1 June 1948, three days before the villagers of nearby Yibna were forced to leave their homes. The expulsions were in keeping with the practice of the Giv'ati Brigade under its commander Shim'on Avidan and in accordance with the Haganah's Plan Dalet.

Zionists Colonies on Village Lands

In 1949, Zionists established Kibbutz Palmachim (122149) on the coastal lands of the village, south of the mouth of the Rubin River. They also established the settlement of Gan Soreq (127150) in 1950, 3.5 km west of the shrine, on village land.

Village Today

The shrine of al-Nabi Rubin stands amid shrubs and other wild vegetation. A minaret that has three lancet-arched entrances stands at one end of it (see photo). A number of minor shrines built of large stones also remain. Near the shrine is a deserted, free-standing cement structure that consists of a single, box-shaped room.

Source

Dr. Walid al-Khalidi, 1992: All That Remains.
Related Maps Town Lands' Demarcation Maps
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More Information مخطط البلد
في كتاب كي لا ننسى
في كتاب بلادنا فلسطين
المزيد من موقع هوية

Bibliography and References

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سدين الطاهر البيتوني Beitunia, Palestine
محمد ابو قينص ابو قينص غزة, فلسطين
مؤمن ابو مخدة - الزوايدة, غزة
وليد بني عامر النصيرات
mahmoud fathy abu shiha - palestine - UAE, palestine - UAE
ابو سلمان عشيرة بني عامر gaza
ابن روبين الرميلات qatar , qatar
saeed - dubai, uae
ابوانس الرميلات -
محمد الزغيبي الرميلات -
ابن روبين السواركه -
الكرداسي الكرداسي عمان-الاردن, الاردن
ran riegler - rehovot, israel
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