Malha (Hebrew: מלחה) is a neighborhood in southwest Jerusalem, Israel, between Pat and Kiryat Hayovel. Before 1948, Malha was an Arab village known as al-Maliha(Arabic: المالحه). The official Hebrew name of the neighborhood is Manahat, named for the biblical town of Manahat, but residents of Jerusalem continue to call it Malha.
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Battle for Malha in 1948
In the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the village of al-Maliha, with a population of 2,250, was occupied as part of the battle for south Jerusalem. [1]In the early part of the war, Al-Maliha, along with al-Qastal, Sur Baher and Deir Yassin, signed non-aggression pacts with the Haganah.[2] On April 12, 1948, in the wake of the Deir Yassin Massacre, villagers from al Maliha, Qaluniya and Beit Iksa began to flee in panic.[3]The Irgun attacked Malha in early morning hours of July 14, 1948. Several hours later, the Palestinian Arabs launched a counter-attack and seized one of the fortified positions. When Irgun reinforcements arrived, the Palestinians retreated and Malha was in Jewish control, but 17 Irgun fighters were killed and many wounded. [4]The Arab inhabitants fled to Bethlehem, which remained under Jordanian control. The abandoned homes were repopulated by Jewish refugees from Middle Eastern countries, mainly Iraq.
The first Palestinian fedayeen raid in Israel took place in November 1951 in Malha when a woman Leah Festinger was killed by infiltrators from Shuafat, at the time part of Jordan.[5]
Archaeology
Archaeological excavations in the area in 1987-1990 unearthed two large Bronze Age agricultural villages, built one above the other, believed to have been Manahat, a Canaanite town on the northern border of the Tribe of Judah (Joshua 15:59). [6] The remains of the village have been preserved in the Biblical Zoo.[6]
Today
Under the jurisdiction of the Jerusalem Municipality, the village was modernised and a large housing development was established on the nearby hill and its eastern slopes. At the bottom of the hill are the Malha Shopping Mall, Teddy Stadium, and the Jerusalem Malha Railway Station. Malha is now considered an upscale neighborhood. Schools include a vocational high school (ORT) and an elementary school, the Shalom School. The Malha Technological Centre houses high-tech start-ups. [7] The Jerusalem Biblical Zoo is located in Malha.
See also
- Operation Kedem
- List of Arab towns and villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
- List of villages depopulated during the Arab-Israeli conflict
- Mustafa Abu Ali
References
- ^ Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
- ^ Morris, Benny, (second edition 2004 third printing 2006) The Birth Of The Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-00967-7 p 75 and p 91
- ^ Morris, Benny, (second edition 2004 third printing 2006) The Birth Of The Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-00967-7 p 239
- ^ The Jerusalem Battalion
- ^ Ynet Encyclopedia
- ^ a b Nahal Refa-im - Canaanite Bronze Age villages near
- ^ Malha Technological Centre
External links
- Excavations at Manahat
- Welcome To al-Maliha
- Al-Maliha
- Photos of the neighborhood
- Tour and Signposting in Al-Malha
Coordinates: 31°45′08.5″N 35°10′55.2″E / 31.752361°N 35.182°E
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