Umm ash Shauf

For the former Palestinian village in the Ramle subdistrict, see Dayr Muhaysin.

Umm al-Shawf or Umm ash Shauf (Arabic: أُم الشوف, Umm esh Shauf) was a Palestinian Arab village located 29.5 km south of Haifa, on the sloping section of Wadi al-Marah. It was depopulated as a result of a military assault between May 12–14, just before the outbreak of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

Umm al-Shawf أُم الشوف Umm al Shauf
Village
Etymology: The place with the harrow[1]
1870s map 1940s map modern map 1940s with modern overlay map A series of historical maps of the area around Umm ash Shauf (click the buttons)
Umm al-Shawf Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 32°33′12″N 35°02′55″E
Palestine grid	154/217
Geopolitical entity	Mandatory Palestine
Subdistrict	Haifa
Date of depopulation	May 12–14, 1948[2]
Area [3]
• Total	7,426 dunams (7.426 km2 or 2.867 sq mi)
Population  (1945)
• Total	480[4][3]
Cause(s) of depopulation	Military assault by Yishuv forces
Current Localities	Givat Nili[5]

History

In 1859 the population was 150, and the cultivation was 21 feddans.^[6]

In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Umm ash Shuf as: "a small village well supplied with water from two springs on the north, on which side is a little garden."^[6]

A population list from about 1887 showed that Umm esh Shuf had about 375 inhabitants, all Muslim.^[7]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Umm al-Shuf had a population of 252 Muslims,^[8] increasing in the 1931 census to 353 Muslims, in a total of 73 houses.^[9]

In 1945, it had a population of 480 Muslim inhabitants,^[4] with 7,426 dunams of land.^[3] Of this, 107 dunums of land were for plantations and irrigable land, 6,175 for cereals,^[10] while 31 dunams were classified as built-up land.^[11]

• 
  Umm ash Shauf 1942 1:20,000
• 
  Umm ash Shauf 1945 1:250,000

1948 and aftermath

Umm ash Shauf became depopulated after an assault from IZL troops in early May, 1948.^[12]

IZL troops searched some refugees from Umm ash Shauf, and found one pistol and one rifle. They took seven young men from the refugees aside, and when none of them admitted to owning the weapons, they were all executed.^[13]

Following the war the area was incorporated into the State of Israel and the moshav of Givat Nili was founded in 1953 on the village's land, south of the village site.^[5]

In 1992 the village site was described: "Piles of stone debris from the houses are scattered about the site, which is overgrown with cactuses, thorns, and bushes. The shrine of Shaykh 'Abd Allah still stands."^[5]