Ra'na () was a village located approximately 26 km northwest of Hebron. It was occupied by the Israeli army during Operation Yo'av in October 1948. It was one of 16 villages in the Hebron district that were depopulated.
History In 1838, during the Ottoman Empire, Edward Robinson noted it as Muslim village, located in the Gaza district.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 119 He further reported that the fields of Ra'na were planted with tobacco and cotton.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 2, p. 354. Also cited in Khalidi, 1992, p. 221.
In 1863 Victor Guérin described it as a "village now reduced to a few huts, but that once had been much more considerable, judging by two beautiful wells dug in the rock and by a number of great stones scattered here and there".Guérin, 1869, p. 197 An Ottoman village list of about 1870 showed that Ra'na had 8 houses and a population of 30, though the population count included men, only.Socin, 1879, p. 158Hartmann, 1883, p. 143 also noted 8 houses
In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Ra'na as a village built of stone and adobe, and it had a pool and gardens.Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p.415. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p.221
In 1896 the population of Ra'na was estimated to be about 99 persons.Schick, 1896, p. 123 British Mandate era Ra'na was classified as hamlet by the Palestine Index Gazetteer.Khalidi, 1992, p. 221 In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Ra'ana had a population of 126 inhabitants, all Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Hebron, p. 10 increasing in the 1931 census to 150, still all Muslim, in a total of 36 inhabited houses.Mills, 1932, p. 33
In 1945 statistics the population of Ra'na was 190, all Muslims. In 1944/45 a total of 5,882 dunums of land was planted with cereals, while 112 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards. Grain was the dominant crop, but during the final year of the British Mandate of Palestine, the villagers also grew grapes, carob and olives.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 93 14 dunams were classified as built-up (urban) areas.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 143
The kibbutz of Gal On was established in 1946 on what had traditionally been village land.
1948, and after The village was attacked by the Giv'ati Brigade on 22–23 October 1948. Those villagers who had not already fled were expelled and the village destroyed.
Following the war, the area was incorporated into the State of Israel. Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi described that the site of the village in 1992: "The site is fenced in with barbed wire and is overgrown in part by cactuses, especially where there is limestone soil, and by carob trees. No houses or rubble remains."
People from Ra'na Ata Abu Rashta
See also Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel
References
Bibliography
External links Welcome to Ra'na Ra'na, Zochrot Survey of Western Palestine, Map 16: IAA, Wikimedia commons Rana from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center