Khirbat Bayt Lid () was a Palestinian Arab village in the Tulkarm Subdistrict. It was depopulated by its Arab inhabitants during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. History In the 1860s, the Ottoman authorities granted the residents of Beit Lid an agricultural plot of land called in the former confines of the Forest of Arsur (Ar. Al-Ghaba) in the coastal plain, west of the village.Marom, Roy, "The Contribution of Conder's Tent Work in Palestine for the Understanding of Shifting Geographical, Social and Legal Realities in the Sharon during the Late Ottoman Period", in Gurevich D. and Kidron, A. (eds.), Exploring the Holy Land: 150 Years of the Palestine Exploration Fund, Sheffield, UK, Equinox (2019), pp. 212-231 The people of Beit Lid than came to farm the lower plain village land. Gradually they settled in the village so they could be closer to their land.
500 meters north of Khirbat Bayt Lid was El Mughair, which was described in 1882 by PEF's Survey of Western Palestine as "a small mud hamlet, with caves. The water supply is from springs a mile to the west."Conder and Kitchener, 1882, p. 135
British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Kherbet Bait Lid had a population of 206 Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Tulkarem, p. 28 increasing in the 1931 census to 298 Muslim, in a total of 75 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 53
In the 1945 statistics the population of Khirbat Bayt Lid was 460 Muslims with a total of 5,336 dunams of land, of which 2,969 were owned by Arabs, 2,220 by Jews and 147 was public lands.
Of this, Arabs used 64 dunams for irrigated and plantation land, 2,877 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 126 while 22 dunams were classified as built-up areas.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 176
Land Usage Arab Jewish Public Citrus and bananas - - - Irrigated and plantation 64 7 Cereal 2,877 2,213 - Urban 22 - 1 Cultivable 2,941 2,220 - Non-cultivable 6 - 146
1948, aftermath In early 1948 the villagers grew fearful over news about fighting, and left for Beit Lid, where they had relatives, believing that they would return in some weeks. According to one villager, Husni 'Abd al-Latif 'Atawat; "They left all their belongings in Khirbat Bayt Lid. The Jews occupied it, and they could not return."Esber, 2008, pp. 296, 321. Interviewed by the author in Zarqa, Jordan, in 2001
The Moshav Nordia was established on village land in August 1948, while Ganot Hadar is situated 500 meter northeast of the village site, but not on village land.
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Bibliography
External links Welcome To Bayt Lid, Khirbat Khirbat Bayt Lid, Zochrot Survey of Western Palestine, Map 10: IAA, Wikimedia commons Bayt Lid, Khirbat, from Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center