al-Nabi Rubin
النبي روبين an-Nabi Rubin, Neby Rubin | |
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Etymology: The prophet Rubin[1] | |
Location within Mandatory Palestine | |
Coordinates: 33°04′49″N 35°17′29″E / 33.08028°N 35.29139°E | |
Palestine grid | 177/276 |
Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
Subdistrict | Acre |
Date of depopulation | early November 1948[4] |
Area | |
• Total | 18,563 dunams (18.6 km2 or 7.2 sq mi) |
Population (1945) | |
• Total | 1,000 with Tarbikha and Suruh[2][3] |
Cause(s) of depopulation | Expulsion by Yishuv forces |
Current Localities | Shomera, Even Menachem, Zar'it, Shtula |
Al-Nabi Rubin (Arabic: النبي روبين, literally "Prophet Rubin" or "Prophet Reuben"), was a Palestinian village located 28 kilometers northeast of Acre. Al-Nabi Rubin students used to attend school in the nearby village of Tarbikha.
In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Al-Nabi Rubin: This is a small village round the tomb of the Neby, containing about ninety Moslems, it is situated on a prominent top, and surrounded by many olives, a few figs and arable land; there are two cisterns and a birket near.[5]
In the 1945 statistics the population Tarbikha, Suruh and Al-Nabi Rubin together was 1000 Muslims according to an official land and population survey,[2][3] all were Muslims,[6] and they had a total of 18,563 dunams of land.[3] 619 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 3,204 used for cereals,[7] while 112 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[8]
The village was captured by Israel as a result of the Haganah's offensive, Operation Hiram during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and was mostly destroyed with the exception of its shrine. Al-Nabi Rubin inhabitants were expelled to Lebanon in two waves, the aged and infirm were the last to depart when the IDF trucked them to the Lebanese border.[9]
A shrine thought to be dedicated to the prophet Rubin is the only original structure that remains on former village's lands.[10]