Bil'in was a Palestinian Arab village in the Gaza Subdistrict. It was depopulated by the Israel Defense Forces during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War on July 8, 1948, under Operation An-Far. It was located 39 km northeast of Gaza and the village contained two wells which supplied it with drinking water.
Etymology Biʽīln derives from Canaanite/Hebrew ba'lin (ba'als).
History Bil'in did not appear in records from the 16th century. It was a small village in the 19th century, settled by families that were once nomads in the Shephelah and had origins in Bayt Jibrin and Iraq al-Manshiyya.Grossman, D. (1986). "Oscillations in the Rural Settlement of Samaria and Judaea in the Ottoman Period". in Shomron studies. Dar, S., Safrai, S., (eds). Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House. p. 380
In 1838 it was noted as a Muslim village, Ba'lin, in the Gaza district,Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. 119 being smaller than nearby Barqusya.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 2, p. 368
In 1863 Victor Guérin noted it as a small village on a mound.Guérin, 1869, p. 121
In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described it as being a small adobe village, "with no traces of antiquity".Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 409, cited in Khalidi, 1992, p. 90
British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Bil'in had a population of 101 Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Gaza, p. 9 increasing by the 1931 census to 127, still all Muslim, in 32 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 3
In the 1945 statistics, the village together with Ard el Ishra had a population of 180 Muslims, and the land area was 8,036 dunams, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 143 dunams were for plantations and irrigable land, 6,972 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 86 while 6 dunams were built-up areas.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 136
Bi'lin had an elementary school which was founded in 1937 and a shrine for al-Shaykh Ya'qub.Khalidi, 1992, p. 90
Post 1948
Qedma started using some of the village land after 1948.
In 1992 the village site was described: "All that remains is the rubble of a few houses, with wild herbs and thorns growing on the site, along with some trees and cactus plants. The site is surrounded by barbed wire. Parts of the surrounding land are planted with mango trees and grapes, while others serve as pastures."
References
Bibliography
External links Welcome To Bi'lin Bi'lin, Zochrot Survey of Western Palestine, Map 16: IAA, Wikimedia commons Bi'lin, from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center