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Talk:Ruhama

Latest comment: 7 days ago by DaWalda in topic History 2
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History

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Latest comment: 4 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion

In History, after the fifth paragraph stating:

"Two subsequent attempts to re-establish the settlement during the period of the British Mandate were curtailed by the Arab riots in 1929 and 1936. The kibbutz was eventually successfully re-established in 1944, and grew to a population of 399."
please add a new paragraph as following::
"Ruhama uses land belonged to the depopulated Palestinian village of al-Jammama."

Source: All that remains : the Palestinian villages occupied and depopulated by Israel in 1948. Khalidi, Walid. Washington, D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies. 1992. p. 74. ISBN 0-88728-224-5. OCLC 25632612.

I can't edit by myself due to WP:ARBPIA4 edit restrictions.

Thanks! User:Huldra Bustan1498 (talk) 18:08, 18 May 2020 (UTC)Reply

User:Bustan1498: checked and   Done, Huldra (talk) 21:16, 18 May 2020 (UTC)Reply

History 2

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Latest comment: 7 days ago6 comments2 people in discussion

I have now researched the history of Ruhama in more detail because I encountered so many different pieces of information. I want to unload it here. I don't know what to make of it, as some information is simply not compatible with each other, but maybe someone else has an idea.

(1) Land purchase and founding:

1a) First of all, it is certainly missing here that the land was unlawfully acquired and unlawfully appropriated. The settlers should not have been allowed to enter Palestine in the first place, and Jewish land purchases were forbidden.[1] Kanaani (see article page) therefore reports in the first section about the difficulties that the land purchase caused, which, as usual with Zionist land purchases in the late Ottoman period, had to be done against the law. I translate:

"The land was bought by the Palestine Office and the Jewish Colonization Association after they encountered legal difficulties because Turkish law did not allow the registration of land in the name of foreign nationals. Only after intervention with senior officials in Constantinople could the official transfer be carried out, and the land came into the possession of the Palestine Office."

So, in this case, the land purchase does not seem to have been realized through backdoors as usual, but rather with the help of pressure politics. Furthermore, in Zionist land purchases, it was customary for Palestinian tenants to receive compensation ("... a practice which was always observed by Jewish purchasers in later transactions."[2]). However, this was not the case in Ruhama; I translate Kanaani again:

"There were no financial means to compensate the tenants of the land, and without ownership of the land, it seemed as if it would slip out of Jewish hands. At the end of 1911, the land was plowed to create facts on the ground, but the actual work did not begin until 1912."

1b) What Kanaani reports could be the reason why the founding of Ruhama is variously dated to 1911 or 1912 in the secondary literature (1911 is clearly the majority). However, in the linked Times of Israel article, it is reported that the land for Ruhama was not purchased until 1913;[3] so, in this case, even more may have gone awry.

(2) The referenced article by Velikovsky isn't online any more, but here is the corresponding section from "Days and Years." The claim that Ruhama had the only artesian well the region is apparently fabricated. Ruhama is known for its pumping station;[4] the special thing about artesian wells, however, is that they do not require pumping. Accordingly, Blakely writes instead that Ruhama had the first pumping station of the region.[5] By the way, the water there was not discovered by chance; water had been drawn from the same aquifer in Jemmama since 1890.[6] Thus, the discovery of water in Ruhama seems to have been similarly mythologized as that in Nir Am, where they simply tapped into the Gaza Coastal Aquifer.

(3) The end of Ruhama is told in very different ways. According to most versions, in 1917, someone overcame someone there and subsequently took over a village, which was re-founded by its earlier inhabitants only in 1944. However, this is reported both of the Zionist village and the Ottomans[7] and the Zionist village and the British,[8] as well as of the Palestinian village al-Jammama and the British.[9] What confuses me the most is that Yosi Katz does not mention any destruction or occupation, but rather a bankruptcy, after which Ruhama's owners were dispossessed by the bank, and that after this, the farm came to an end because none of the Sheerit Yisrael moved in.[10] Contrast this with Velikovsky's description:

My father could refuse to acknowledge the debt because the Bank had not been asked by the owners to make this loan, and the amount of the loan was but the result of an arbitrary conversion of Turkish pounds into British pounds sterling. My father informed the Bank that he had the interests of the Bank — which he had helped to create as a member of the Second Zionist Congress in Basel — as much on his mind as the interests of the cooperative, and offered to divide the land with them. By this he hoped also to preserve this, the only settlement in the Negeb, because the members of the cooperative had no means, or were not reachable, since the October Revolution in Russia. The Bank agreed, and we had to accept the division as mapped by the Bank — certainly prepared to its advantage. And the day after my arrival I had on me this task.

One of them seems to be fantasizing here, and I would definitely bet my money on Velikovsky.

(4) Afaik, only Avneri writes about both destructions of 1929 and 1936-1939, but doesn't seem to know anything of a British occupation.[11] Avneri is purely a propagandist and not a good historical source; however, the destruction around 1929 is also reported by Kellerman, who does not seem to know the 1917 or 1936 destructions,[12] and the one around 1936-1939 by Kark, who does not seem to know the 1929 destruction.[13] Only Kark provides a source, namely herself ("History of Jewish Frontier Settlement in the Negev"; not accessible to me); so I can't explain these different chronologies. In newspapers from 1946, yet another chronology is reported: when the British found an illegal weapons cache in Ruhama in 1946, a resident excused it by saying that they needed the weapons for self-defense because Ruhama already had been destroyed twice — once in 1921 (!) and once between 1936 and 1939.[14] This might be the source for the "1936-1939" destruction, which is then not very reliable. Does anyone have access to Kark's History of Jeiwsh Frontier Settlement in the Negev? DaWalda (talk) 16:34, 1 July 2024 (UTC)Reply

To editor DaWalda: A large amount of contemporary information is available in the Historical Jewish Press. Probably some of these questions are answered there. Zerotalk 04:05, 2 July 2024 (UTC)Reply
Thanks again. Well... Based on what can be reconstructed from newspaper articles, the story of Ruhama yet again appears quite different. I'm not sure if any of the following can be used at all; this is all primary source original research, which contradicts much of what can be gathered from the secondary literature I cited above.
1) First, it is important to know that the village of Jemmama did not cease to exist after Ruhama was built; Kanaani reports that the residential area remained untouched (Source: see article page).
2) Ruhama did not become a village but remained a farm. Kanaani reports that in 1915, only 12 workers were employed there; the same can be inferred from a newspaper note from 1919;[15] an article from 1924 reports 13 workers (see below) - so, Ruhama does not seem to have grown any further after 1915.
3) Josi Katz appears to be telling the truth, and by the end of the war, Ruhama had accumulated significant debt. This newspaper article mainly elaborates the ongoing mismanagement of the farm, which led to its losses, and then tells that the bank took the farm away from Sheerit Yisrael.[16] Also during the war – apparently in 1917, see the secondary literature – the workers were transported to Jerusalem by the Ottomans through indirect routes. The settlement itself was first taken over by the Ottomans and then captured by the British.[17]
Up to this point, this can still be corroborated by secondary literature (> Kanaani's and Katz's essays), but beyond this, it cannot:
4) Still during the war, presumably in late 1917 or early 1918, the farm had already passed to a new owner (this directly contradicts the Velikovsky, see above), under whom the aforementioned 12 workers of 1919 were employed. This settlement phase lasted at least until 1924.[18] But without external investment from Moscow, the work on the farm was not profitable; therefore, farmland had to be leased to the residents of Jemmama, the Jewish workers were replaced by Palestinians, and in 1925, the Jewish residents of Ruhama were on the verge of completely abandoning the farm.[19][20]
5) An article from 1938 also alludes to an attack around 1929 (see Avneri and Kellermann);[21] however, I have not found a report about the attack itself, only about attacks on the Jerusalem quarter "Ruhama."[22] An article from 1929 about Beer Tuvia mentions nothing about any recent events in Ruhama, stating that it was abandoned some time ago.[23] Perhaps there was some confusion between the settlement and the Jerusalem quarter here? Alternatively, I am not sure whether the attack in 1938 happened in the Jewish settlement; the attack around 1938 and thus also the 1929 attack might have taken place in Jemmama instead of Ruhama (see below) and this is the reason why I can't find anything.
6) I do not understand what happened between 1932 and 1939. According to Avneri, Ruhama should have been re-established in 1932; however, I again only find reports from that year about the Jerusalem quarter with the same name. This article from September 1932 explicitly states that Ruhama remained abandoned.[24] Avneri's 1932 statement is supported by another newspaper article from 1946.[25] However, the first date of this article now seems to be firmly contradicted by the evidence cited in (4), and against the second date (which is also supported by Myerson's interview, see above) I have now also found conflicting evidence. If I interpret this evidence correctly, the attacks cited in 1946 by Myerson and the last article to justify the possession of weapons both appear to be fictitious and merely pretexts to explain this possession:
7) In contrast, an article from 1938 reports that Zionists voluntarily abandoned Ruhama some years ago (see the contrast of Shechem, Beersheba, and Ruhama vs. "in recent years: Hebron") and withdrew to areas with a higher concentration of Zionists.[26]
8) Yet again in contrast, even after 1936, there are still mentions of Ruhama and shootings there (note that the last one also doesn't know of any destruction between 1917 and 1921).[27][28][29][30] If this refers to the Zionist Ruhama, it already contradicts Avneri and Myerson. However, since Ruhama was apparently abandoned by Zionists before 1937, it seems that these instances refer to Jemmama, which has also been called "Ruhama" since 1921[31] (in the following article, for example, it is almost certainly Jemmama that is being referred to[32]), which would also explain why, besides the "Last Jew", only Palestinian residents and actors are mentioned. DaWalda (talk) 11:36, 2 July 2024 (UTC)Reply

Palestine Post 14 February 1944: "On the occasion of its settlements at Ruhama, a neglected Jewish village in the Gaza District, the 'Heamal' Hashomer Hatzair group celebrated its move at the amphitheatre here last night". Does this contradict the claim that it was reestablished by its former inhabitants? Zerotalk 13:09, 3 July 2024 (UTC)Reply

According to Kanaani, members of Hashomer Hatzair joined the first settlers as early as 1916, which means they indeed belonged to the first generation and the 1944 generation of settlers. DaWalda (talk) 17:36, 3 July 2024 (UTC)Reply
I found a Zionist anthology with a chronology that clarifies most dates mentioned in secondary literature and newspapers. It does not, however, explain the reported 1921 destruction claimed by Myerson and Avneri — which I omitted from the article due to these sources' reliability issues (see above) — nor the 1938 references to Ruhama. I’ve updated the article accordingly. For the 1938 references, I drafted an additional footnote but believe it’s too confusing to include. WDYT? It’s evident that the Zionist Ruhama is referenced, as shown by the Hochmann article:
<ref>See also "The Last Jew, Hochmann, Left Ruhama". ha-Boker (in Hebrew). 1938-08-25. Retrieved 2024-07-02., which reports that a certain Hochmann, described as the “last Jew,” left Ruhama, a settlement otherwise exclusively inhabited by Arabs, in 1938. Additional articles from 1937 and 1938 also report on a Ruhama mainly inhabited by Arabs: "Shooting Incident at Ruhama". Davar (in Hebrew). 1937-02-17. Retrieved 2024-07-02.; "Ruhama Attacked". Davar (in Hebrew). 1938-06-29. Retrieved 2024-07-02.; "Ruhama Not Attacked". Davar (in Hebrew). 1938-06-30. Retrieved 2024-07-02.</ref> DaWalda (talk) 17:55, 11 November 2024 (UTC)Reply

References

  1. ^ Büşra Barin: The Ottoman Policy towards Jewish Immigration and Settlement in Palestine: 1882–1920. Dissertation, 2014. p. 35: "In June 1882, entry of foreign Jews to the Ottoman territory and their purchase of land were forbidden."
  2. ^ N.A.: The Palestine land transfers regulations, in: Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society 27 (2), 1940. p. 192.
  3. ^ Ginsburg, Mitch (2014-02-13). "Israel's next major land dispute brews in the Negev desert". https://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-next-major-land-dispute-seethes-in-the-negev-desert/. Retrieved 2024-07-01. Others, such as the organization Bimkom, have argued that, quite to the contrary, the fact that Jews paid the Muhammadin tribe in 1901 and the Atta'una tribe in 1913 for the lands on which Beersheba and Kibbutz Ruhama were founded, respectively, attests to the legal status of their ownership. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
  4. ^ On this pumping station, cf. also "Ruhama [Heb]". Ha-Tsefira. 1913-07-31. Retrieved 2024-07-02. As you know, the well has already been dug to a depth of 30 meters. According to a chemist from Jaffa, the water is good for drinking. A two-room house has been built over the well for the motor, the mechanic, and an additional two or three workers. The walls of the house are already completed, only the roof is missing. The motor and pump are currently being transported from Jaffa to Ruhama, and it is hoped that within a month they will be able to pump water through pipes to the yard.
  5. ^ Jeffrey A. Blakely: The Changing Landscape of the Hesi Region and Its Implications for Archaeological Research, in: Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies 9 (1-2), 2021. p. 149: "By 1912 they drilled a well and installed a pump, the first in the region I believe."
  6. ^ W.M. Flinders Petrie: Tell el Hesy (Lachish). Hyksos and Israelite Cities. Cambridge University Press, 2013. p. 53 [writing in 1890]: "The top of the well is now stripped of stone for a new well at Jemmameh, and will soon fall in."
  7. ^ "At Jammama the Jewish settleement of Ruhama had been established in 1911. The Jews were expelled by the Ottomans in 1917 and it was not reoccupied by Jews until 1944." – Seth Frantzman: The Arab settlement of Late Ottoman and Mandatory Palestine: New Village Formation and Settlement Fixation, 1871-1948. Dissertation, 2010. p. 255. (probably not concordant with the printed edition)
  8. ^ Kanaani)
  9. ^ "At the end of World War I, on 8 November 1917, the British overcame an Ottoman force in al-Jammama, which resulted in a British occupation of the village. [...] An elementary school was established in al-Jammama in 1944 [...] All that is known is that the village was occupied and depopulated as a result of a military assault on 22 May 1948, according to historian Benny Morris." – Walid Khalidi: All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948. Institute for Palestine Studies, 1992. p. 73 f.
  10. ^ Yosi Katz: The "Achuza" Projects in Eretz-Israel, 1908-1917, in: Cathedra 22 (1), 1982. p. 134, 136 [Heb.]: "The cessation of money transfers from Moscow [during World War I] forced the Palestine Office and the administration of Ruhama to pursue a policy of preserving the existing state, which was only possible by taking on loans. [...] At the end of the war, Ruhama had debts of over 200,000 francs, and the main creditor, Apak Bank, asserted its rights and seized the land. Thus, the estate of Ruhama came to an end. [...] Ultimately, a few families from the 'Ahuzat' company settled in Poria (although they eventually had to leave). However, none of the members of 'She'erit Yisrael' arrived in Ruhama."
  11. ^ "Ruhama, south of Beer-Tuvya, was founded in 1911 and destroyed after the First World War. It was rebuilt in the twenties, but Arab marauders destroyed it again in 1929. In 1932 attempts were made to restore the settlement, but it was once more completely destroyed in the 1936 riots and remained in a desolate state until 1944." – Arieh L. Avneri: The Claim of Dispossession. Jewish Land-Settlement and the Arabs 1878-1948. Yad Tabenkin, 2009. p. 218.
  12. ^ "... Ruhama (1911). Both settlements were abandoned during the 1929 riots, but were later resettled." – Aharon Kellerman: Society and Settlement. Jewish Land of Israel in the Twentieth Century. State University of New York Press, 1993. p. 244.
  13. ^ "The Ruhama farm laboured under financial and human handicaps until it was destroyed by the Arabs in the disturbances of 1936-9..." – Ruth Kark: Jewish Frontier Settlement in the Negev, 1880-1948: Perception and Realization, in: Middle Eastern Studies 17 (3), 1981. p. 341.
  14. ^ The Canadian Jewish Chronicle, September 1946, p. 2: "The two Negev settlements never denied the possession of arms for defensive purposes, for otherwise it would be impossible, under present conditions, to live in that part of the country, Mrs. Myerson said. To take away the arms now from Ruhama means an invitation to destroy this village for the third time. Ruhama, she recalled, was already destroyed twice under the British administration; the first time in 1921, shortly after the Mandate took effect and again during the 1936/39 Arab revolt. To require the 'cooperation' of these places in the search of arms means that they should associate themselves with this invitation to be destroyed again, Mrs. Meyerson said."
  15. ^ "The Week [heb.]". Ha-Poel ha-Tzair. 1919-09-24. Retrieved 2024-07-02. A month ago, the work season ended. The twelve permanent workers remained in Ruhama and are now occupied with digging pits for planting almonds. For the upcoming season, there will be an opportunity to increase the number of workers to up to thirty, who will be engaged in planting olives and carob trees.
  16. ^ "Ruhama [Heb.]". Ha-Poel Ha-Tzair. 1919-03-27. Retrieved 2024-07-02. The bank, which demanded nearly a quarter of a million francs from Ruhama, amounts loaned to the farm in paper currency during the war years, refused to continue investing more funds. They expelled the existing management without prior notice and without consulting them about the situation, and handed the farm, which was under mortgage, over to the Planting Association until it would be possible to negotiate with the landowners, the members of the "Sheerit Yisrael" society.
  17. ^ "Ruhama [Heb.]". Ha-Poel Ha-Tzair. 1919-03-27. Retrieved 2024-07-02. When the British entered the scene, during the last days of the Turkish rule, government officials came and arrested almost all the workers in Ruhama, along with the work manager, and took them to [...] Jerusalem. Only one worker remained at the site, who was working at the well supplying water for the army. On the last day, when the British attacked Ruhama while pursuing the retreating Turks, he hid in a prepared pit in the beehive area, waited for the danger to pass, and met the British upon their entry into Ruhama.
    The neighboring Bedouins took advantage of the time between the departure of the Turks and the arrival of the British, came to the farm, and plundered everything left behind, along with the loot from the Turks. They took about a million kilograms of grain, the farm tools, the furniture, and the workers' personal belongings. All of this was done with wildness and a sense of revenge.
  18. ^ "Ruhama". Ha-Poel ha-Tzair. 1925-06-05. Retrieved 2024-07-02. Ruhama was founded, as is known, by a Zionist group in Moscow before the World War, and its members were full of hope that after a few years they would be able to come to the settlement and take hold of it. However, the war shattered their hopes. Ruhama was cut off from its founders, the connection between it and the association in Moscow was severed, and the management of affairs transferred from its original administrators to the Planting Association. During the liquidation of this latter association's business, Ruhama came under the authority of the current owner, who invested all his efforts during the war years to maintain the work there. [...] Although considerable effort was invested in these plantings by the Jewish workers who worked in Ruhama initially and until the last year, all this effort did not yield the expected results.
  19. ^ "Ruhama". Ha-Poel ha-Tzair. 1924-03-28. Retrieved 2024-07-02. Walking among the almond orchards, there are about 1,000 dunams of almonds, very few vines, olives, and carobs. Additionally, there are another three thousand dunams of arable land that the management leases to Arabs and receives a quarter of the harvest in return. [...]
    Besides the animals hired from outside, there are two plow animals, one belonging to the farm and one to the manager from Ekron, who left the settlement and rents his animals to the farm for thirty francs a day. Of course, under such conditions, the farm incurs deficits year after year. The management has already realized this and wanted to stop investing fresh funds and new budgets into Ruhama, but the manager had some family rights, and the matter continues. [...]
    The number of workers on the site is very small. There are about thirteen workers in total. Until now, there were organized workers, members of the Histadrut, who argued with the manager about leasing land for plowing to non-Jewish hands and who disrupted him in many ways by bringing non-Jewish workers into the remaining branches of the farm. But this year, the manager freed himself from them, paying them compensation of 40–50 pounds each. Now, he surrounds himself with workers who pose no threat of unionization and no risk of strikes. [...]
    Living conditions are poor; the families live in cramped rooms, with six people to a room in terrible congestion. The shops where the Arabs from the surrounding area come to buy are also cramped. Besides the workers mentioned, there are two more families here: the two partners of the nearby mill. Until recently, the mill was still operational, but now, due to heavy competition from the Arab mills, it has stopped working, and the family heads serve as guards in Ruhama.
  20. ^ "Ruhama". Ha-Poel ha-Tzair. 1925-06-05. Retrieved 2024-07-02. Although considerable effort was invested in these plantings by the Jewish workers who worked in Ruhama initially and until the last year, all this effort did not yield the expected results. The plantings, affected by the war and harsh climatic and technical conditions, are not productive enough to cover the expenses incurred in maintaining them.
    The current owner of Ruhama, who has invested considerable sums, began seeking ways to economize and changed the entire work method. The Jewish workers were dismissed, and the planting work this year was conducted solely by foreigners, except for one worker (who, incidentally, supervises the foreign workers) who remained to oversee the trees. The austerity measures have reached such an extent that even the two permanent workers who work in the field and take care of the flock do not receive adequate compensation. Thus, Ruhama is now devoid of Jewish workers and will soon be devoid of Jews altogether. The current situation has now led the remaining few families, who still reside in Ruhama and make a living from raising poultry, to consider leaving the place.
    Four families currently reside in Ruhama; two of them own the wheat mill located there, the third family runs the dairy, and the fourth is preparing to leave the settlement in the near future. Recently, the local police inspector stationed in Ruhama was appointed to oversee the people and property, but it is possible that the police might decide to relocate the guard to another place, and if these last few families do not find a way to sustain themselves in Ruhama, then the place will be entirely left to its workers, who are presently foreigners.
  21. ^ "The Last Jew, Hochmann, Left Ruhama". ha-Boker. 1938-08-25. Retrieved 2024-07-02. The settlement was abandoned again as in the days of the riots in Av, 1929.
    The last Jew, A. Hochman, was evacuated from Ruhama following a clash that occurred there between the local Arab police and a gang that attacked the settlement (details below).
  22. ^ E.g. here: "Regarding the Violent Events in Our Holy Land". Ha-Ne'eman. 1929-10-06. Retrieved 2024-07-02. The Jews defended themselves whenever and however they could. Only through the strength of the Jews' self-defense were the initial attacks on the Old City, Ruhama, Mea Shearim, Nahalat Achim, Rehavia, Talpiot, Yemin Moshe, Sanhedria, Mahane Yehuda, Beit HaKerem, Montefiore, Givat Shaul, and the Geulim neighborhood repelled.
  23. ^ "On the Establishment of Beacons". Ha-Olam. 1929-10-18. Retrieved 2024-07-02. For many years, Beer Tuvia was the southernmost settlement in Judea; when veteran activists in Moscow dreamed of redeeming the Negev, Beer Tuvia served as the regional center for Ruhama. In Beer Tuvia, nurseries were arranged to reforest Ruhama; it was the center for the workers, and from there the food supplies for the workers of Ruhama and their animals were provided. When Ruhama was abandoned, Beer Tuvia once again became the southernmost point in the Negev of our land.
  24. ^ "The Hebrew Economy in the Land of Israel in 1932". Davar. 1932-09-30. Retrieved 2024-07-02. [The area] in the proximity of Be'er Tuvia [is] an area where Hebrew settlement had not progressed for decades and which, in recent years, has even regressed (including the abandonment of Ruhama).
    The Hebrew settlements that remain abandoned, due to events unrelated to them, are: Ruhama, the southernmost Hebrew settlement, Kfar Uriya, and Nezer at the foothills of the Judean mountains.
  25. ^ "When Ruhama was Searched". The Sydney Jewish News. 1946-11-01. Retrieved 2024-07-02. Ruhama, which belongs to Hashomer Hatzair, has 50 inhabitants. It was rebuilt in 1944 on the ruins of the old Ruhama, which was founded in 1911 and was first destroyed at the end of the first world war. It was rebuilt in 1932 but was deserted after the 1936 Arab disturbances.
  26. ^ "Ben-Zvi and the "Natural" Division of Jerusalem". Ha-Yarden. 1938-05-06. Retrieved 2024-07-02. The idea of "division" [of the Peel Commission] is not a recent creation. The leaders of official Zionism have long been educating the settlement on the notion of "division," even before the Peel Commission appeared. As a result of this mindset, the settlement itself "divided" the country. Thus, the Jews relinquished Shechem, Beersheba, Ruhama, and in recent years, Hebron. However, even in Jerusalem, the capital of the country, where Jews constitute an overwhelming majority, solid boundaries are emerging between the Jewish and Arab parts. Jews are leaving the area from the post office to Jaffa Gate, and of course, the Old City. All of this is happening "quietly and orderly," and no one is jumping in the breach [=no one is willing to fight against this development].
  27. ^ "Shooting Incident at Ruhama". Davar. 1937-02-17. Retrieved 2024-07-02. [The newspaper] "Palestine" provides a few more details regarding the shooting incident at Ruhama, which we published in this morning's edition: three cows were injured by the gunfire, one of them fatally. The Ruhama police requested reinforcement from the Beersheba police, who arrived with tracking dogs. During the attack, one of the mounted police officers lost his horse, which was later found in Beersheba. The attack occurred late on Tuesday night.
  28. ^ "Ruhama Attacked". Davar. 1938-06-29. Retrieved 2024-07-02. An armed gang attacked Ruhama yesterday afternoon. Police and military forces have arrived at the scene.
  29. ^ "Ruhama Not Attacked". Davar. 1938-06-30. Retrieved 2024-07-02. We have been informed that the report about the attack on Ruhama was incorrect. There was a brawl between Arabs due to the theft of three liras.
  30. ^ "The Last Jew, Hochmann, Left Ruhama". Ha-Boker. 1938-08-25. Retrieved 2024-07-02. The last Jew, A. Hochman, was evacuated from Ruhama following a clash that occurred there between the local Arab police and a gang that attacked the settlement (details below). A sergeant, eight policemen, and eight guards, all Arabs, left the place. Ruhama, located 7 kilometers from Gaza, was founded long before the war by Jews from Russia. It was previously abandoned during the riots in Av, 1929, and now it has been abandoned for the second time.
    On Friday night, the police station in Ruhama was attacked by a gang numbering about 50 men. During the attack on the police station, there were Arab guards, policemen, and a sergeant at the station.
  31. ^ "Hebrew Names for Jewish Colonies". The New Palestine. 1921-01-28. Retrieved 2024-07-02. A number of Jewish colonies are in future to be known by their Hebrew names as follows: [...] Ruhama, (Jemameh).
  32. ^ "Palestine from Day to Day". The Palestine Bulletin. 1925-05-19. Retrieved 2024-07-02. May 14th. His Excellency and party left Khirbet es Surah and rode along the new Hebron-Beit Jibrin-Gaza road which is in course of construction to Tel el Hesy, where His Excellency was received by Mr. Chamption, District officer, Beersheba, Faiz Eff. Idrisi of the Palestine Gendarmerie, Mr. MacQueen, P.M.O. Southern District, and the Sheikhs of the Jubarat Arabs and notables from Ruhama. [...] His Excellency was received by Major Howard of the Palestine Gendarmerie, and the Sheikhs of the Tiaha, and by representative notables from Ruhama, Kafakha, Muharaka and Bureir.

Removing Velikovsky

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Latest comment: 4 months ago2 comments2 people in discussion

Immanuel Velikovsky is known as a writer of pseudoscientific nonsense, so I was surprised to see him used as a source. Moreover, the source is a letter to the editor, which is a type of source rarely acceptable since the newspaper takes no responsibility for its accuracy. In addition: (1) Velikovsky says his father was the founder of the settlement but I have not seen this name mentioned anywhere else (has anyone?). (2) Velikovsky says that Ruhama was the British army's main water supply in the Negeb, but when I tried to validate this by looking at contemporary military maps I didn't find this place marked at all (this is hard to research and deserves further study). (3) Velikovsky says Ruhama was repeatedly mentioned in the House of Commons but I can't find any. Anyway, I have my scalpel out. Zerotalk 03:51, 2 July 2024 (UTC)Reply

Ad (2): Blakely (p. 156) shows a photo (Australian War Memorial, Canberra, Images A01989A-A01989D) in which EEF troops are watering horses at the well at Ruhama in 1917, so this could be true. Something similar is also reported in this newspaper article from 1919. The first half deals with the continuous mismanagement of Ruhama; from the second half, I will translate the relevant passage:
When the British entered the scene, during the last days of the Turkish rule, government officials came and arrested almost all the workers in Ruhama, along with the work manager, and took them to Beersheba. Upon arriving in Beersheba, they found the British capturing the city, and they were sent further to Jerusalem and then to Damascus. Eventually, they managed to escape and return to Jerusalem. Only one worker remained at the site, who was working at the well supplying water for the army. On the last day, when the British attacked Ruhama while pursuing the retreating Turks, he hid in a prepared pit in the beehive area, waited for the danger to pass, and met the British upon their entry into Ruhama.
So it seems more accurate that both the Ottomans and the British sourced water from the well. DaWalda (talk) 05:56, 2 July 2024 (UTC)Reply
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