Al-Rihaniyya
| Al-Rihaniyya | |
|---|---|
 Al-Rihaniyya
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| Name meaning | "Sweet basil" |
| Also spelled | Rihaniya, -al |
| Subdistrict | Haifa |
| Coordinates | 32°37′12″N 35°05′13″E / 32.62000°N 35.08694°ECoordinates: 32°37′12″N 35°05′13″E / 32.62000°N 35.08694°E |
| Palestine grid | 158/225 |
| Population | 240 (1945) |
| Date of depopulation | Not known |
| Current localities | Ramat HaShofetEin HaEmek |
Al-Rihaniyya was a Palestinian Arab village in the Haifa Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on April 30, 1948 as part of the battle of Mishmar HaEmek. It was located 25 km southeast of Haifa and 3 km northwest of Wadi al-Mileh.
In 1882, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described Kh. Rihaneh as a ruined modern village, with watch-towers in ruins, and with two springs.
A population list from about 1887 showed that Rihaneh had about 190 inhabitants; all Muslims.
Al-Rihaniyya had an elementary school for boys founded in 1888, but it was closed during the British Mandate period.
In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Al Rehaniyeh had a population of 266 Muslims, increasing in the 1931 census to 293 Muslim, in a total of 55 houses.
By 1944/5, the village had a population of 240 Muslims, and the village's lands spanned 1,930 dunams. Of this, 1,761 dunums of land were used for cereals; 73 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards, while 46 dunams were built-up (urban) land.
On the 5 April, 1948, after fighting broke out in the area, the Haganah General Staff instructed the Golani Brigade that they should tell four Arab villages that they were no longer safe, and should evacuate. Among the villages were Abu Shusha, Daliyat al Ruha and Rihaniya. According to Ben Gurion, on the 8 or 9 April, a delegation from Mishmar HaEmek had told him that it was "imperative to expel the Arabs [in the area] and to burn the villages."
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