Raml Zayta (, Raml Zeitâ), also Khirbet Qazaza, was a Palestinian Arab village located 15 km northwest of Tulkarm.Khalidi, 1992, p. 560
History
British Mandate era In the 1931 census of Palestine it was counted with Zeita, Tulkarm, and together they had a population 1165, all Muslim, in a total of 237 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 58
In the 1945 statistics, the village had a population of 140 Muslims, with a total of 14,837 dunams of land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 76 The land ownership of the village before occupation in dunams: Owner Dunams Arab 12,720 Jewish 1,453 Public 664 Total 14,837
Types of land use in dunams in the village in 1945:Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 127Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 177
Land Usage Arab Jewish Public Citrus and bananas 126 4 - Irrigated and plantation 27 4 - Cereal 12,554 1,441 111 Urban - - - Cultivable 12,707 1,449 111 Non-cultivable 13 4 553
1948, and aftermath According to Rosemarie Esber, the village was depopulated on 15 March 1948 during the 1948 Palestine war.Esber, 2008, p. 297 Benny Morris lists it as one of the villages for which the causes and date of depopulation are unknown.Morris, 2004, p. xvi, village #183
Esber, in an interview with a refugee from Raml Zaita, Zakiya Abu Hammad, writes that according to his memories, Yishuv forces had besieged the village for about two weeks, causing a lack of food: "[The Jews] started going into people's homes and forcing them out. They told us, "You either leave or we'll kill you." Some people were killed on the roads, as they abandoned their homes... They followed us. Those who were lucky, escaped with their lives, others did not." The villages were then forced out of their town and the surrounding villagers.
According to Walid Khalidi writing in 1992, an Arab family is still living in the village in one of the original houses.
References
Bibliography
External links Welcome To Raml Zayta, Palestine Remembered Raml Zayta, Zochrot Survey of Western Palestine, Map 8: IAA, Wikimedia commons