al-Faluja

The village was situated on hilly terrain on the coastal plain and was initially bordered by Wadi al-Faluja on the east, north, and west. The wadi was deep and gave the village a defensive advantage. Al-Faluja was the hub of a network of highways leading to Hebron, Jerusalem, Jaffa, Gaza, and other sub-disctricts. According to the villagers, al-Faluja was founded on a site that had been known as Zurayq al-Khandaq. 'Zurayq' means blue in Arabic and is the vernacular name for a leguminous plant with blue flowers, turmus (lupine), which grew around the site. The name was changed to al-Faluja to commemorate a Sufi master, Shahab al-Din al-Faluji, who came to Palestine from Iraq early in the fourteenth century, settled near the site, and was buried there (see also Bayt Affa, Gaza subistrict). The Arab geographer al-Bakri al-Siddiqi, who journeyed through Palestine in the mid-eighteenth century, visited the tomb of Shaykh al-Faluji after passing through Bayt Jibrin.

In the late nineteenth century, the village of al-Faluja was surrounded on three sides by a wadi; it had two wells and a pool to the east, a small garden patch to the west, and adobe brick houses. The nucleus of the village was centered around the shrine of Shaykh al-Faluji. Its residential area began to expand in the 1930s and eventually crossed over to the other side of the wadi, which henceforth bisected the village into northern and southern sections. Bridges were constructed across the wadi to facilitate movement between the two sides, especially in winter when the watercourse often flooded and caused damage. The center of al-Faluja shifted to the north, where modern houses, stores, a clinic, and coffee shops were erected. It also had two schools, one for boys and another for girls; the first was opened in 1919 and the second in 1940. The boys' school had a plot of land for agricultural training and a hostel with accommodations for 25 students; it became a junior high school in 1947, when its enrollment reached 520. Eighty-three students were enrolled in the girl’s school in 1943.

The residents of al-Faluja were Muslims. They worshipped in a large mosque with three domed halls, one containing the tomb of Shaykh al-Faluji. The village also had several other minor shrines. The local council of the village was established in 1922. The council's revenues consistently exceeded its expenditures [which totaled 473 Palestinian pounds (£P) in 1929 and £P10,076 in 1944], resulting in a steadily increasing budget. The four wells that had supplied the villagers' domestic needs became insufficient after the village started to expand. On the eve of the war, the local council inaugurated a project for drawing water from a well near the village of Julis.

The inhabitants of al-Faluja were mainly employed in rainfed agriculture, growing grain, vegetables, and fruits. In 1944/45 a total of 36,590 dunums was allocated to cereals; 87 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards. Commerce represented the second most important economic activity. A weekly market, attended by merchants and shoppers from the region's villages and towns, was held between Wednesday noon and Thursday noon on a special site which the local council had equipped with the necessary facilities. In addition to agriculture and commerce, the villagers engaged in animal husbandry, poultry raising, grain milling, embroidery, weaving, and pottery. Al-Faluja had a renowned dyehouse that attracted customers from all over the region.