Dhulam Abu Juwayid / Tayaha – Palestinian Bedouin Clan of the Beersheba Subdistrict

Dhulam Abu Juwayid was a Palestinian Bedouin clan belonging to the Dhulam grouping and incorporated into the broader Tayaha tribal alliance in the Beersheba Subdistrict. Unlike a nucleated Palestinian village, the clan did not occupy a single fixed built-up center; its encampments and dwellings were dispersed across several localities in the Naqab.

'Arif al-'Arif and 'Umar Rida Kahhala trace the Dhulam to the Baly tribe of the Hijaz and state that they were not originally Tayaha but became allied with them in Palestine. Abu Juwayid was one of the three main Dhulam branches, alongside Abu Rabi'a and Abu Quraynat.

District

Beersheba

Tribal Affiliation

Dhulam; traced by al-'Arif to Baly and allied with the Tayaha

Type of Locality

Dispersed Bedouin clan rather than a single nucleated village

Historic Dwelling Areas

al-Khasabi, 'Ar'ara, al-Milh, Kuseifa, Jaraba, Fa'i, and Turayba

Population in 1922

750 – official Census of Palestine

Population in al-'Arif's Early-1930s Description

637 people in 117 households/tents; a tribal survey figure rather than one presented here as an independently verified official 1931 census entry

Population in 1948

No reliable independent figure in Abu Sitta's Register; Abu Juwayid is classified as relocated rather than wholly depopulated

Displacement Period

No single depopulation date; part of the clan remained in the Naqab and experienced relocation and spatial concentration after 1948

Military Context

Occupation of Beersheba and the central Naqab during Operation Yoav, followed by military-rule relocation policies

Military Unit

No specific brigade or battalion is independently documented as responsible for relocating Abu Juwayid

Land Area

No independently documented Abu Juwayid total; Abu Sitta's 2,085,825 dunums apply to the Tayaha as a whole

Settlements on Clan Land

No specific settlement can be assigned to Abu Juwayid land without a clan-level cadastral map

The Dhulam and Abu Juwayid within the Tayaha

'Arif al-'Arif records the Dhulam as a branch descending from Baly in the Hijaz and states that they were not originally Tayaha, but entered into alliance with the Tayaha in Palestine.

The Dhulam grouping in the Beersheba region consisted principally of Abu Rabi'a, Abu Juwayid, and Abu Quraynat.

Describing Abu Juwayid as Tayaha is therefore accurate in terms of the tribal alliance and administrative classification used in Beersheba, while preserving al-'Arif's distinction concerning the Dhulam's claimed Baly origin.

Leadership and Subdivisions

Khalid 'Awad's documentation of the Beersheba tribes identifies Muhaysin bin Humayd bin 'Id bin Salim bin Juwayid as the shaykh of Dhulam Abu Juwayid.

'Arif al-'Arif and Kahhala list the following subdivisions:

• al-Rahahila.
• al-Budur.
• al-Ma'ayda.
• al-Saray'a.
• al-Ghuraba.

Historic Encampments

Abu Juwayid did not form a single village. The historical sources place their dwellings and encampments at al-Khasabi, 'Ar'ara, al-Milh, Kuseifa, Jaraba, Fa'i, and Turayba.

It would therefore be misleading to assign one distance from Beersheba, one elevation, or one map point to the entire clan.

This dispersed geography reflected the wider Bedouin pattern in the Beersheba district, where residence was tied to pasture, seasonal cultivation, wells, and water sources rather than to one permanent built-up center.

Population of Dhulam Abu Juwayid

The official 1922 Census of Palestine recorded Abu Juweid separately, providing a clear official population figure for that year.

Abu Juwayid Figures versus Tayaha Totals

Figures for the Tayaha as a whole should not be presented as Abu Juwayid population figures.

The frequently cited 13,708 population figure for 1931 relates to the wider Tayaha tribe, as does the later figure of 25,153 reported for 1946.

Likewise, Salman Abu Sitta's figure of 2,085,825 dunums represents the total Tayaha tribal land area rather than land belonging exclusively to Abu Juwayid.

Households and Encampments

'Arif al-'Arif describes Dhulam Abu Juwayid as numbering approximately 117 “houses” and 637 people.

In a Bedouin tribal context, “house” should not automatically be interpreted as a masonry dwelling. It could refer to a household, tent, or family unit within an encampment.

The figure 117 is therefore not presented as the number of stone houses in a conventional village.

Land and Property

The 1945 Village Statistics do not provide a separate land-ownership table for Dhulam Abu Juwayid.

Abu Sitta gives 2,085,825 dunums for the Tayaha as a whole. Since this includes numerous clans and extensive tribal territories, it cannot be reassigned to Abu Juwayid alone.

Landholding in the Beersheba district also relied heavily on tribal customary boundaries, pasture rights, and seasonal cultivation, which did not always correspond to the cadastral system used for settled villages elsewhere in Palestine.

Economic Life

The Tayaha clans, including Dhulam Abu Juwayid, depended on sheep, goat, and camel herding together with seasonal cereal cultivation where rainfall and soil conditions permitted.

Movement between encampments was closely related to rainfall, grazing conditions, and water availability. The presence of Abu Juwayid encampments around 'Ar'ara, Kuseifa, and al-Milh also placed them within a zone combining pastoral activity with cultivation.

No independent Abu Juwayid agricultural table is available, so no unsupported acreage or livestock totals are supplied.

Water, Education, and Services

The dispersal of the clan's encampments was closely connected to wells and water sources in the central and eastern Naqab. The principal sources do not, however, provide a complete independent inventory of Abu Juwayid wells.

Nor is there sufficient evidence for one independent school serving the entire clan before the Nakba, which is consistent with the dispersed and partly mobile nature of Bedouin settlement.

The 1948 Conquest of Beersheba and the Naqab

The military balance in the Naqab changed decisively in the autumn of 1948 when Israeli forces launched Operation Yoav on 15 October.

The operation sought to break Egyptian lines and link Israeli forces in the Naqab with those to the north. The Giv'ati, Yiftach, Negev, and Har'el brigades participated at the operational level.

Beersheba was occupied on 21 October 1948, fundamentally altering the political, military, and economic position of the district's Bedouin tribes.

No village- or clan-specific account, however, establishes that Dhulam Abu Juwayid were conquered on one date or by one particular brigade. The clan was dispersed across several encampments, and a substantial part of it remained inside the Naqab after the fighting.

Post-1948 Relocation

Salman Abu Sitta's updated Register provides a more accurate characterization than the conventional “depopulated village” model: Abu Juwayid is classified as “Relocated by Israelis.” No single depopulation date is assigned.

Palestinian accounts of the Naqab after 1948 likewise list Abu Juwayid, together with Abu Rabi'a and Abu Quraynat, among Dhulam groups of which substantial sections remained in the Naqab.

Remaining in the Naqab did not mean remaining freely on all traditional lands. Bedouin communities came under military government, restrictions on movement, and programs of spatial concentration and relocation, while extensive land areas were closed or confiscated.

Chronology

Military Operation and Unit

Military Operation: No separately documented operation can be identified as “the occupation of Abu Juwayid.” Operation Yoav provides the wider military context for the conquest of Beersheba and the central Naqab.

Military Unit: Although the Giv'ati, Yiftach, Negev, and Har'el brigades participated in Operation Yoav, the sources reviewed do not establish any one of them as the specific force responsible for relocating Dhulam Abu Juwayid.

Nature of Displacement

The Abu Juwayid case differs from that of a nucleated village whose entire population was expelled and whose built-up area was destroyed.

A section of the clan remained in the Naqab, while some members became refugees and those who remained were subjected to relocation and spatial concentration.

The most accurate characterization is therefore partial displacement and forced relocation within the broader transformation of Naqab Bedouin life after 1948, rather than assigning the clan a single unsupported occupation and depopulation date.

Settlements and Post-1948 Land Use

The reviewed sources do not provide a separate cadastral map of Dhulam Abu Juwayid land from which a specific Israeli settlement can conclusively be assigned to their property alone.

The Tayaha tribal domain was extensive and internally divided among many clans, so any settlement-level attribution requires more precise clan-boundary and property documentation.

Dhulam Abu Juwayid Today

The Abu Juwayid clan did not disappear from the Naqab after 1948. A substantial section remained in the region following the relocation of Bedouin communities.

Later Palestinian sources place post-1948 Abu Juwayid encampments approximately five kilometers northeast of Abu Quraynat and report a population of about 1,620 there in 1970. This figure refers to the post-relocation community rather than the distribution of the original pre-Nakba encampments.

Abu Sitta's Register also records registered refugees from Abu Juwayid / Dhulam, showing that the clan's post-Nakba experience was divided between people who remained in the Naqab and others who became refugees.

There is therefore no single “Abu Juwayid village site today.” The historical landscape consists of several original encampment areas and later places of relocation. This section summarizes the documented historical record and is not a comprehensive 2026 field survey of all clan locations.

Sources

• Government of Palestine – Census of Palestine, 1922: Abu Juweid
• 'Arif al-'Arif – Tarikh Bir al-Saba' wa-Qaba'iliha
• Encyclopedia of Palestinian Villages – 'Arif al-'Arif's Tarikh Bir al-Saba' wa-Qaba'iliha
• Encyclopedia of Palestinian Villages – Dhulam Abu Juwayid / Tayaha
• 'Umar Rida Kahhala – Mu'jam Qaba'il al-'Arab: Dhulam and Abu Juwayid
• Salman Abu Sitta – Register of Palestinian Localities: Abu Juwayed / Zullam / Tayaha
• PalQuest – Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question: Operation Yoav
• Filastinuna – Dhulam Abu Juwayid / Tayaha