Beit Palestine became a faculty club of Tel Aviv University. His owner, Ibrahim Abu Hail, promised peace to his Jewish neighbors. He kept his word. His village was empty anyway. The village was called Al-Sheikh of Venice, on a hill above the Al-Oja river, where families grew oranges and grain. In January 1948, Ibrahim and the leaders of the nearby villages met with the Haganah, the central Israeli militia, in Petah Tikva. They promised to keep out foreign Arab fighters and kept that promise. Most families stayed at home, trusting the deal. In March 1948, armed men from another Israeli group, Lahi, captured five villagers who went out to look for food and held them for 11 days. In those days, writes historian Shlomo Sand, the village was surrounded by "defense" itself. No one could reach the fields. Those who left could not return. Without fuel, the generators ran out of water. At the end of March, writes Sand, the last of the families went north on the dirt road. The villagers became refugees from Tulkarm to Gaza. Ibrahim was the last to leave. Sand writes that he trusts his Jewish friends to the end. Jewish immigrants soon moved into the empty houses. In 1964, Tel Aviv University opened its campus on the land of the village, and Ibrahim's home, the Green House, became a faculty club. In 2006, historian Ilan Pepe described the club's menu: he said the house belonged to a rich man named Sheikh Munis. Pepe says the rich man was fictitious. Sheikh Munis is the name of the village. That year, a visitor photographed a sign on the door and noticed that it did not mention the Palestinian home. The house survived. His name has been removed from there. Sources: Shlomo Sand, Inventing the Land of Israel (2012); Benny Morris, Revisiting the Palestinian Refugee Problem (2004); Ilan Pepe, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (2006). Voices: Miriam al-Shalweit, oral history recorded on September 1, 2003, and a walk in the area photographed on November 24, 2006.

Beit Palestine became a faculty club of Tel Aviv University. His owner, Ibrahim Abu Hail, promised peace to his Jewish neighbors. He kept his word. His village was empty anyway. The village was called Al-Sheikh of Venice, on a hill above the Al-Oja river, where families grew oranges and grain. In January 1948, Ibrahim and the leaders of the nearby villages met with the Haganah, the central Israeli militia, in Petah Tikva. They promised to keep out foreign Arab fighters and kept that promise. Most families stayed at home, trusting the deal. In March 1948, armed men from another Israeli group, Lahi, captured five villagers who went out to look for food and held them for 11 days. In those days, writes historian Shlomo Sand, the village was surrounded by "defense" itself. No one could reach the fields. Those who left could not return. Without fuel, the generators ran out of water. At the end of March, writes Sand, the last of the families went north on the dirt road. The villagers became refugees from Tulkarm to Gaza. Ibrahim was the last to leave. Sand writes that he trusts his Jewish friends to the end. Jewish immigrants soon moved into the empty houses. In 1964, Tel Aviv University opened its campus on the land of the village, and Ibrahim's home, the Green House, became a faculty club. In 2006, historian Ilan Pepe described the club's menu: he said the house belonged to a rich man named Sheikh Munis. Pepe says the rich man was fictitious. Sheikh Munis is the name of the village. That year, a visitor photographed a sign on the door and noticed that it did not mention the Palestinian home. The house survived. His name has been removed from there. Sources: Shlomo Sand, Inventing the Land of Israel (2012); Benny Morris, Revisiting the Palestinian Refugee Problem (2004); Ilan Pepe, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (2006). Voices: Miriam al-Shalweit, oral history recorded on September 1, 2003, and a walk in the area photographed on November 24, 2006.