ALL THAT REMAINS: The 418 Palestinian Villages Depopulated by Israel in 1948 | Walid Khalidi

Join us for a deep dive into **ALL THAT REMAINS: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948**, edited by Walid Khalidi. This comprehensive volume aims to document the historical record of the 418 Palestinian villages that were depopulated during the 1948 War.

*About the Book:*

The work is essentially a directory, or a "dictionary," containing a snapshot of the geographical, archaeological, topographical, historical, and military circumstances of each of the destroyed villages.
It utilizes monumental sources, such as the *Palestine Index Gazetteer*, alongside detailed field research and contemporary historical texts. The purpose of the book is described as rescuing the memory of these 418 villages and serving as a kind of "in memoriam".
The research aimed to move beyond general summaries and present a record of the destruction and current remnants of these locations. The book is dedicated "To all those for whom these villages were home and to their descendants".

*Key Content Explored:*

*Village Documentation:* The 418 villages discussed are sorted into fourteen chapters, corresponding to administrative districts, such as Acre, Baysan, Gaza, and Haifa. Each entry includes statistical data, land ownership records, and details on pre-1948 village life and the events leading to occupation and depopulation.
*Physical Remnants:* The text and photographs demonstrate that while most villages were totally demolished in 1948 or shortly thereafter, some structures remain standing, left to decay after the flight or expulsion of their residents.
*The Current State of the Sites:* The book documents the physical aftermath, often noting that rubble and fragments of walls are "all that remains". Some village sites have entirely disappeared under pasture or agricultural land, or are covered by parks and recreation grounds. The photographs show the remnants of village houses, mosques, churches, shrines, and cemeteries, some of which have been encroached upon or fallen into decay. Other village buildings have been reused for various purposes, such as a synagogue, a restaurant, or a clothing factory.

*Editor and Contributors:*

The book was edited by Walid Khalidi. The research and text were completed by Sharīf S. Elmusa and Muhammad Ali Khalidi. It was published by the Institute for Palestine Studies.