Naming Home

Kiriat Ono is my home town.

It was established in 1939 by 38 Jewish families on land bought from the Palestinian towns Kafr ‘Ana and Al-Khayriyya. They called their new settlement Kfar Ono (=Ono Village), and later it became Kiriat Ono (=Ono Town).

Kafr ‘Ana was associated with the town "Ono" mentioned in the bible. In Byzantine era it was referred to as Onous. The newly arrived Jewish immigrants wanted to restore the ancient Hebrew name, they settled in a “densely populated Arab area”, in the aftermath of the great Arab rebellion.

In 1948, just before the Nakba, the town registry recorded 14,358 Arab residents, 2,334 Jewish.

Al Khayriyya, the other Palestinian town which hosted the Jewish settlement Kfar Ono, was originally called Ibn Ebraq, which goes back to the ancient name Bene Beraq mentioned in the bible and then in Roman times… It was only “during the British Mandate, (that) the villagers changed their village name to al-Khayriyya (=the good one) to distinguish it from the next door Zionist colony of Bene Beraq.”

In 1948, just before the Nakba, this town had 7,182 Arab residents, and 5,842 Jewish.

The next door Palestinian town of al-‘Abbassiyya also has a good name story: “The Romans referred to al-'Abbasiyya by Iudaea (=Judea), and later it was called al-Yahudiyya, meaning "The Jewish One" in Arabic. In 1932, the residents renamed it to al-'Abbasiyya, in memory of a Shaykh al-'Abbas.”

In April 1948 all the Palestinian towns in the Jaffa district, including these three, were occupied by the Jewish militia “Haganah” (which means Defense), and the Palestinian residents who had not left by then were made to leave. Later that year almost all buildings were destroyed to prevent the residents from returning.

This Haganah Operation was named “Operation Chametz”, after the Jewish tradition of cleansing the house of unwanted Chometz bread crumbs before the Passover holiday.

Nothing at all remains of Kafr ‘Ana today. Al ‘Abbasiyya became Yahud again - the Jewish one, and its mosque became a synagogue. Al Khairiyya, the good one, used to be in the plains, but today it is one of the tallest mountains between the Mediterranean and the Judean desert: Khairiyya Mountain has become the main garbage dump in the country, operating for over 50 years. These days there are plans to make it into “The Ayalon Park”.

From the Ayalon Park hikes plan:
"On the highest point of the upper plateau, where the cooling wind is flowing over the edge of the mountain the Summit View Point offers a great view... The strong wind mostly coming from the west is carrying the fragrance from the sea and of the plateau vegetation with it – a mix of salt, blossoms and Mediterranean herbs will encircle the visitor."

According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, there are 26,800 residents living today in Kiriat Ono. All are registered under “Jews and others”. There are only two categories in this table: “Jews and Others” and “Arabs”. An endnote explains: “The ‘Jews and others’ population includes Jews, other Christians (non-Arab Christians) and those not classified by religion.”

The refugees from Kafr ‘Ana, al Khairiyya and al ‘Abbasiyya are mostly in Jordan.

I have heard people joke about “Kiriat Oh- NO!”… But the origin of the word Ono is probably from “On”, which means male potency, virile strength.