CITY OF AL-RAMLA – AL-RAMLA DISTRICT
31°55′40″N / 34°51′57″E
1948: Population 127,270 (97,998 Arab; 29,272 Jewish); Houses 2,339 (1931)
Occupation date: July 12, 1948
Occupying forces: Haganah and Irgun
Occupying operation: Operation Dani
Post 1948: After occupation the government allotted many of the homes in the city to new Jewish immigrants, changing it into a Jewish city with a small Arab minority. The old city of Ramla remained, and has been extended. The city later became the center of many industries. The main street of the city has been renamed as Herzl Street. In 1950 Moshav Matzliah was founded by Jews from Egypt on the southern edge of the city, and Moshav Yashresh (lit., “[He] will take root”) was founded in the south of the city by Jewish immigrants from Morocco. Yad Rambam (“Rambam Memorial”) moshav was founded by Jewish immigrants from Morocco in 1955, and Beit Uziel moshav by Jewish immigrants from India and Morocco in 1956.
Today: The White Mosque remains and is surrounded by the main cemetery of Ramla. Much of the city, transformed by the waves of immigration and subsequent building, is part of a marginalized sector beyond the Tel Aviv metropolitan area.
Official Israeli name: Ramla