Yalo

Yalo (Arabic: يالو, also transliterated Yalu) is a depopulated Palestinian Arab village located 13 kilometres southeast of Ramla. Identified by Edward Robinson as the ancient Canaanite and Israelite city of Aijalon. During the Middle Ages, it was the site of a Crusader castle, Castrum Arnaldi. Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Jordan annexed the West Bank, including the village of Yalo. Yalo's population increased dramatically owing to an influx of Palestinian refugees from neighbouring towns and villages depopulated during the war. During the 1967 Six Day War, Israeli troops ethnically cleansed, Yalo and the village structures were eradicated. Yalo and the area surrounding Latrun were unilaterally annexed by Israel. Subsequently, with donations from benefactors from the Canadian Jewish community, the Jewish National Fund built a recreational space, Canada Park, which contains the former sites of Yalo and two other neighbouring villages, Dayr Ayyub and Imwas.