al-Burj, Hebron

al-Burj
Other transcription(s)
 • Arabic البرج
al-Burj
Location of al-Burj within Palestine
Coordinates: 31°25′57″N 34°55′24″E / 31.43250°N 34.92333°E / 31.43250; 34.92333Coordinates: 31°25′57″N 34°55′24″E / 31.43250°N 34.92333°E / 31.43250; 34.92333
Palestine grid 141/094
Governorate Hebron
Government
 • Type Village council
Population (2007)
 • Jurisdiction 2,578
Name meaning Burj el Beiyârah, the tower of the wells[1]

al-Burj (Arabic: البرج‎) is a Palestinian village located twenty kilometers southwest of Hebron. The village is in the Hebron Governorate, southern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the village had a population of 2,578 in 2007.[2] The primary health care facilities for the village are designated by the Ministry of Health as level 2.[3]

History

In 1838, Edward Robinson noted el-Burj as a place "in ruins or deserted," part of the area between the mountains and Gaza, but subject to the government of el-Khulil.[4] Robinson further noted: "The ruins here consists of the remains of a square fortress, about two hundred feet on a side, situated directly upon the surface the projecting hill [..] On the eastern and southern sides a trench has been hewn out in the rock, which sees to have extended quite around the fortress. The walls are mostly broken down [..] the general appearance of the ruin is decidedly that of a Saracenic structure; and I am disposed to regard it as one of the line of strong Saracenic or Turkish fortresses, which appears once to have been drawn along the southern frontier of Palestine. Of these we had now listed four, viz. at Kurmul, Semua, Dhoheriyeh, and this at el-Burj".[5]

In 1883, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described the place, which they called Burj el Beiyarah: "Remains of a fort 200 feet side, with a fosse on the east and south, hewn in rock. Foundations only remain of small masonry, with the joints packed with smaller stones. Round it are caves in the rocks."[6]

British Mandate era

At the time of the 1931 census of Palestine the population of al Burj was counted under Dura.[7]

Jordanian era

In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, al-Burj came under Jordanian rule.

On 25 February 1953, five Arab shepherds were killed and mutilated by Israel in the so called The Har-Zion Affair at al-Burj, including a 16-year-old.[8]

In 1961, the population of Burj was 712.[9]

1967, aftermath

After the Six-Day War in 1967, al-Burj has been under Israeli occupation.

References

  1. ↑ Palmer, 1881, p. 367
  2. ↑ 2007 PCBS Census Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p.118.
  3. ↑ West Bank Health care Archived 2006-03-13 at the Library of Congress Web Archives
  4. ↑ Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 117
  5. ↑ Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, p. 7
  6. ↑ Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 274
  7. ↑ Mills, 1932, p. 30
  8. ↑ Morris, 1993, pp. 384-386
  9. ↑ Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 22

Bibliography

  • Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1883). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. 3. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
  • Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics (1964). First Census of Population and Housing. Volume I: Final Tables; General Characteristics of the Population (PDF).
  • Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
  • Morris, B. (1993). Israel's Border Wars 1949–1956: Arab Infiltration, Israeli Retaliation, and the Countdown to the Suez War. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-827850-0.
  • Palmer, E.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
  • Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. 3. Boston: Crocker & Brewster.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.