al-Khader

During late Ottoman rule (1516-1917), al-Khader was part of the political-administrative sheikdom and nahiyah ("subdistrict") of Bani Hasan, which was ruled by the Absiyeh family of al-Walaja. In 1838 its inhabitants were classified as Muslims by the English scholars Edward Robinson and Eli Smith, part of the Beni Hasan District, west of Jerusalem.[10][11] In 1863 Victor Guérin found the village "reduced to two hundred inhabitants, almost all Muslims." He further noted remains of constructions, with rather large stones, which he thought were dated from an era prior to the Arab conquest.[12]

Albert Socin notes that an official Ottoman village list from about 1870 documented el-chadr with a population of 122 in a total of 43 houses, though that population count only included men. It was further noted that the small Greek monastery served as a mental asylum.[13][14]

In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described al-Khader as a moderate-sized village with a "Greek church and convent." It was surrounded by vineyards and olive groves and "rock-cut tombs" were situated to the north of the village.[9] It had a mixed population of Muslims and Greek Orthodox Christians, according to the Survey of Western Palestine.[9]

In 1896 the population of El-chadr was estimated to be about 210 people.[15]

In the British Mandate 1922 census of Palestine, al-Khader had a population of 697; 694 Muslims and 3 Christians.[16] By the 1931 census of Palestine, the population was 914, mostly Muslim with three Christian inhabitants.[17]

In the 1945 statistics the town had 1,130 Muslim inhabitants[18] and a total land area of 20,100 dunams. It was a part of the Jerusalem District.[19] Of the land, 5,700 dunams were irrigated or used for plantations, 5,889 dunams were for cereals,[20] while 96 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[21]

The Orthodox Christian Church owns several hundreds of dunams made up of vineyards, olive groves and field crops. The lands were entrusted to them since the Rashidun era during the caliphate of Umar who presided over the conquest of Palestine in the 630s. Most of the land is leased to Muslim farmers.[22]

In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, al-Khader came under Jordanian rule. It was annexed by Jordan in 1950.

In 1961, the population of Khadr was 1,798.[23]

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, al-Khader has been under Israeli occupation. The population in the 1967 census conducted by the Israeli authorities was 2,051.[24]

After the 1995 accords, 9% of al-Khader's land was classified as Area A land, 5.5% as Area B, and the remaining 85.5% as Area C.[25]

Israel has confiscated land from al-Khader in order to construct two Israeli settlements:

• 27 dunams for Neve Daniyyel,[25]
• 2 dunams for Efrat.[25]

In 1997, the PCBS recorded a population of 6,802 of which 3,606 were males and 3,196 were females.[26] Unlike many Palestinian towns in the area, refugees and their descendants do not have a substantial population in al-Khader. In 1997, 5.2% of the town's inhabitants were recorded as refugees.[27] In the 2007 PCBS census, al-Khader had a population of 9,774.[2]

Since the construction of the Israeli West Bank barrier around al-Khader, several thousand dunams of farmland have been separated from the village, with the inhabitants unable to access them without a permit. In 2006, 50 villagers protested the barrier by filling bags with grapes and selling them along Route 60. Israeli soldiers and police attempted to quell protesters resulting in the injuries and detainment of two residents.[28]

In April 2015 villagers blocked work by settlers to create a bypass road for access to an illegal outpost, which, if completed, would alienate a further 400 dunams of village land.[29]

The Orthodox Christian Monastery of St. George and Solomon's Pools are located in al-Khader and are main tourist attractions.[30] Palestinian Christians from Bethlehem, Beit Sahour and Beit Jala and Muslims from al-Khader flock to the monastery to celebrate the Feast of Saint George in early May. Solomon's Pools, named after Suleiman the Magnificent the tenth Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, were built by the Romans under Herod the Great to provide water for the aqueduct built to supply water to Bethlehem and Jerusalem where it terminated under the Al-Aqsa Mosque.[31] Al-Khader's main and oldest mosque is the al-Hamadiyya Mosque. According to the International Middle East Media Center, in 2007, it was burned down by Israeli settlers. The mosque is about 700 years old and was restored by the Tourism Ministry of the Palestinian National Authority.[32]

An outside view of Al-Khader Stadium

Al-Khader is also well known in the area for its peaches, grapes and apples. It hosts its annual Grape Festival every September. The festival was initiated by the al-Khader municipality to promote the town's primary agricultural product, grapes. Other exhibitions held at the festival include one on embroidery and knitting, a local heritage exhibition of mills, grinders, and harvest tools, and an exhibition of home-made grape products such as dibs (molasses made from grapes).[33] Al-Khader Stadium which holds a capacity of 6,000 is located in the town.