At-Tira (Ramallah)

At-Tira (Arabic: الطيرة‎) is a Palestinian village in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate in the northern West Bank.

At-Tira (Ramallah)
Municipality type D (Village council)
Arabic transcription(s)
 • Arabicالطيرة
At-Tira (Ramallah)
Location of At-Tira (Ramallah) within Palestine
Coordinates: 31°52′05″N 35°07′20″E
Palestine grid161/141
StateState of Palestine
GovernorateRamallah and al-Bireh
Government
 • TypeVillage council
Elevation623 m (2,044 ft)
Name meaningthe fort[2]

Location

At Tira is located 8.3 kilometers (5.2 mi) southwest of Ramallah. It is bordered by Beituniya to the east and north, Beit 'Ur al Fauqa to the north and west, Beit ‘Anan to the west, and Beit Duqqu to the south.[1]

History

Ottoman era

In 1838, in the Ottoman era, it was noted as a Muslim village, located in the Beni Malik district, west of Jerusalem.[3]

In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Tireh as: "A small hamlet on a ridge, with a large sacred tree to the north-east (Sheikh Hasan), and a spring ('Ain Jufna) in the valley to the south-west."[4]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Al Tireh had a population of 257 Muslims,[5] increasing slightly in the 1931 census to 265 Muslims, in 71 houses in Et Tira.[6]

In the 1945 statistics, the population of Et Tira was 330 Muslims,[7] while the total land area was 3,968 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[8] Of this, 193 dunums were used for plantations and irrigable land, 1,974 for cereals,[9] while 23 dunams were classified as built-up areas.[10]

Jordanian era

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

The Jordanian census of 1961 found 534 inhabitants in Tira.[11]

1967-present
The barrier in northern Jerusalem, with the "Biddu enclave" to the left

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, At-Tira has been held under Israeli occupation.

After the 1995 accords, 10.4% of village land was classified as Area B land, while the remaining 89.6% is classified as Area C. Israel has confiscated a total of 67 dunams of land from the village in order to construct the Israeli settlement of Beit Horon.[12]

At-Tira, along with 9 other Palestinian villages, Beit Duqqu, Beit 'Anan, Beit Surik, Qatanna, al-Qubeiba, Beit Ijza, Kharayib Umm al Lahimand and Biddu form the "Biddu enclave" which, according to Tanya Reinhart, are imprisoned behind a wall, cut off from their orchards and farmlands that are being seized in order to form the real estate reserves of the Jerusalem Corridor and to create a territorial continuity with Giv'at Ze'ev.[13] The enclave will be linked to Ramallah by underpasses and a road that is fenced on both sides. From the "Biddu enclave" Palestinians will travel along a fenced road that passes under a bypass road to Bir Nabala enclave, then on a second underpass under Bypass Road 443 to Ramallah.[14]

References
  1. At Tira Village Profile, ARIJ, p. 4
  2. Palmer, 1881, p. 330
  3. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 124
  4. Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 19
  5. Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Ramallah, p. 17
  6. Mills, 1932, p. 51.
  7. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 26
  8. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 65
  9. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 113
  10. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 163
  11. Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 24
  12. At Tira Village Profile, ARIJ, p. 16
  13. Reinhart, 2006, p. 202
  14. OCHA Archived November 12, 2005, at the Wayback Machine

Bibliography
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