Al-Burayj, Jerusalem

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Al-Burayj
البريج'
Etymology: The little tower [1]
Historical map series for the area of al-Burayj (1870s).jpg 1870s map
Historical map series for the area of al-Burayj (1940s).jpg 1940s map
Historical map series for the area of al-Burayj (modern).jpg modern map
Historical map series for the area of al-Burayj (1940s with modern overlay).jpg 1940s with modern overlay map
A series of historical maps of the area around Al-Burayj, Jerusalem (click the buttons)
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Al-Burayj
Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 31°44′25″N34°55′52″E / 31.74028°N 34.93111°E / 31.74028; 34.93111
Palestine grid 143/127
Geopolitical entity Mandatory Palestine
Subdistrict Jerusalem
Date of depopulationNot known [2]
Area
[3]
 • Total
19,080  dunams (19.08 km2 or 7.37 sq mi)
Population
 (1945)
 • Total
720 [4] [3]
Current Localities Sdot Micha [5] Sdot Micha Airbase [5]

Al-Burayj or Bureij, lit. 'little tower', [6] was a Palestinian Arab village in the Jerusalem Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War on October 19, 1948, during the first phase of Operation Ha-Har. The village was located 28.5 km west of Jerusalem.

History

Late Ottoman period

In 1838 el-Bureij was noted as a Muslim village, located in er-Ramleh district. [7]

In 1863 Victor Guérin noted it as a village of 200 inhabitants. The Sheikh's house was described as "fairly large and fairly constructed"; the others, less so. Tobacco plantations were spread around. He also noted large ancient blocks, which, it was said, originated from Kh[irbet] Tibneh, just to the north. [8]

Socin found from an official Ottoman village list from about 1870 that buredsch had a population of 116 in a total of 41 houses, though that population count included men, only. It was further noted that it was located between Mughallis and Saydun. [6] Hartmann found that el-buredsch had 40 houses. [9]

In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described El Bureij as: "A small village on high ground, having a high house or tower in the middle, from which it is named." [10]

British Mandate

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Buraij had a population of 398; all Muslims, [11] increasing in the 1931 census to 621; 7 Christians and 614 Muslims, in a total of 132 houses. [12]

In the 1945 statistics, the village had a population of 720; 10 Christians and 710 Muslims, [4] with a total of 19,080 dunums of land. [3] Of this, 31 dunams were for citrus and bananas, 77 were for irrigable land or plantations, 9,426 for cereals, [13] while 14 dunams were built-up (urban) Arab land. [14]

Al-Burayj's had a mosque named al-'Umari Mosque, and it was also home to a Greek Orthodox monastery. [15]

1948, aftermath

During Operation Ha-Har, between the 19 and 24 October 1948, the Harel Brigade captured several villages, among them Bureij. The villagers fled, or were expelled eastwards. [16]

Following the war, the area was incorporated into the State of Israel. In 1955 the moshav of Sdot Micha was established on land that had belonged to al-Burayj, south of the village site. [5]

Large part of the village land is now a military base called Sdot Micha Airbase, which is inaccessible to the public. [5]

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References

  1. ↑ Palmer, 1881, p. 267
  2. ↑ Morris, 2004, p. xix, village #272. Gives both cause and date of depopulation as "Not known"
  3. 1 2 3 Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 56 Archived 2008-08-05 at the Library of Congress Web Archives
  4. 1 2 Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 24
  5. 1 2 3 4 Khalidi, 1991, p. 282
  6. 1 2 Socin, 1879, p. 149
  7. ↑ Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 120
  8. ↑ Guérin, 1869, p. 30
  9. ↑ Hartmann, 1883, p. 140
  10. ↑ Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 8
  11. ↑ Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Ramleh, p. 21
  12. ↑ Mills, 1932, p. 19
  13. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 102
  14. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 970, p. 152
  15. ↑ Khalidi, 1991, pp. 281-282
  16. ↑ Morris, 2004, p. 466

Bibliography

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