Beer Ajam (Arabic : بئر عجم, romanized: Biʾr ʿAjam, also spelled Bir Ajam, lit. "Non-Arabs' Spring") is a Syrian Circassian village in the Quneitra Governorate in the Syrian controlled portion of the Golan Heights. It has been inhabited for about 150 years. Its first houses were built in 1872. Nearby localities include Quneitra to the north, Naba al-Sakhr to the northeast, al-Harra to the east, Namer to the southeast and Bariqa to the south. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Beer Ajam had a population of 353 in the 2004 census. [2] Its inhabitants are Circassians from the Abadzekh and Kebertei tribes.
In the late 19th-century Beer Ajam was described as a large and prosperous Circassian village with 80 hut-like houses and a total population of 340. It was built in separate parts, with springs to the north and next to a pond to the south. [3]
The village was abandoned for almost 10 years after the occupation of the Golan Heights by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War. The part of the Golan in which the village is located was returned to Syria as part of the 1974 Israeli disengagement from that area, although its inhabitants did not actually return until the late 1970s.
The government completed construction of new houses in the northern part of the village in 1986 to encourage the population to return. However, half of those houses are still unoccupied. The reconstruction also included another group of villages in the area.
On 4 November 2012, the Israeli Army claimed three Syrian Army tanks entered Beer Ajam in an operation against anti-government rebels trying to overthrow the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad as part of the ongoing Syrian civil war. Israel filed a formal complaint with United Nations peacekeeping forces maintaining the Israeli-Syrian truce in the Golan Heights area. The alleged operation would be the first military presence in Beer Ajam since 1973. [4] The village was captured by rebel forces by 13 November after clashes with the Army. [5] On 26 July 2018, the Syrian Army recaptured the town after rebels surrendered and handed over their heavy and medium weapons to the Army. [6]
The permanent residents in the village are around 400 Circassians. They are estimated to be only the quarter of what they should be, the rest preferring to stay in the capital or the Diaspora. The gender make up is 55% male and 45% female. About 40% of the population has access to a computer. The average monthly income of a family is about €300 (figures lacked precision).
In summer, tourist activity rises significantly, and as a result the population can double or even triple. Many visitors are relatives that come from other villages in the area, including villages in the Israeli-controlled area of the Golan Heights. More real estate development has taken place recently, and many new business opportunities have been created.
The climate is moderate in the summer, and cold in the winter. The village is surrounded by forests, where oak, Butm, Azaapop, wild peach, and pear trees abound. Wild animals include the fox and jackal, wild pig, wild Gharbra and others, in addition to several types of birds, including the Album, Hoopoe, local swallow, league, and Arur. Animal diversity has been subject to a steady decline, which threatens to eliminate local wildlife completely. There are no clear reasons for this, but it is believed that the decline in area covered by vegetation in addition to the expansion of human activity and the opening of more roads contribute greatly.
Agriculture focused on olive trees, grapes, figs, almonds and lei, the animal production depends on cows, which constitute the source of income for many families. Poultry, sheep, in addition to widespread beekeeping.
Quneitra is the largely destroyed and abandoned capital of the Quneitra Governorate in south-western Syria. It is situated in a high valley in the Golan Heights at 1,010 metres (3,313 feet) above sea level. Since 1974, pursuant to United Nations Security Council Resolution 350 and the Agreement on Disengagement between Israel and Syria, the city is inside the UN-patrolled buffer zone.
Quneitra Governorate is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in southern Syria, notable for the location of the Golan Heights. The governorate borders the countries of Lebanon, Jordan and Israel, and the Syrian governorates of Daraa and Rif Dimashq. Its area varies, according to different sources, from 685 km2 to 1,861 km2. The governorate had a population of 87,000 at the 2010 estimate. The nominal capital is the now abandoned city of Quneitra, destroyed by Israel before their withdrawal in June 1974 in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War; since 1986, the de facto capital is Ba'ath City.
The Golan Heights, or simply the Golan, is a basaltic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria. It is bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon mountains with Mount Hermon in the north and Wadi Raqqad in the east. It hosts vital water sources that feed the Hasbani River and the Jordan River. Two thirds of the area was occupied by Israel following the 1967 Six-Day War and then effectively annexed in 1981 – an action unrecognized by the international community, which continues to consider it Israeli-occupied Syrian territory. In 2024 Israel occupied the remaining one third of the area.
Fiq was a Syrian town in the Golan Heights that administratively belonged to Quneitra Governorate. It sat at an altitude of 349 meters (1,145 ft) and had a population of 2,800 in 1967. It was the administrative center of the Fiq District, the southern district of the Golan. Fiq was evacuated during and after the Six-Day War in June 1967. The Israeli settlement of Kibbutz Afik was built close by.
Saham al-Jawlan or Saham el-Golan is a Syrian village in the Daraa Governorate, in the Hauran region. It had a population of 6,572 in 2004. Most residents work in the cultivation of cereals, olives and vegetables.
Al-Harra, also spelled Khirbet al-Harra; translation: "the Hot") is a town in southern Syria, administratively belonging to the al-Sanamayn District of the Daraa Governorate. Situated in the Hauran plain, it is 55 kilometers (34 mi) north of Daraa, and just east of Bir Ajam and the Golan Heights, northwest of Jasim, west of al-Sanamayn and southwest of Kafr Shams. In the 2004 census by the Central Bureau of Statistics, al-Harra had a population of 17,172.
The 2012–2014 Quneitra Governorate clashes began in early November 2012, when the Syrian Army began engaging with rebels in several towns and villages of the Quneitra Governorate. The clashes quickly intensified and spilled into the UN-supervised neutral demilitarized zone between Syrian controlled territory and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Bariqa is a village in southwestern Syria, administratively part of the Quneitra Governorate, south of Quneitra, in the Syrian-controlled portion of the Golan Heights. Nearby localities include Beer Ajam to the north, Naba al-Sakhr to the northeast, al-Harra and Namer to the east, al-Suwaysah and Jasim to the southeast and al-Rafid to the south. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Bariqa had a population of 371 in the 2004 census. Its inhabitants are predominantly Circassians from the Abadzekh tribe, who profess Sunni Islam.
Jamla is a village in southwestern Syria, administratively part of the Daraa Governorate and immediately east of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. It is situated on the eastern slopes of the Wadi Ruqqad valley. Nearby localities include Abdin to the south, the nahiyah ("subdistrict") center of al-Shajara to the southwest, Nafia to the east, Ayn Zakar to the northeast and Saida to the north. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Jamla had a population of 1,916 in the 2004 census. Its inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslims.
Khan Arnabah also spelt Khan Arnabeh is a town in southwestern Syria, administratively part of the Quneitra Governorate, in the portion of the province under Syrian control. The town is located just outside the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force Zone. Nearby localities include Sa'sa' to the northeast, Quneitra to the southwest, Jubata al-Khashab to the northwest, as well as the Circassian villages of Beer Ajam and Bariqa to the south. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Khan Arnabah had a population of 7,375 at the 2004 census. The town is also the administrative centre of the Khan Arnabah nahiyah, which is made up of 19 towns having a combined population of 42,980.
Circassians in Syria refer to the Circassian diaspora that settled in Syria in the 19th century. They moved to Syria after the Circassian genocide following the Russo-Circassian War. While they have become an increasingly assimilated part of Syrian society, they have maintained a distinct identity, having retained their language, their tribal heritage, and some of their other traditional customs.
The 2014 Quneitra offensive, code-named “The Real Promise” or "Chargers of Dawn", was a military operation launched by Syrian rebels during the Syrian civil war in Quneitra Governorate, in an attempt to take control of several sections in the central part of the province and around Quneitra city "with the aim of opening the way to Damascus."
Hader is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the Khan Arnabah Subdistrict of the Quneitra Governorate. It is in the portion of the governorate that is under de jure Syrian control, although it is currently occupied by the Israeli Defence Forces as a result of Operation Bashan Arrow. The town is located just outside the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force Zone. Nearby localities include Beit Jinn to the northeast, Harfa to the east, Jubata al-Khashab to the south, Majdal Shams in the Israeli Golan Heights to the west and Shebaa in Lebanon to the northwest.
The Quneitra offensive was launched by Syrian rebel forces, during the Syrian Civil War, in order to capture government-held positions in Quneitra Governorate at: Tall Ahmar, UN hill, Madinat al-Baath and Khan Arnabah. The objective was to break the government siege of Western Ghouta.
The Quneitra offensive was launched by Syrian rebel forces, during the Syrian Civil War, in order to capture the government-held town of Hader, Quneitra Governorate.
The Golan Regiment was a Syrian militia based in Khan Arnabah that was part of the National Defence Forces (NDF). Though primarily active in the Golan Heights, the unit has been deployed in various warzones of western Syria, fighting against many different Syrian opposition forces and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The Golan Regiment was notable insofar as it was the first government unit during the Syrian civil war that was founded by Free Syrian Army (FSA) defectors.
The Quneitra offensive , code-named "Road to Damascus", was a military operation launched by rebel forces against the Syrian Arab Army at the town of Madinat al-Baath, in the Quneitra Governorate, during the Syrian Civil War.
Jamaat Jund al-Qawqaz, originally formed as Ahrar al-Sharkas, is an armed group based in the Quneitra Governorate of Syria with some fighters in the Latakia Governorate. The group is made up of ethnic Circassians from Beer Ajam. The group came to prominence during the Quneitra Governorate clashes (2012–14).
Tell al-Ḥāra, formerly known as Ḥārith al-Jawlān or Jabal Ḥārith, is the highest point in the Daraa Governorate. During the Arab–Israeli conflict and the Syrian Civil War, it has served as a highly strategic military position because it overlooks wide areas of the Golan Heights and Hauran regions. The closest population center is the town of al-Hara, located at the hill's southeastern foot.
The Nu'aym, also spelled Na'imeh, Na'im, Nu'im or Ne'im, are a large tribal confederation present in different parts of Syria. Their main concentration is in the Hauran and Golan Heights regions of southern Syria, with a significant presence in the suburbs of Damascus and the countryside of Homs, Idlib and Raqqa. The Nu'aym were one of the major Bedouin tribes in the plains around Homs and Hama and the Golan Heights throughout the Ottoman period.