Dura al-Qar'

Dura al-Qar'
Other transcription(s)
 • Arabic دورا القرع
 • Also spelled Dura al-Qari' (official)
Dura al-Qari'a or Dura al-Qara (unofficial)

View of Dura al-Qar'
Dura al-Qar'

Location of Dura al-Qar' within the Palestinian territories

Coordinates: 31°57′32.31″N 35°13′41.35″E / 31.9589750°N 35.2281528°E / 31.9589750; 35.2281528Coordinates: 31°57′32.31″N 35°13′41.35″E / 31.9589750°N 35.2281528°E / 31.9589750; 35.2281528
Governorate Ramallah & al-Bireh
Government
 • Type Village council
Area
 • Jurisdiction 4,016 dunams (4.0 km2 or 1.5 sq mi)
Population (2007)
 • Jurisdiction 2,897
Name meaning "a circle"[1]

Dura al-Qar' (Arabic: دورا القرع‎‎) or Dura al-Qari'a is a Palestinian town in the central West Bank, part of the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate, located four kilometers north of Ramallah. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Dura al-Qar' had a population of 2,897 inhabitants in 2007.[2]

The town's total land area is 4,016 dunams, of which 2,891 dunams have been appropriated by Israel mostly for the purpose of building a by-pass road. According to Dura al-Qar's village council, 142 families have been directly affected by the confiscations and 58% of the town's population depend on those lands as main sources of income. Nearby towns include Jifna to the north, Ein Yabrud to the east, Beitin and Beit El to the south, and Yabrud to the north-east.

History

Potsherds from the Roman and Roman/Byzantine era have been found in the village.[3]

Ottoman era

Potsherds from the early Ottoman era have been found.[3]

In 1863 Victor Guérin found the village to have 250 inhabitants. He further described that old oaks shaded for ancient springs, which were used to irrigate the fields. Several houses in the village were built, at least in part, with ancient stones.[4] In 1882, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Durah as "a small village on the side of a valley, with springs on the south, and olives".[5] In 1907, it was described as "a small, healthfully located Moslem village. Its inhabitants have a good reputation for peaceful relations with the Jifna Christians. The Durah people raise many vegetables."[6]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Dura el Qare' had a population of 191, all Muslims,[7] increasing in the 1931 census to 303, still all Muslims, in a total of 71 houses.[8]

In 1945 the population was 370, all Arabs, while the total land area was 4,166 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[9] Of this, 1,762 were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 1,253 for cereals,[10] while 18 dunams were classified as built-up areas.[11]

1948-1967

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

1967 and after

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

On August 14, 1995, Kheir Abdel Hafid Qassem, a 24-year-old Palestinian man, was shot dead by an Israeli settler from Beit El, and many people were arrested, while he and about a 100 other residents of Dura al-Qar' were attempting to drive away settlers by tearing down Israeli canvas shelters and cinder-block buildings outside of the village.[12]

References

  1. ↑ Palmer, 1881, p. 229
  2. ↑ 2007 PCBS Census. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p.114.
  3. 1 2 Finkelstein et. al., 1997, p. 552
  4. ↑ Guérin, 1869, p. 42
  5. ↑ Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 294
  6. ↑ Grant, 1907, p. 219
  7. ↑ Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Ramallah, p. 16
  8. ↑ Mills, 1932, p. 48
  9. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 64
  10. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 112
  11. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 162
  12. ↑ Settlers' Gunfire Kills Palestinian at West Bank Protest Greenberg, Joel. The New York Times. 1995-08-14.

Bibliography

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