Burqa, Ramallah

Burqa (Arabic: بُرقة‎) is a Palestinian town in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate, located east of Ramallah in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town had a population of approximately 2,090 inhabitants in the 2007 census.[3]

For other with similar names, see Burka.

Burqa
Municipality type C
Arabic transcription(s)
 • Arabicبُرقة
Burqa´s mosque from the north
Burqa
Location of Burqa within Palestine
Coordinates: 31°53′45″N 35°15′15″E
Palestine grid174/144
StateState of Palestine
GovernorateRamallah and al-Bireh
Government
 • TypeMunicipality
Elevation738 m (2,421 ft)
Population
 (200)
 • Total2,090
Name meaning"The speckled ground"[2]

Location

Burqa is located 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) (horizontally) east of Ramallah. It is bordered by Deir Dibwan to the east and north, Beitin to the north, Al-Bireh to the west, and Mukhmas and Kafr 'Aqab to the south.[1]

History

In 1596, Burqa appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Quds of the Liwa of Quds. It had a population of 28 Muslim households. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on various agricultural products, including wheat, barley, olives, fruit trees, goats and/or beehives; a total of 4,940 akçe.[4]

In 1838 Edward Robinson noted it as a Muslim village, Burka, located in the area immediately north of Jerusalem,[5] seeing it "high up on the hill-side".[6]

In 1863 Victor Guérin found it to contain about thirty houses. A Muslim shrine devoted to Sheikh Youseph was also noted.[7]

An Ottoman village list from about 1870 showed that Burka had a population of 152, with a total of 31 houses, though the population count included men, only.[8][9] In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Burkah as "a good-sized village standing high on a bare hillside, with a spring in the valley to the south."[10]

In 1896 the population of Burka was estimated to be about 270 people.[11]

British Mandate of Palestine

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Burqa had a population of 268, all Muslims,[12] increasing in the 1931 census, to 320, still all Muslim, in 66 houses.[13]

In the 1945 statistics, the population was 380, all Muslims,[14] while the total land area was 6,001 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[15] Of this, 1,297 dunams were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 2,460 for cereals,[16] while 22 dunams were classified as built-up areas.[17]

Jordanian era

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

The Jordanian census of 1961 found 582 inhabitants.[18]

1967 and aftermath

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Burqa has been under Israeli occupation.

After the 1995 accords, 8.5% of the village land was defined as Area B land, while the remaining 91.5% was defined as Area C.[19] Israel has confiscated land from Burqa for the construction of the Israeli settlement of Kokhav Ya'akov.[1]

The outpost Migron, Mateh Binyamin was located east of Burqa, on land registered as privately owned by inhabitants of Burqa and Deir Dibwan. In 2012 Migron was evacuated and since then the area is deserted.[20][21][22][23]

Footnotes
  1. Burqa Village profile, ARIJ, p. 4
  2. Palmer, 1881, p. 292
  3. 2007 PCBS Census Archived December 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p.112.
  4. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 112
  5. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 3, 2nd appendix, p. 122
  6. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 2, p. 118
  7. Guérin, 1869, p. 57
  8. Socin, 1879, p. 149 It was also noted to be in the Bire district, located ​1 1⁄2-hours southeast of the town
  9. Hartmann, 1883, p. 127 also noted 31 houses
  10. Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 9
  11. Schick, 1896, p. 121
  12. Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Ramallah, p. 16
  13. Mills, 1932, p. 48.
  14. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 26
  15. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 64
  16. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 111
  17. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 161
  18. Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 24
  19. Burqa Village profile, ARIJ, p. 16
  20. Peace now Archived 2007-10-23 at the Wayback Machine
  21. State: Migron outpost to be evacuated within six months, 23 January 2008, By Yuval Boaz, Ha'aretz
  22. Settlers leaders to vote on moving Migron outpost 7 August 2008, By Tovah Lazaroff, Jpost
  23. In Battle Over a Settlement, It's Israelis vs. Israelis 24 December 2003, By Richard Bernstein, The New York Times

Bibliography
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