Dura al-Qar'

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. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Dura al-Qar' had a population of 2,897 inhabitants in 2007.[3]

Dura al-Qar'
Municipality type D (Village council)
Arabic transcription(s)
 • Arabicدورا القرع
 • LatinDura 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 Palestine
Coordinates: 31°57′33″N 35°13′42″E
Palestine grid171/151
StateState of Palestine
GovernorateRamallah and al-Bireh
Government
 • TypeVillage council
Area
 • Total4,016 dunams (4.0 km2 or 1.5 sq mi)
Elevation728 m (2,388 ft)
Population
 (2007)
 • Total2,897
 • Density720/km2 (1,900/sq mi)
Name meaning"a circle"[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.

Location

Dura el Qar' is located 6.6 kilometers (4.1 mi) north-east of Ramallah. It is bordered by Ein Yabrud to the east, Ein Siniya to the north, Jifna, Al-Jalazun Camp and Surda to the west, and Al Bireh to the south.[1]

History

Potsherds from the Roman and Roman/Byzantine era have been found in the village.[4]

Ottoman era

Potsherds from the early Ottoman era have been found here.[4]

In 1838, it was noted as a Muslim village, Durah, in the Beni Harit district, north of Jerusalem.[5]

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.[6] An Ottoman village list from about 1870 found that the village had a population of 120, in 22 houses, though the population count only included men.[7][8]

In 1882, the PEF'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".[9] 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."[10]

In 1896 the population of Dura el-kara was estimated to be about 246 persons.[11]

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,[12] increasing in the 1931 census to 303, still all Muslims, in a total of 71 houses.[13]

In the 1945 statistics the population was 370, all Muslims,[14] while the total land area was 4,166 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[15] Of this, 1,762 were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 1,253 for cereals,[16] while 18 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, Dura al-Qar' came under Jordanian rule.

The Jordanian census of 1961 found 576 inhabitants in Dura Qar'.[18]

1967 and after

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

After the 1995 accords, 23.3% of the village‟s total area has been classified as Area B land, while the remaining 76.7% is classified as Area C. Israel has “confiscated” 680 dunum of village land for constructing the Israeli settlement of Beit El.[19]

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.[20]

Notable people

References
  1. Dura el Qar’ Village Profile, ARIJ, p. 4
  2. Palmer, 1881, p. 229
  3. 2007 PCBS Census Archived December 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p.114.
  4. Finkelstein et. al., 1997, p. 552
  5. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. iii, 2nd appendix, p. 124
  6. Guérin, 1869, p. 42
  7. Socin, 1879, p. 153. It was also noted that it was in the Beni Harit District
  8. Hartmann, 1883, p. 126, also noted 22 houses
  9. Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 294
  10. Grant, 1907, p. 219
  11. Schick, 1896, p. 123
  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. 112
  17. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 162
  18. Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 24
  19. Dura el Qar’ Village Profile, ARIJ, p. 17
  20. Settlers' Gunfire Kills Palestinian at West Bank Protest Greenberg, Joel. The New York Times. 1995-08-14.

Bibliography
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