Beit Safafa ( ar, بيت صفافا, he, בית צפפה; lit. "House of the summer-houses or narrow benches") is a

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

town along the Green Line, with the vast majority of its territory in

East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the sector of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to the western sector of the city, West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Jerusalem was envisaged as a separ ...

and some northern parts in

West Jerusalem West Jerusalem or Western Jerusalem (, ; , ) refers to the section of Jerusalem that was controlled by Israel at the end of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. As the city was divided by the Green Line (Israel's erstwhile border, established by t ...

. Since the 1949 agreements, the neighborhood had been divided by the Green Line. Until 1967, the East Jerusalem part remained under Jordanian rule while the northern parts became under Israeli rule.Upending the Traditional Arab Countryside Home
/ref> Beit Safafa covers an area of 1,577

dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; tr, dönüm; he, דונם), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area equivalent to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amou ...

s. In 2010, Beit Safafa had a population of 5,463. Walaja Barrier 2011

History

During the Crusader era, the village was known as ''Bethafava'' or ''Bethsaphase''.Pringle, 1997, pp
28
29 Baldwin I granted the village as a

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

to the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

s sometime before September 1110. A tower in the village is dated to the Crusader period. In the 1360-1370, part of the revenue from Beit Safafa went to the

Madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

''Al-Manjakiyya''
com.
on the Haram esh-Sharif in Jerusalem.

Ottoman era

The village was incorporated into the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

in 1517 with all of Palestine, and in 1596 it appeared in the tax registers as being in the ''

Nahiya A nāḥiyah ( ar, , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level division w ...

'' of Quds of the '' Liwa'' of Quds. It had a population of 41

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

households who paid taxes on wheat, barley, olives, grapes or fruit trees, and goats or beehives; a total of 11,800

akçe The ''akçe'' or ''akça'' (also spelled ''akche'', ''akcheh''; ota, آقچه; ) refers to a silver coin which was the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire. The word itself evolved from the word "silver or silver money", this word is der ...

. 1/4 of the revenue went to a

waqf A waqf ( ar, وَقْف; ), also known as hubous () or '' mortmain'' property is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitab ...

. In 1838

Robinson Robinson may refer to: People and names * Robinson (name) Fictional characters * Robinson Crusoe, the main character, and title of a novel by Daniel Defoe, published in 1719 Geography * Robinson projection, a map projection used since the 1960 ...

noted ''Beit Sufafa'' as a Muslim village in the ''Beni Hasan'' district, west of Jerusalem.

Victor Guérin Victor Guérin (15 September 1821 – 21 Septembe 1890) was a French intellectual, explorer and amateur archaeologist. He published books describing the geography, archeology and history of the areas he explored, which included Greece, Asia Min ...

visited the village in 1863, and described it as having some thirty houses, some solidly built and very old. An Ottoman village list from about 1870 showed that Beit Safafa had a population of 169, with a total of 41 houses, though the population count included men, only. In 1883, the

Palestine Exploration Fund The Palestine Exploration Fund is a British society based in London. It was founded in 1865, shortly after the completion of the Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem, and is the oldest known organization in the world created specifically for the stud ...

's "Survey of Western Palestine", described it as "a small village in flat open ground, with a well to the north". In 1896 the population of ''Bet Safafa'' was estimated to be about 180 persons.

British Mandate era

At the time of the

1922 census of Palestine The 1922 census of Palestine was the first census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine, on 23 October 1922. The reported population was 757,182, including the military and persons of foreign nationality. The divis ...

, Beit Safafa had a population of 716, all Muslim,Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Jerusalem, p
14
/ref> which increased to 997 Muslims and 24 Christians in the 1931 census.Mills, 1932. p
39
/ref> In the 1945 statistics the population was 1,410; 1,370 Muslims and 40 Christians,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p
24
/ref> and the land area was 3,314

s, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 2,814 dunams were Arab owned, 391 were Jewish owned, and 109 was public property.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p
56
/ref> Of this, 1,030 dunams were for plantations and irrigable land, 1,149 for cereals, while 71 dunams were built-up areas.

After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War

In the wake of the

1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form Britis ...

, the village was divided in two. The southern part was in the Jordanian-annexed West Bank, while the northern part, originally in

no man's land No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...

, was transferred to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

with the signing of

1949 Armistice Agreements The 1949 Armistice Agreements were signed between Israel and Egypt,''A Possible Peace Between Israel and Palestine:,''
Columbia University Press, 2007 p.70:'sovereignty over the part of the village of Beit Safafa that lay in the West Bank.' After the war, a section of the Jaffa-Jerusalem railway remained under Jordanian control. Following the 1949 Armistice Agreements, it was agreed that Jordan would transfer control of this section of the track to Israel, in order to enable Israel Railways to restart rail service to Jerusalem. As a result, the area south of the railway line was part of the Jordanian-controlled West Bank and the railway line itself and the area to the north, was part of Israeli-controlled

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. Service on the line resumed on August 7, 1949. During the period when the neighborhood was divided, a two-foot high barbed wire fence was erected down the middle of the main street with

Arab Legion The Arab Legion () was the police force, then regular army of the Emirate of Transjordan, a British protectorate, in the early part of the 20th century, and then of independent Jordan, with a final Arabization of its command taking place in 1 ...

naires and Israeli soldiers guarding on each side. In 1961, the Jordanian census showed a population of 1,025 in Beit Safafa.

After the Six-Day War

After the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 ...

in 1967, the whole of Beit Safafa has been under

Israeli occupation Israeli-occupied territories are the lands that were captured and occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967. While the term is currently applied to the Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights, it has also been used to refer t ...

, and the fence between the east and the west part was taken down. Residents of the Israeli side had Israeli citizenship while those on the south side were given, like East Jerusalem residents, Jerusalem ID cards and residency, while retaining Jordanian citizenship. Also following the 1967 war,

Palestinian Christians Palestinian Christians ( ar, مَسِيحِيُّون فِلَسْطِينِيُّون, Masīḥiyyūn Filasṭīniyyūn) are Christian citizens of the State of Palestine. In the wider definition of Palestinian Christians, including the Palest ...

with Israeli citizenship from

Nazareth Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...

Jaffa Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...

, and Jerusalem moved to Beit Safafa, expanding the small community, and several Jewish families moved in as well. According to ARIJ, Israel has expropriated land from

Sharafat ''Sharafat'' is a 1970 Hindi romantic drama film, directed by Asit Sen, starring Ashok Kumar, Dharmendra, Hema Malini in lead roles. Hema Malini plays the role of a feisty courtesan Chanda in search of her father, in this satire about society' ...

and Beit Safafa for the construction of three

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...

s: *1,529 dunams have been taken for

Gilo Gilo ( he, גִּלֹה) is an Israeli settlement in south-western East Jerusalem, with a population of 30,000, mostly Jewish inhabitants. Although it is located within the Jerusalem Municipality, it is widely considered a settlement, because a ...

,Beit Safafa & Sharafat Town Profile
p. 14 *166 dunams have been taken for

Har Homa Har Homa ( he, הר חומה, lit ''Wall Mountain''), officially Homat Shmuel, is an Israeli settlement in southern East Jerusalem, near the Palestinian city of Beit Sahour. The settlement is also referred to as "Jabal Abu Ghneim" (also "Jab ...

, *285 dunams have been taken for Giv’at Hamatos

Education

Beit Safafa has three schools: Beit Safafa Elementary School, Beit Safafa High School and al-Salam School, a school for special needs children. Beit Safafa schools follow both the Israeli

Bagrut Te'udat Bagrut (, ''lit.'' "maturity certificate", Arabic: شهادة بجروت) is a certificate that attests that a student has successfully passed Israel's high school matriculation examination. Bagrut is a prerequisite for higher education i ...

curriculum and the Palestinian

Tawjihi Tawjihi or Al-Tawjeehi (امتحان شهادة الدراسة الثانوية العامة) is the General Secondary Education Certificate Examination in Jordan and Palestine. It is the last stage of school education. To sit for the exam, studen ...

curriculum. In 1997, the Hand in Hand School for Bilingual Education was founded in Beit Safafa. The school, supported by the Israeli Ministry of Education and the

Jerusalem Municipality The Jerusalem Municipality ( he, עיריית ירושלים; Iriyat yerushalayim), the seat of the Israeli municipal administration, consists of a number of buildings located on Jaffa Road in the city of Jerusalem. History British Manda ...

, offers a bilingual curriculum in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

, with joint classes for Jews and Arabs. In 2012, 530 Arab and Jewish children were enrolled in the school. In 2012, Bakehila, an organization founded by

Erel Margalit Erel Margalit ( he, אראל מרגלית; born 1 January 1961) is an Israeli high-tech and social entrepreneur. He is the founder and Executive Chairman of the Jerusalem-based venture capital firm Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP) and the founder ...

of Jerusalem Venture Partners to aid children from underprivileged neighborhoods, opened an educational enrichment center in Beit Safafa.

Urban development plans

In 2012, an urban development plan approved by the Jerusalem Municipality announced a project to build four new roads in Beit Safafa. In early 2013, the

began construction of an eight-lane highway that would bisect Beit Safafa. Israeli author

David Grossman David Grossman ( he, דויד גרוסמן; born January 25, 1954) is an Israeli author. His books have been translated into more than 30 languages. In 2018, he was awarded the Israel Prize for literature. Biography David Grossman was born i ...

wrote that the plan was adopted without public scrutiny and would harm the character of the neighborhood.David Grossman
'The highway, the village and the road not taken,'
at Haaretz 26 June 2013. The residents claimed that the plan was illegal and construction commenced without warning. After petitioning the local courts and the

Israeli Supreme Court ar, المحكمة العليا , image = Emblem of Israel dark blue full.svg , imagesize = 100px , caption = Emblem of Israel , motto = , established = , location = Givat Ram, Jerusalem , coordina ...

, the residents succeeded in halting the project.Will this Arab neighborhood in Jerusalem be divided?
/ref> Naomi Tzur, deputy mayor of Jerusalem and holder of the urban planning portfolio, said that the residents were "taking advantage of the political situation to turn a local concern into an international story. When the residents of Beit Hakerem conducted their fight over their part of Begin Highway, the international media wasn’t interested. This is simply a residents’ fight against its municipality for better compensations and better infrastructure, and it’s a perfectly justifiable fight and part of democracy." In June 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that the 1-mile stretch of highway crossing Beit Safafa would cause unacceptable damage to the residents' quality of life. Beit Safafa’s lawyers say the construction of an acoustically insulated tunnel that puts the road underground and protects the area’s geographic integrity might be an acceptable solution.

Archaeology

Several winepresses have been found at Beit Safafa, which have been dated back to the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ...

. In a salvage dig in Beit Safafa, archaeologists discovered fifty graves dated first century BC-first century CE, of which 41 were excavated. In 2013, an archaeological survey-excavation was conducted on the site by Alex Wiegmann on behalf of the

Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, he, רשות העתיקות ; ar, داﺌرة الآثار, before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of ...

(IAA).

Excavators and Excavations Permit for Year 2013
Survey Permit # A-6898

Notable people

Sayed Kashua Sayed Kashua ( ar, سيد قشوع, he, סייד קשוע; born 1975) is a Palestinian author and journalist born in Tira, Israel, known for his books and humorous columns in Hebrew and English. Biography Sayed Kashua was born in Tira in th ...

References

Bibliography

* * * * (p
30
* * * p
215
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 17
IAAWikimedia commons

Beit Safafa and Sharafat (Fact Sheet)

Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem The Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem (ARIJ; ar, معهد الابحاث التطبيقية - القدس) is a Palestinian NGO founded in 1990 with its main office in Bethlehem in the West Bank. ARIJ is actively working on research proje ...

(ARIJ)
Beit Safafa & Sharafat Town Profile
ARIJ
Beit Safafa & Sharafat aerial photo
ARIJ
The Mashrabiya House, Beit Safafa
ARIJ
Cadastral map of Beit Safafa region
1933, 1:10,000, Eran Laor Cartographic Collection, The

National Library of Israel The National Library of Israel (NLI; he, הספרייה הלאומית, translit=HaSifria HaLeumit; ar, المكتبة الوطنية في إسرائيل), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; he, בית הספרים הלא� ...

{{Authority control Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem