Urif () is a

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

village in the

Nablus Governorate The Nablus Governorate () is an administrative district of Palestine located in the Central Highlands of the West Bank, 53 km north of Jerusalem. It covers the area around the city of Nablus which serves as the ''muhfaza'' (seat) of the go ...

of the

State of Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, in the northern

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, located 13 kilometers (8 miles) south of

Nablus Nablus ( ; , ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a ...

. According to the

Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS; ) is the official statistical institution of Palestine. Its main task is to provide credible statistical figures at the national and international levels. It is a state institution that provid ...

(PCBS), the town had a population of 3,624 inhabitants in 2017.

Location

‘Urif is located 7.6km south of

. It is bordered by ‘Einabus to the east, ‘Asira al Qibliya to the north, and

Jamma’in Jamma'in () is a Palestinian town in the Nablus Governorate of the State of Palestine, in the northern West Bank, located southwest of Nablus, northwest of Salfit and north of Ramallah. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics ...

to the west and south.

History

Ceramics from the late

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

have been found here.Dauphin, 1998, p. 803 Dauphin writes that ceramics from the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

era also have been found, but Ellenblum writes that no pottery from that era has been found here.

Crusader period

A woman of Dayr Urif, Sa'ida, was wed to Ahmad ibn Khalid ibn Qudama, a jurist and leader of

Hanbali The Hanbali school or Hanbalism is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence, belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It is named after and based on the teachings of the 9th-century scholar, jurist and tradit ...

villagers in the Nablus area who fled from

Crusader Crusader or Crusaders may refer to: Military * Crusader, a participant in one of the Crusades * Convair NB-36H Crusader, an experimental nuclear-powered bomber * Crusader tank, a British cruiser tank of World War II * Crusaders (guerrilla), a C ...

rule to

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

between 1156 and 1173. Ahmad's grandson Diya al-Din (1173–1245) refers to the presence of Muslims in Urif during his lifetime. The medieval town of Gerraa, today the ruin of Khirbet Jarra'a, was located to the west.

Ottoman era

Urif was incorporated into the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

in 1517 with all of

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, and in 1596 it appeared in the tax registers as being in the ''

nahiya A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, 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 divisi ...

'' (subdistrict) of Jabal Qubal of the '' liwa'' (district) of

. It was noted as ''hali'', empty, but a fixed tax rate of 33.3% was paid on various agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, goats and/or beehives, in addition to "occasional revenues"; a total of 2,800

akçe The ''akçe'' or ''akça'' (anglicized as ''akche'', ''akcheh'' or ''aqcha''; ; , , in Europe known as '' asper'') was a silver coin mainly known for being the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire. It was also used in other states includi ...

.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 130 In 1838 Urif was noted as a Muslim village, part of the Jurat Merda subdistrict, located south of Nablus. In 1870,

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

found the village to occupy the top of a hill, and having about 450 inhabitants. In 1882, the PEF's ''

Survey of Western Palestine The PEF Survey of Palestine was a series of surveys carried out by the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) between 1872 and 1877 for the completed Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) and in 1880 for the soon abandoned Survey of Eastern Palestine. The ...

'' (SWP) described Urif as: "A stone village, on high ground, with a few olives; supplied by wells and with a small spring to the east."

British Mandate era

In 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 ...

conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Urif had a population of 270 Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table IX, p
25
/ref> increasing in the 1931 census to 403; 402 Muslims and 1 Christian, in 103 houses. In the 1945 statistics the population was 520, all Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p
19
/ref> while the total land area was 3,965

dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; ; ; ), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area analogous in role (but not equal) to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amo ...

s, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 1,107 dunams were for plantations and irrigable land, 1,452 for cereals, while 32 dunams were classified as built-up areas.

Jordanian period

In the wake of the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...

, and after the

1949 Armistice Agreements The 1949 Armistice Agreements were signed between Israel and Egypt,Jordanian rule. The Jordanian census of 1961 found 710 inhabitants.

Post 1967

Since the

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

in 1967, Urif has been under

Israeli occupation Israel has occupied the Golan Heights of Syria and the Palestinian territories since the Six-Day War of 1967. It has previously occupied the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt and southern Lebanon as well. Prior to 1967, control of the Palestinian terr ...

. As of 2014, 3,115 dunams (77%) of Urif land were Area B, while 949 (23%) were

Area C Area C (; ) is the fully Israeli-controlled territory in the West Bank, defined as the whole area outside the Palestinian enclaves (Areas A and B). Area C constitutes about 61 percent of the West Bank territory, containing most Israeli settle ...

. 58 dunums of Urif's land have been confiscated for the

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, also called Israeli colonies, are the civilian communities built by Israel throughout the Israeli-occupied territories. They are populated by Israeli citizens, almost exclusively of Israeli Jews, Jewish identity or ethni ...

Yitzhar Yitzhar () is an Israeli settlement located in the West Bank, south of the city of Nablus, just off Route 60, north of the Tapuach Junction. The predominantly Orthodox Jewish community falls under the jurisdiction of Shomron Regional Council. ...

Chronology of events and disturbances

*On May 19, 2012, about 25 Jewish settlers, some of them carrying guns, set fire to the wheat fields of Urif, and shot one Palestinian man in the stomach. *On May 26, 2012, settlers from

shot a youth from Urif. They then tied him up and proceeded to beat him. Samaria Regional Council head Gershon Mesika said that the shooting was a defensive act against a man who wielded a knife. The clash had started when a group of settlers were thought to have set fire to fields belonging to Urif, although the settlers denied any involvement. *In 2013, settlers from Yitzhar reportedly smashed the window of a mosque in Urif and tried to burn it down. *In February, 2015, settlers from

defaced the village school with graffiti, with ' Death to Arabs' sprayed alongside the

Star of David The Star of David (, , ) is a symbol generally recognized as representing both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the Seal of Solomon was used for decora ...

in an alleged price tag attacks. *In July 2016, the IDF confiscated in Urif homemade weapons and ammunition, and lathes used to manufacture weapons, as well as apprehending four local Arab residents of Urif who sold such weapons. *In 2017, farmers from Urif were prevented from working on their land in Area B. *In May, 2021, as part of the 2021 demonstrations; Nidal Sael Safadi was killed in Urif by the

Israeli army The Israeli Ground Forces () are the Army, ground forces of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The commander is the GOC Army Headquarters, General Officer Commanding with the rank of major general, the ''Mazi'', subordinate to the Chief of the Gen ...

, while "trying to confront

Israeli settlers Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli (b ...

who were storming the area". *In June 2023, it was the target – along with nearby

Turmus Ayya Turmus Ayya () is a Palestinian territories, Palestinian town located in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate in the West Bank, in Palestine. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), it had a population of 2,464 in 2017. ...

and several other Palestinian villages – of Israeli settler terror attacks. After the attack, the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

(IDF) spokesperson called the incursions and attacks by armed Jewish settlers " acts of terror conducted by criminals", adding that the IDF had “failed to prevent” the attacks, described as “very grave”, and that such incidents "create terror" by pushing the attacked civilian populations "towards extremism". File:201805 defenseless against settlers violence photoblog jamileh shhadeh urif.jpg , 81 year old Jamileh Shehadeh, Urif, who had all her olive trees cut down by

File:201805 defenseless against settlers violence photoblog urif2.jpg , "Fight the enemy.

Price Tag A price tag is a label declaring the price of an item for sale. It may be a sticker or attached by twist tie or other means. Some jurisdictions require items (possibly exceptions for bulk good and produce) to be individually marked with the p ...

." Hebrew Graffiti spray-painted by Israeli settlers File:Itzhar01.jpg ,

Maqam (shrine) A maqām () is a Muslims, Muslim shrine constructed at a site linked to a religious figure or Wali, saint, commonly found in the Levant (or ''al-Shām),'' which comprises the present-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Israel. It is ...

Salman the Persian Salman Farsi (; ) was a Persian religious scholar and one of the companions of Muhammad. As a practicing Zoroastrian, he dedicated much of his early life to studying to become a magus, after which he began travelling extensively throughout Weste ...

northeast of UrifPalmer, 1881, p
191
/ref>

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Urif
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 14
IAA Wikimedia commons ‘Urif Village Profile

Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem The Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem (ARIJ; ) is a Palestinian NGO founded in 1990 with its main office in Bethlehem in the West Bank. ARIJ is actively working on research projects in the fields of management of natural resources, water m ...

(ARIJ)
Development Priorities and Needs in ‘Urif
ARIJ
Setting 22 Dunums of Agricultural Lands Ablaze in Urif village -Nablus Governorate
POICA, April 30, 2013 {{Authority control Nablus Governorate Villages in the West Bank Municipalities of Palestine