Beit Surik () 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

Jerusalem Governorate The Quds Governorate (), also known as Jerusalem Governorate, is one of the 16 governorates of Palestine and located in the central part of the West Bank. The current governor, appointed by the Palestinian National Authority, is Adnan Ghaith s ...

, located 12 kilometers Northwest of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

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 ...

. 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 ...

, the town had a population of 4,025 in 2017.

Location

Beit Surik is located (horizontally) north-west of

. It is bordered by

Beit Iksa Beit Iksa (;) is a Palestinian village in the Jerusalem Governorate, located northwest of Jerusalem in the West Bank. The village is surrounded on all sides by the Israeli West Bank barrier, and outside Palestinians are denied access through th ...

to the east,

Biddu Biddu Appaiah (born 8 February 1945) is a British-Indian singer-songwriter, composer, and music producer who composed and produced many worldwide hit records during a career spanning five decades. Considered one of the pioneers of disco, Euro ...

to the north,

Qatanna Qatanna () is a Palestinian town in the central West Bank part of the Jerusalem Governorate, located 12 km. northwest of Jerusalem. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 6,981 inhabitants in ...

to the west, and

Qalunya Qalunya (, also transliterated Qaluniya) was a Palestinian village located west of Jerusalem. Prior to the village's destruction in 1948, with the exception of 166 dunams, Qalunya's land was privately owned: 3,594 dunams were owned by Arabs, wh ...

to the south.

History

Beit Surik is situated on an ancient site on top of a hill. Fragments of Corinthian

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

s have been found, and a

mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

floor, with dedicatory inscription in Greek and

tabula ansata A tabula ansata or tabella ansata (Latin for "tablet with handles", plural ''tabulae ansatae'' or ''tabellae ansatae'') is a tablet with dovetail joint, dovetail Handle (grip), handles. It was a favorite form for Votive offering, votive tablets ...

was excavated in part by LH Vincent in 1901. The village was known as ''Beit Surie'' in the Crusader era. It was one of 21 villages given by King Godfrey as a

fief A fief (; ) 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 of feudal alle ...

to the canons of the

Holy Sepulchre The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also known as the Church of the Resurrection, is a fourth-century church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. The church is the seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Some ...

.Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, pp
1116
/ref> The village was also mentioned in Crusader sources in the years 1152 and later. By 1169, "Latin" (that is, Christian) settlers seems to have been established there. As typical Arab-names also appear in the Crusader sources about Beit Surik, it has been suggested that Crusaders settled in a Muslim village.

Ottoman era

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

Nahiye 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 ...

'' of Jerusalem in the ''

Sanjak A sanjak or sancak (, , "flag, banner") was an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans also sometimes called the sanjak a liva (, ) from the name's calque in Arabic and Persian. Banners were a common organization of nomad ...

'' of the

Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem The Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem (, ; , , ), also known as the Sanjak of Jerusalem, was a district in Ottoman Syria with special administrative status established in 1872.Büssow (2011), p5Abu-Manneh (1999), p39Jankowski & Gershoni (1997), p174 T ...

. It had a population of 21 households, all

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

. The inhabitants of the village paid a fixed tax-rate of 33.3% on wheat, barley,

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

trees, vineyards, fruit trees, grape syrup, molasse, and goats and/or beehives, a total of 2,000

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 ...

. In 1738

Richard Pococke Richard Pococke (19 November 1704 – 25 September 1765)''Notes and Queries'', p. 129. was an English clergyman and writer. He was the Bishop of Ossory (1756–65) and Meath (1765), both dioceses of the Church of Ireland. However, he is best kn ...

noted the village, ''Bethsurick'', as he passed between

(''Bedou'') and Beit Surik. In 1838 Beit Surik was noted as a Muslim village, located in the ''Beni Malik'' district, west of Jerusalem.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p.
124
/ref> In 1863, the French explorer

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 ...

noticed there a "beautiful piece of antique wall", with several layers, formed of large stones. An official Ottoman village list of about 1870 showed that "Bet Surik" had a total of 32 houses and a population of 125, though the population count included only the men. In 1883, 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 ...

'' described Beit Surik as a "small stone village on a hill-top. To the east in a flat valley is a spring with lemon and other trees. The place appears to be ancient, having rock-cut tombs near the spring."Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p
16
/ref> In 1896 the population of ''Bet Surik'' was estimated to be about 264 persons. By the beginning of the 20th century, residents from Beit Surik settled Beit Shanna near al-Ramla, establishing it as a dependency – or satellite village – of their home village.

British Mandate era

shrine A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...: ''escri ...

for

Sheikh Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...

'Abd el-'Aziz near Beit Surik was damaged during the fighting in

WWI World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting took place mainly in Europe and th ...

. 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, Bait Suriq had a total population of 352; all Muslims,Barron, 1923, Sub-district of Jerusalem, p
15
/ref> increasing in the 1931 census to 432 Muslims, with 87 houses.Mills, 1932, p
38
In the 1945 statistics the population was 480 Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p
24
/ref> while the total land area was 6,879

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, 581 were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 1,827 for cereals, while 33 dunams were classified as built-up (urban) areas.

Jordanian era

Many women and children were moved from Qastal to Beit Surik at the end of March, 1948. On 15 April 1948, Nahshon HQ issued a series of specific orders: Battalion 2 was ordered ‘to attack with the aim of annihilation and destruction and arson itkof bimegamat hashmada veheres vehatzata�� the village of Beit Suriq. On the night of 19 April 1948 the village was attacked by the

Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Phalanges/Companies") was the elite combined strike forces and sayeret unit of the Haganah, the paramilitary organization of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of th ...

. The attacking force was commanded by Yosef Tabenkin, based in

. They were later to become the

Harel Brigade The 10th "Harel" Brigade (, ''Hativat Harel'') is a reserve infantry brigade of the Israel Defense Forces, today part of the Southern Command. It played a critical role in the 1948 Palestine war. It is one of the former divisions of the Palmach ...

of 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 ...

. The village was surrounded by five companies with ambushes being set on the roads to

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...

, Nabi Samuel and

. A group consisting of armoured cars, a

Davidka The Davidka (, ''"Little David"'' or ''"Made by David"'' ) was a homemade Israeli mortar used in Safed and Jerusalem during 1947–1949 Palestine war. Its bombs were reported to be extremely loud, but very inaccurate and otherwise of little val ...

, reserves and the operation's HQ approached from

. The company approaching from Castel encountered a group of around 30 armed men leaving Beit Surik heading east but did not engage them. A short mortar barrage was launched on the village from the east. When one of the ambush groups was fired on they attacked and took the school building. The village was taken soon afterwards with the attackers only encountering sparse rifle fire. Three platoons went through the village clearing enemy positions while a detachment of

sappers A sapper, also called a combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing field defenses, ...

began demolishing buildings. Some of the brigade then went on to capture Biddu before daybreak. They left Beit Surik largely or partly destroyed. Before withdrawing from Beit Surik, a special unit contaminated the village wells with a

biological warfare Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of biological toxins or Pathogen, infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and Fungus, fungi with the intent to kill, harm or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an ...

agent consisting of

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

and

diphtheria Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacteria, bacterium ''Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild Course (medicine), clinical course, but in some outbreaks, the mortality rate approaches 10%. Signs a ...

bacteria, to hinder attempts by villagers to return to their homes. 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 954 inhabitants in Beit Surik.

post-1967

Since

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, Beit Surik has been under Israeli occupation. In 1986 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 ...

Har Adar Har Adar () is an Israeli settlement organized as a local council in the Seam Zone and the Maccabim sub-region of the West Bank. Founded in 1986, it had a population of in . It is located near Abu Ghosh and the Green Line on Road 425, appro ...

was built. 456 dunums of land was confiscated from Beit Surik by the Israeli government for that purpose. After the 1995 accords, 10.3% of the village land was classified as Area B, while the remaining 89.7% was classified as

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 ...

. On the morning of 26 September 2017, a Palestinian gunman from Beit Surik opened fire, shot Israeli security guards at a checkpoint in Har Adar, killing three and wounding one.

Enclave

Beit Surik along with

, Beit Duqqu, Beit 'Anan,

, al Qubeida, Beit Ijza, Kharayib Umm al Lahimand and at Tira form the "Biddu enclave". The enclave will be linked to Ramallah by underpasses and a road that is fenced on both sides. From the "Biddu enclave" Palestinians will travel along a fenced road that passes under a bypass road to Bir Nabala enclave, then on a second underpass under Bypass Road 443 to

. A week before the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

gave its Advisory Opinion, the High Court of Israel gave a ruling on a 40-kilometre strip of the Wall in which it held that, while Israel as the Occupying Power had the right to construct the Wall to ensure security and that substantial sections of the Wall imposed undue hardships on Palestinians and had to be re-routed. From ''"The Beit Sourik Case (HCJ 2056/04)"'' of 30 June 2004 the standards of proportionality between Israeli security and the injury to the Palestinian residents was set by the judgement of the

Supreme Court of Israel The Supreme Court of Israel (, Hebrew acronym Bagatz; ) is the Supreme court, highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction. The Supreme Court consists of 15 jud ...

. The "Barrier" that Israel is presently constructing within the Palestinian territory was held by the International court to be contrary to international law by the International Court of Justice on 9 July 2004. The International Court held that Israel is under an obligation to discontinue building the Wall and to dismantle it forthwith. In its Advisory Opinion, the Court dismissed a number of legal arguments raised by Israel relating to the applicability of humanitarian law and human rights law. In particular the International court held that Israeli settlements were unlawful. The Israeli Government then announced that it will not comply with the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice. The Israeli Government has indicated that it will abide by the ruling of its own High Court in respect of sections of the Wall still to be built but not in respect of completed sections of the Wall. Protesting villagers have said: "The wall of death kills our daily life. It separates us from our villages and farms".

Folklore

Tawfiq Canaan related in 1927 the story of ''Telah'', a local

wali The term ''wali'' is most commonly used by Muslims to refer to a saint, or literally a "friend of God".John Renard, ''Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008); John ...

.Canaan, 1927, p
258
/ref> On the village's eastern edge stands the tomb-shrine of ''ash-Sheikh Derwish''. Local tradition suggest that ash-Sheikh Derwish posthumously opposed the idea of a dome over his grave. Repeated attempts by villagers to construct a dome were met with unexplained failure; structures erected were found dismantled by the following day, resulting in a site consistently left in disrepair. This series of events eventually led to the abandonment of the dome project, in a collective decision that respected what was perceived as the saint's wishes.

References

Bibliography

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

External links

Welcome To Bayt Surik
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 17
IAA

Wikimedia commons Wikimedia Commons, or simply Commons, is a wiki-based Digital library, media repository of Open content, free-to-use images, sounds, videos and other media. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. Files from Wikimedia Commons can be used ...

Beit Surik Town (Fact Sheet)

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)
Beit Surik Town Profile
(ARIJ)
Aerial photo
(ARIJ)
Locality Development Priorities and Needs in Beit Surik
(ARIJ)
The Hackney-Beit Surik Friendship Forum A battle of will ... ! Beit Surik, Qattanah & Beddo Villages: An Agricultural Triangle Under Israeli Attack
27 March 2004, Poica
Israeli Occupying Forces flout High Court Ruling
9 March 2005, Poica
The Segregation Wall seized more lands of Beit Surik Village
21 May 2005, Poica
Israel hits Beit Iksa, Nabi Samuel and Beit Surik with new military order in favor of the Segregation Wall
16 January 2007, POICA {{Jerusalem Governorate Villages in the West Bank Jerusalem Governorate Municipalities of Palestine