al-Khader

This article is about the Palestinian village west of Bethlehem. For the Quranic figure, see Al-Khidr.

al-Khader
Other transcription(s)
 • Arabic الخضر
 • Also spelled al-Khadr (official)

Eastern al-Khader and Solomon's Pools
al-Khader

Location of al-Khader within the Palestinian territories

Coordinates: 31°41′33.87″N 35°09′59.19″E / 31.6927417°N 35.1664417°E / 31.6927417; 35.1664417Coordinates: 31°41′33.87″N 35°09′59.19″E / 31.6927417°N 35.1664417°E / 31.6927417; 35.1664417
Governorate Bethlehem
Government
 • Type Municipality
 • Head of Municipality Ramzi Salah
Area
 • Jurisdiction 19,882 dunams (19.9 km2 or 7.7 sq mi)
Population (2007)
 • Jurisdiction 9,774
Name meaning "the [town] of Saint George"[1]

Al-Khader (Arabic: الخضر‎‎) is a Palestinian town in the Bethlehem Governorate in the south-central West Bank. It is located 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) west of Bethlehem. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 9,774 in 2007.[2] The area around al-Khader is marked by vineyards, and olive and fig trees.[3]

History

The site of al-Khader was first inhabited by the Canaanites. In 1953, five arrowheads of javelins dating from the 11th century BCE, were discovered in al-Khader with Canaanite inscriptions. The translations were "dart of 'Abd Labi't".[4]

Al-Khader is named after Saint George who in Arab culture is known as "al-Khadr." According to local tradition, Saint George was imprisoned in the town of al-Khader where the current Monastery of St. George stands. The chains holding him were relics that were said to hold healing power.[5] This tradition of St. George's imprisonment was dated to at most the 15th century. In 1442 the Monastery of St. George was mentioned by Western traveler John Poloner as situated on a hill near Bethlehem.[6]

During late Ottoman rule (1516-1917), al-Khader was part of the political-administrative sheikdom and nahiyah ("subdistrict") of Bani Hasan, which was ruled by the Absiyeh family of al-Walaja. In 1838 its inhabitants were classified as Muslims by the English scholars Edward Robinson and Eli Smith.[7] Victor Guérin visited in 1863.[8]

In the late 19th century al-Khader was described by the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine as a moderate-sized village with a "Greek church and convent." It was surrounded by vineyards and olive groves and "rock-cut tombs" were situated to the north of the village.[6]

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, al-Khader has been under Israeli occupation. Since the construction of the Israeli West Bank barrier around al-Khader, several thousand dunams of farmland have been separated from the village, with the inhabitants unable to access them without a permit. In 2006, 50 villagers protested the barrier by filling bags with grapes and selling them along Route 60. Israeli soldiers and police attempted to quell protesters resulting in the injuries and detainment of two residents.[9]

In April 2015 villagers blocked work by settlers to create a bypass road for access to an illegal outpost, which, if completed, would alienate a further 400 dunams of village land.[10]

Geography and land

The older part of al-Khader is situated on a saddle-shaped hill facing a steep ridge to the south and open areas to the north, in the central highlands of the West Bank.[6] Nearby localities include the Dheisheh Refugee Camp adjacent to the east, the village of Artas further to the east, Beit Jala to the northeast, al-Walaja and the Israeli settlement of Har Gilo to the north, Battir and Husan to the northwest, Nahalin and the Israeli settlement of Beitar Illit to the west, the settlement of Neve Daniel to the southeast, the settlement of Elazar to the south.

In Sami Hadawi's land and population survey in 1945, the town had 1,130 inhabitants and a total land area of 20,100 dunams. The Orthodox Christian Church owns several hundreds of dunams made up of vineyards, olive groves and field crops. The lands were entrusted to them since the Rashidun era during the caliphate of Umar who presided over the conquest of Palestine in the 630s. Most of the land is leased to Muslim farmers.[11]

Demographics

Funeral in Al-Khader, February, 2001

In the late 19th century, al-Khader had a mixed population of Muslims and Greek Orthodox Christians, according to the Survey of Western Palestine.[6] In the British Mandate census in 1922 al-Khader had a population of 697; 694 Muslims and 3 Christians.[12] By the 1931 census of Palestine, the population was 914, mostly Muslim with three Christian inhabitants.[13] In Sami Hadawi's land and population survey in 1945, the town had 1,130 inhabitants and a total land area of 20,100 dunams. It was a part of the Jerusalem District.[14]

The population in the 1967 census conducted by the Israeli authorities was 2,051.[15] In 1997, the PCBS recorded a population of 6,802 of which 3,606 were males and 3,196 were females.[16] Unlike many Palestinian towns in the area, refugees and their descendants do not have a substantial population in al-Khader. In 1997, 5.2% of the town's inhabitants were recorded as refugees.[17] In the 2007 PCBS census, al-Khader had a population of 9,774.[2]

Today, the population is entirely Muslim, with the exception of one Christian monk residing in the Monastery of St. George.

Culture

Religious sites

The Orthodox Christian Monastery of St. George and Solomon's Pools are located in al-Khader and are main tourist attractions.[18] Palestinian Christians from Bethlehem, Beit Sahour and Beit Jala and Muslims from al-Khader flock to the monastery to celebrate the Feast of Saint George in early May. Solomon's Pools, named after Suleiman the Magnificent the tenth Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, were built by the Romans under Herod the Great to provide water for the aqueduct built to supply water to Bethlehem and Jerusalem where it terminated under the Al-Aqsa Mosque.[19] Al-Khader's main and oldest mosque is the al-Hamadiyya Mosque. According to the International Middle East Media Center, in 2007, it was burned down by Israeli settlers. The mosque is about 700 years old and was restored by the Tourism Ministry of the Palestinian National Authority.[20]

Cultural festivals

An outside view of Al-Khader Stadium

Al-Khader is also well known in the area for its peaches, grapes and apples. It hosts its annual Grape Festival every September. The festival was initiated by the al-Khader municipality to promote the town's primary agricultural product, grapes. Other exhibitions held at the festival include one on embroidery and knitting, a local heritage exhibition of mills, grinders, and harvest tools, and an exhibition of home-made grape products such as dibs (molasses made from grapes).[21] Al-Khader Stadium which holds a capacity of 6,000 is located in the town.

Government

Al-Khader is governed by a municipal council of thirteen members including the mayor. In the 2005 municipal elections, the Hamas-affiliated Reform list won the most seats (five), while the Fatah-affiliated Falasteen al-Ghad list won four seats. Two independent lists — Al-Aqsa and Abnaa al-Balad — each won two seats.[22]

References

  1. ↑ or “The green old man”, Palmer, 1881, pp. 299, 28
  2. 1 2 2007 PCBS Census Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p.117.
  3. ↑ Al-Khader Old Core. The Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation.
  4. ↑ Drews, Robert. (1993). The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe Ca. 1200 BC Princeton University Press, p.189. ISBN 0-691-02591-6.
  5. ↑ Sennott, Charles M. (2001). The Body and the Blood: The Holy Land's Christians at the Turn of a New Millennium : a Reporter's Journey PublicAffairs, p.397. ISBN 1-891620-95-9.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 26
  7. ↑ Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 2, p. 325
  8. ↑ Guérin, 1869, pp. 310-312
  9. ↑ Palestinians, Israelis and Internationals `armed` with grapes arrested and beaten near Bethlehem International Solidarity Movement. 2006-08-10.
  10. ↑ 'Land threatened by settler outpost near Bethlehem,' Ma'an News Agency 11 April 2015.
  11. ↑ Kark, Ruth. (2001). Jerusalem and Its Environs: Quarters, Neighborhoods, Villages, 1800-1948 Wayne State University Press, p. 199. ISBN 0-8143-2909-8.
  12. ↑ Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Bethlehem, p. 18
  13. ↑ Mills, 1932, p. 36
  14. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 57
  15. ↑ Perlmann, Joel (November 2011 – February 2012). "The 1967 Census of the West Bank and Gaza Strip: A Digitized Version" (PDF). Levy Economics Institute. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
  16. ↑ Palestinian Population by Locality, Sex and Age Groups in Years Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).
  17. ↑ Palestinian Population by Locality and Refugee Status Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).
  18. ↑ al-Khader Centre of Cultural Heritage of Preservation.
  19. ↑ Solomon's Pools Bethlehem Homepage, Geocities. Archived 2009-10-24.
  20. ↑ Mosque near Bethlehem burned down by Israeli settlers Bannoura, Said, International Middle East Media Center. 2008-01-02. Archived January 6, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  21. ↑ The Grape Festival Centre of Cultural Heritage of Preservation.
  22. ↑ Local Elections (Round Three)- Successful lists by local authority and No. of votes obtained Central Elections Commission - Palestine, p.9.

Bibliography

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External links

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