Deir al-'Asal al-Fauqa ( ar, دير العسل الفوقا) 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 located sixteen kilometers west of

Hebron Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after East J ...

.The town is in the

Hebron Governorate The Hebron Governorate ( ar, محافظة الخليل, Muḥāfaẓat al-Ḫalīl) is an administrative district of Palestine in the southern West Bank. The governorate's land area is and its population according to the Palestinian Central Bur ...

Southern

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. According to the

Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS; ar, الجهاز المركزي للإحصاء الفلسطيني) is the official statistical institution of the State of Palestine. Its main task is to provide credible statistical figures a ...

, the town had a population of 1,859 in 2017.

Etymology

According to

Palmer Palmer may refer to: People and fictional characters * Palmer (pilgrim), a medieval European pilgrim to the Holy Land * Palmer (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Palmer (surname), including a list of people and ...

, the name ''Deir el ’Asl'' means "the monastery of honey".

History

Ceramics from the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

era have been found here.

Ottoman era

In 1838, a ''Deir el-'Asl'' was noted as a place "in ruins or deserted," part of the area between the mountains and Gaza, but subject to the government of

el-Khulil Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after East J ...

.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, p.
6
/ref>Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p.
117
/ref> In 1863

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 Mino ...

noted "considerable ruins" at ''Khirbet Deir el-A'sal''. There were ruined houses at each step he walked, and he found

cistern A cistern (Middle English ', from Latin ', from ', "box", from Greek ', "basket") is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by t ...

silo A silo (from the Greek σιρός – ''siros'', "pit for holding grain") is a structure for storing bulk materials. Silos are used in agriculture to store fermented feed known as silage, not to be confused with a grain bin, which is used t ...

s and underground stores, dug into the rock, "probably dating back to ancient times". In 1883, the PEF's

Survey of Palestine The Survey of Palestine was the government department responsible for the Cartography of Palestine, survey and mapping of Palestine during the Mandatory Palestine, British mandate period. The survey department was established in 1920 in Jaffa, ...

found here "foundations, and heaps of stones, caves,

s, and a ruined chapel, apparently

."Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p
328
/ref>

British Mandate era

At the time of the

1931 census of Palestine The 1931 census of Palestine was the second census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate for Palestine. It was carried out on 18 November 1931 under the direction of Major E. Mills after the 1922 census of Palestine. * Census of P ...

the population of the village, called K''h. Der el Asal el Gharbiy''a, was counted under

Dura Dura may also refer to: Đura such as, for example, Đura Bajalović Geography * Dura language, a critically endangered language of Nepal * Dura, Africa, an ancient city and former bishopric, now a Catholic titular see * Dura-Europos, an ancient c ...

.Mills, 1932, p
30
/ref>

Jordanian era

In the wake of the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...

, and after the

1949 Armistice Agreements The 1949 Armistice Agreements were signed between Israel and Egypt,Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

ian rule. In 1961, the population of Deir al-'Asal al-Fauqa was 282.

1967, aftermath

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 world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...

, Deir al-'Asal al-Fauqa 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 to a ...

. In March 2013, Yusef a-Shawamreh, a 14-year-old from the village, who went with two others through the

Israeli West Bank barrier The Israeli West Bank barrier, comprising the West Bank Wall and the West Bank fence, is a separation barrier built by Israel along the Green Line and inside parts of the West Bank. It is a contentious element of the Israeli–Palestinian c ...

near the village to pick Akub on part of his family's land west of the barrier, was shot to death by Israeli soldiers, stationed to prevent unauthorized passage through the barrier. According to an

IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces * Irish Defence Forces * Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 * Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations * Israeli Diving Federation * Interac ...

investigation, a-Shawamreh and his partners made a hole in the fence before passing. After passing through the fence the soldiers called them to stop. When they tried to escape, the soldiers shot towards a-Shawamreh's leg but mistakenly hit his waist, causing his death. Therefore, the soldiers were not prosecuted.

B'Tselem B'Tselem ( he, בצלם, , " in the image of od) is a Jerusalem-based non-profit organization whose stated goals are to document human rights violations in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, combat any denial of the existence of su ...

criticized this decision, claiming that a-Shawamreh was shot without warning, and that, in any event, the decision to put soldiers in ambush near the fence and shoot those who pass was illegal.WhatsApp messages show Israeli soldiers knew they were about to kill a child
21 June 2015, Patrick Strickland

Footnotes

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * (p. 110)

External links

Deir al 'Asal al Fauqa village (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 project ...

(ARIJ)
Deir al 'Asal al Fauqa village profile
ARIJ
Deir al 'Asal al Fauqa Village aerial photo
ARIJ *Survey of Western Palestine, Map 21:
IAAWikimedia commons
{{Authority control Villages in the West Bank Hebron Governorate Municipalities of the State of Palestine