Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
, administratively part of the
Rif Dimashq Governorate
Rif Dimashq Governorate (, Literal translation, lit. "Damascus Countryside Governorate" or "Damascus Suburb") is one of the fourteen Governorates of Syria, governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in the southwestern part of the country. ...
, located southwest of
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 ...
. Nearby localities include
Sa'sa'
Sa'sa' (, ) was a Palestinian village, located 12 kilometres northwest of Safed, that was depopulated by Israeli forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The village suffered two massacres committed by Haganah forces: one in mid-February 1948 and ...
Zakiyah
Zakyah () is a Syrian town located in Markaz Rif Dimashq, Rif Dimashq. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Zakiyah had a population of 18,553 in the 2004 census.
History
In 1838, Eli Smith noted Zakyah's population being ...
Jubb al-Safa
Jubb al-Safa (; also spelled Jeb Safa) is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the Markaz Rif Dimashq District of the Rif Dimashq Governorate, located just east of Damascus. Nearby localities include al-Buwaydah to the southeast, ...
to the east,
Ghabaghib
Ghabaghib ( ''Ġabāġib''; also spelled ''Ghabagheb'') is a town in southern Syria, administratively part of the Daraa Governorate, located north of Daraa. Nearby localities include Muthabin to the southeast, al-Sanamayn to the south, Deir al- ...
Deir al-Adas
Deir al-Adas ( ) is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the Daraa Governorate. It is situated about 40 kilometers northwest of Daraa. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), it had a population of 3,723.Jabah to the southwest. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Kanaker had a population of 13,950 at the 2004 census, making it the largest locality in the ''
nahiyah
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 Sa'sa'.General Census of Population and Housing 2004 Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Rif Dimashq Governorate. Kanaker marks the western boundary of the
Marj al-Suffar
Marj al-Saffar or Marj al-Suffar ( ') is a large plain to the south of Damascus. Marj al-Saffar is bounded to the north by the right bank of the al-A'waj river, which flows from Mount Hermon to the Sabkhat al-Hijana. In the south the plain is bound ...
plain, south of the right bank of the
al-A'waj
The Awaj ( ''Nahr al-A‘waj'', literally 'crooked') is a river in Syria. It rises on the eastern slopes of Mount Hermon near Arnah, flows east for to the south of Damascus and terminates in the Buhairat al-Hijanah.
The Awaj is usually identifie ...
river. Its inhabitants are predominantly
Sunni Muslims
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...
.
History
In 1838,
Eli Smith
Eli Smith (September 13, 1801 – January 11, 1857) was an American Protestant missionary and scholar.
Biography
Smith was born in Northford, Connecticut, to Eli and Polly (née Whitney) Smith. He graduated from Yale College in 1821 and from A ...
noted Kanaker's population as being
Sunni Muslims
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...
.
Kanaker was settled by
Druze
The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...
from
Mount Lebanon
Mount Lebanon (, ; , ; ) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It is about long and averages above in elevation, with its peak at . The range provides a typical alpine climate year-round.
Mount Lebanon is well-known for its snow-covered mountains, ...
in 1862 and by 1867, the Abu Ras family, a prominent Druze clan and ally of the
al-Atrash
The al-Atrash ( ), also known as Bani al-Atrash, is a Druze clan based in Jabal Hauran in southwestern Syria. The family's name ''al-atrash'' is Arabic for "the deaf" and derives from one the family's deaf patriarchs. The al-Atrash clan mig ...
family, had gained control of the village. When the chief of the al-Atrash, Ismail Pasha, stayed a night at Kanaker, he massacred its Christian inhabitants before launching an attack on the Christian forces of the Shihab dynasty at
Rashaya
Rashaya, Rachaya, Rashaiya, Rashayya or Rachaiya (), also known as Rashaya al-Wadi or Rachaya el-Wadi (and variations), is a town of the Rashaya District in the west of the Beqaa Government of Lebanon. It is situated at around above sea level ...
in Lebanon. Kanaker continued to be inhabited by Druze through 1883 and a certain time beyond.
During the Syrian civil war, on 27 July 2011, the Syrian human rights groups reported that eight or eleven people were killed during a
Syrian Army
The Syrian Army is the land force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. Up until the fall of the Assad regime, the Syrian Arab Army existed as a land force branch of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces, which dominanted the military service of the fo ...
raid in Kanaker and about 250 people were arrested. Four tanks and a bulldozer reportedly entered the village while another 14 tanks surrounded the place. The rebels surrendered the village in December 2016 and turned themselves in to the Syrian Army. In exchange, they had their status legalized.More Than a Thousand Persons Receive Legal Status in Damascus ''Prensa Latina''. 2011-12-13.
Kanakri family
Some Jordanians from 3 villages in the north of the country, Irbid province (Kharja, Saham and Al nu'aimah) have the surname Kanakri. This relates them to Kanaker. These families migrated from Kanaker-Syria down south to Jordan in the 19th century before the two countries had been issuing their independence and new borders.
Of note, some of the families that migrated to present-day Jordan, are from Damascus proper.