Khirbet Abu Falah ( ar, خربة ابو فلاح, translates to "Ruins of the Farmer's Father") 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 ...

village in the

Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate The Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate ( ar, محافظة رام الله والبيرة ') is one of 16 governorates of Palestine. It covers a large part of the central West Bank, on the northern border of the Jerusalem Governorate. Its district ...

, located north of

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ar, رام الله, , God's Height) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the ''de facto'' administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusale ...

in the central

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 ...

(PCBS), the village had a population of 4,237 in the 2007 census.2007 PCBS Census
.

. p. 113.

Geography

Khirbet Abu Falah is situated in a hilly area in the central highlands of the

and has an average elevation of 743 meters above sea level. It is located 15.7 kilometers northeast of

. The nearest localities are al-Mazraa al-Sharqiyah to the southwest, Turmus Ayya to the north, al-Mughayyir to the east and

Kafr Malik Kafr Malik ( ar, كفر مالك) is a Palestinian town in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate, located 17 kilometers Northeast of Ramallah in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town h ...

to the south.

History

Potsherds from the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

and

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 ...

eras have been found here.Finkelstein et al. 1997, p. 593 In 1970, Prawer and Benvenisti identified Khirbet Abu-Falah with the Crusader place called ''Caphrapalos'', however, this identification was rejected by

Israel Finkelstein Israel Finkelstein ( he, ישראל פינקלשטיין, born March 29, 1949) is an Israeli archaeologist, professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University and the head of the School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures at the University of Haifa. Fin ...

.Finkelstein et al. 1997, p. 594

Ottoman era

Potsherd from the early Ottoman era was found, but Finkelstein finds the identification "questionable." The modern village was re–founded in the 18th century. Prior to becoming a permanent settlement, it was ''khirba'' i.e. a temporary settlement. Khirbet Abu Falah became a permanent village when the Jaradat and Shu'man clans moved there from al-Mazraa al-Sharqiya as a result of a dispute with other clans in that village. The village was named after one of its leaders, Abu Falah. In 1838 ''Abu Felah'' was noted as a

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

village, part of the ''Beni Salim'' district, located east of Jerusalem. An Ottoman village list from about 1870 showed the village, called ''Chirbet abu-fellah'', had a population of 265, with a total of 58 houses, though the population count only included men. It also noted it was located SE of Turmus Ayya. 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 Survey of Western Palestine and in 1880 for the Survey of Eastern Palestine. The survey was carried out after the ...

'' (SWP) described it as: "a small

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

on high ground, with ruins." They further noted, that it: "appears to be an ancient site;

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 ...

s and an ancient birkeh, partly of good-sized masonry and partly cut in rock, exist here, with foundations. The place is still inhabited." In 1896 the population of ''Chirbet abu felah'' was estimated to be about 816 people.

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 divisi ...

conducted by the British Mandate authorities, the village had a population of 519, all

s,Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Ramallah, p.
17
/ref> increasing slightly in the 1931 census where Khirbet Abu Falah had a population of 588, in 125 houses.Mills, 1932,
47
/ref> In the 1945 statistics the population was 710, all Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p
26
/ref> while the total land area was 8,186

dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; tr, dönüm; he, דונם), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area equivalent to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amount ...

s, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 3,080 were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 1,615 for cereals, while 19 dunams were classified as built-up (urban) areas.

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,Jordanian rule. The Jordanian census of 1961 found 1,057 inhabitants.

1967-present

Since 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 ...

in 1967, Khirbet Abu Falah 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 ...

. After the 1995 accords, 99.7% of village land was classified as

Area B The Palestinian enclaves are areas in the West Bank designated for Palestinians under a variety of Israeli–Palestinian peace process, U.S. and Israeli-led proposals to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The enclaves are Israel and aparthe ...

, the remaining 0.3% as Area C.Khirbet Abu Falah Village Profile
ARIJ, p. 16 In 1998, a

village council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

was established to administer Khirbet Abu Falah's civil affair. The council has nine members appointed by the

Palestinian National Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,

. The council is also included in the Joint Services Council, which is a cooperative board that also includes the villages of al-Mazraa al-Sharqiya,

and al-Mughayyir.

Demographics

Khirbet Abu Falah had a population of 2,900 in the 1997 census by the

(PCBS).

Palestinian refugees Palestinian refugees are citizens of Mandatory Palestine, and their descendants, who fled or were expelled from their country over the course of the 1947–49 Palestine war (1948 Palestinian exodus) and the Six-Day War (1967 Palestinian exodu ...

and their descendants accounted for 1.4% of the inhabitants.. 1997 Census.

(PCBS). 1999. In the 2007 PCBS census, Khirbet Abu Falah's population grew to 3,966. The number of households was 620, with each household containing an average of between six and seven members. Women made up 49% of the population and men 51%. The population is Muslim and there are three mosques in the village: the Old Mosque, the Eastern Mosque, and the Abu Ubeidah Mosque. The principal clans of Khirbet Abu Falah are Abu Murrah, Abu Falah, Al Fuqaha', Nazel, As Saraseer and Abu Hayyah. Since 2000, five families have emigrated from the village.

Economy

The largest source of employment in Khirbet Abu Falah is the services sector, which accounts for about 50% of the village's labor force. Other major sectors are government or professional employment (20%), agriculture (17%) and trade (10%). Industry, which accounts for 3% of Khirbet Abu Falah's labor, largely revolves around the local stone masonry industry. There are three quarries, 30 grocery stores, two produce stores, three butcheries and three professional workshops in the village. In 2011, the unemployment rate in Khirbet Abu Falah was 20%. The village has a total area of 8,245

s. Built-up areas make up 8.4% of the village's land, while cultivable areas and open spaces constitute 56.4% and 35.1%, respectively. Of the cultivable areas, 3,981 dunams are planted with permanent crops, mainly olive trees and grains. About 5% of Khirbet Abu Falah's residents raise livestock and together own 835 sheep and 549 goats.

References

Bibliography

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

External links

Welcome To Khirbat Abu Falah
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 14:
IAAWikimedia commonsKhirbet Abu Falah 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)
Khirbet Abu Falah Village Profile
ARIJ
Khirbet Abu Falah, aerial photo
ARIJ

{{Authority control Villages in the West Bank Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate Municipalities of the State of Palestine