Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate
The Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate () 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 capital or ''muhfaza'' (seat) is the city of ...
, located east of
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 ...
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 ...
,
Palestine
Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
. 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 ...
(PCBS), the town had a population of 2,047 inhabitants in the 2017 census.
Location
Burqa is located (horizontally) east of
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 ...
. It is bordered by
Deir Dibwan
Deir Dibwan () is a Palestinian city in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate in the central West Bank east of Ramallah. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics the town had a population of 4,169 inhabitants in 2017. There were 5 ...
to the east and north,
Beitin
Beitin () is a Palestinian village in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate in the central West Bank, located northeast of Ramallah along the Ramallah-Nablus road. The Palestinian village of Dura al-Qar' and Ein Yabrud lie to the north, Ramm ...
to the north,
Al-Bireh
Al-Bireh, al-Birah, or el-Bira (; also known historically as Castrum Mahomeria, Magna Mahomeria, Mahomeria Major, Birra, or Beirothah) is a city in the central West Bank, north of Jerusalem. It is the capital of the Ramallah and al-Bireh Gove ...
to the west, and
Mukhmas
Mukhmas () is a Palestinian territories, Palestinian village in the Jerusalem Governorate, located northeast of Jerusalem, in the center of the West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 1,36 ...
and
Kafr 'Aqab
Kafr 'Aqab () is the northernmost Palestinian people, Palestinian Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem. It is part of the area annexed and included in municipal Jerusalem following its occupation by Israel in 1967. This area includes an additional ...
Nahiya
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 ...
Quds
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the oldest cities in the world, and is considered holy to the three major Abrahamic religions—Juda ...
. It had a population of 28
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 ...
households. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on various agricultural products, including wheat, barley, olives, fruit trees, goats and/or beehives; a total of 4,940
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 1838 Edward Robinson noted it as a Muslim village, ''Burka'', located in the area immediately north of Jerusalem,Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 3, 2nd appendix, p 122 /ref> seeing it "high up on the hill-side".
In 1863
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 ...
found it to contain about thirty houses. A Muslim
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 ...
devoted to
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 ...
''Youseph'' was also noted.
An Ottoman village list from about 1870 showed that ''Burka'' had a population of 152, with a total of 31 houses, though the population count included men, only. 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 Burkah as "a good-sized village standing high on a bare hillside, with a spring in the valley to the south."
In 1896 the population of Burka was estimated to be about 270 people.
British Mandate of Palestine
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, Burqa had a population of 268, all Muslims, increasing in the 1931 census, to 320, still all Muslim, in 66 houses.Mills, 1932, p 48
In the 1945 statistics, the population was 380, all Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p 26 /ref> while the total land area was 6,001
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, 1,297 dunams were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 2,460 for cereals, while 22 dunams were classified as built-up areas.
Jordanian era
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 582 inhabitants.
1967 and aftermath
Since the
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, Burqa has been under
Israeli occupation
Israel has occupied the Golan Heights of Syria and the Palestinian territories since the Six-Day War of 1967. It has previously occupied the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt and southern Lebanon as well. Prior to 1967, control of the Palestinian terr ...
.
After the 1995 accords, 8.5% of the village land was defined as Area B land, while the remaining 91.5% was defined 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 ...
. Israel has confiscated land from Burqa for the construction of 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 ...
Migron, Mateh Binyamin
Migron () is an Israeli outpost in the West Bank, located within 2 km of a former outpost by the same name, that was relocated to its present site on 2 September 2012. The outpost was located 14 kilometers north of Jerusalem, it fell under ...
was located east of Burqa, on land registered as privately owned by inhabitants of Burqa and
Deir Dibwan
Deir Dibwan () is a Palestinian city in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate in the central West Bank east of Ramallah. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics the town had a population of 4,169 inhabitants in 2017. There were 5 ...
. In 2012 Migron was evacuated and since then the area is deserted.
The village often experiences harassment from settlers that includes armed invasions of the village and attacks on residents,burning cars and houses and destruction of crops and livestock. In August 2023, a resident of the village was killed by a settler who entered with a herd a private field belonging to the local resident.
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 ...
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 ...
