Ras Abu 'Ammar رأس أبو عمار | |
|---|---|
 Ras Abu 'Ammar 1948 | |
| Etymology: The hill top of Abu Ammar[1] | |
.jpg) 1870s map.jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map.jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Ras Abu 'Ammar (click the buttons) | |
  Ras Abu 'Ammar Location withinMandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates:31°44′17″N35°05′33″E / 31.73806°N 35.09250°E /31.73806; 35.09250 | |
| Palestine grid | 158/127 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Jerusalem |
| Date of depopulation | October 21, 1948[4] |
| Area | |
• Total | 8,342dunams (8.342 km2; 3.221 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
• Total | 620[2][3] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault byYishuv forces |
| Current Localities | Tzur Hadassah[5] |
Ras Abu 'Ammar (Arabic:رأس أبو عمار) was a smallPalestinianArab village in theJerusalem Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the1948 Arab-Israeli War on October 21, 1948, by theHar'el Brigade ofOperation ha-Har. It was located 14 km west ofJerusalem, surrounded on three sides by the Wadi al-Sarar.
Ras Abu 'Ammar is thought to have been established in the 19th century.[6]
The nearbyKh. Kafr Sum have remains from theCrusader era, including a court-yard building and rock-cutcisterns. A tower to the south east was later turned intoMaqam ash-sheikh Musafar.[7]Victor Guérin noted that: "There are a lot of rickety houses, which are built of small, almost unhewn stones, near onewaly, which stands in the shade of a mulberry tree of several hundreds years old. Not far from it there is a semicircle swimming pool, built in a crude way". And further: "A large structure, partly built of ancient stones with typical projection, served as amosque, as we can tell from the presence of themihrab in it. It is very likely that the structure had stood before theMuslims settled here, and they just adopted it for their cult".[8]
The SWP described it as "a small stone village on a hill; to the east in a small valley is a good spring, with a rock-cut tomb beside it."[9]
In 1838, bothet-Ras andKefr Sur were noted as villages in theel-Arkub district, southwest of Jerusalem.[10][11]
In 1863Victor Guérin was pointed out on a mountain the small village of Ras Abu 'Ammar, which high position had given its name.[12]
AnOttoman village list from around 1870 showed thatRas Abu Ammar had 6 (?) houses and a population of 92, though the population count only included men.[13][14]
In 1883, thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Ras (Abu 'Ammar) as "a large stone village on a spur, with a fine spring in the valley to the north-west. The hill has only a little scrub on it, but the valley, which is open and rather flat, has olives in it."[15]
In 1896 the population of Ras Abu 'Ammar was estimated to be about 279 persons.[16]
In the1922 census of Palestine conducted by theBritish Mandate authorities, Ras Abu Ammar had a population 339, all Muslims,[17] increasing in the1931 census when it was counted withAqqur andEin Hubin, to 488, in 106 houses.[18]
In the1945 statistics, the village, with a population of 620 Muslims,[2] had 8,342dunams of land according to an official land and population survey.[3] Of the land, 925 dunams were plantations and irrigable land 2,791 were for cereals,[19] while 40 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[20]
On 4 August, 1948, two weeks into theSecond truce of the1948 Arab–Israeli War,Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestinian nationalistAmin al Husseini noted that ‘for two weeks now . . . the Jews have continued with their attacks on the Arab villages and outposts in all areas. Stormy battles are continuing in the villages ofSataf,Deiraban,Beit Jimal, Ras Abu ‘Amr,‘Aqqur, and‘Artuf . . .’[21]
The village was depopulated on October 21, 1948.[4] The area was later incorporated into theState of Israel and the village ofTzur Hadassah was established on Ras Abu 'Ammar land in 1960.[5]
In 1992 the village site was described: "The stone rubble of the village houses is strewn across the site. Wild vegetation grows among the debris, in addition to almond, olive, and carob trees. Cactuses grow on the southeastern and southwestern sides of the site; a two-room stone building that used to be the schoolhouse still stands to the southeast."[5]
