Abu Tor with view of al-Aqsa mosqueAbu TorLower Abu TorUpper Abu Tor
Abu Tor, alsoAbu Thor orath-Thori, (Hebrew:אבו תור;Arabic:أبو طور or الثوري, lit. Arabic meaning "Father of the Bull"; In Hebrew also calledגבעת חנניה (Giv'at Hanania), lit. "Hananiah's hill") is a mixed Jewish and Arab neighborhood inEast Jerusalem, built on a prominence south of theOld City.[1]
Geography
Abu Tor is bounded by theValley of Hinnom on the north, by the Valley of Azal (Wadi Yasul/Nahal Azal) on the south,Hebron Road and the oldJerusalem Railway Station to the west, and the Sherover Promenade,Armon HaNetziv andPeace Forest to the south.[2] The "official" Hebrew name of the neighborhood isGivat Hananya ("Hananya's Hill").[3]
Etymology
A house on Hebron Road, near Abu Tor
According to a traditional story, during theAyyubid period afterSaladin captured Jerusalem in 1187, the area of Abu Tor was assigned byAl-Aziz Uthman to an officer in Saladin's army.[4][5] His name was Sheikh Shehab ed Din, but he was called "Sheikh Ahmed et Toreh" (Sheikh Ahmed of the bull) or "Abu Tor" (the man with the bull, or the father of the bull) as he was said to have accompanied Saladin riding on a bull.[4][6][7]
Location
The hill on which Abu Tor stands was called "Jebel Deir Abu Tor" (mountain of the monastery of Abu Tor), or the "Hill of Evil Counsel", referring to a legend that it was the site of the house ofCaiaphas, whereJudas plotted to betray Jesus.[7] A monastery or convent dedicated to St. Mark (whose emblem was an ox) may have once been there.[7][8]
History
Late Ottoman period
Abu Tor was developed as a residential quarter in the late 19th century by Muslim and Christian Arabs from Jerusalem.[9] A Jewish neighborhood called Beit Yosef was established in 1888.[9]
British Mandate
Abu Tor was incorporated into the Jerusalem municipal district during the British Mandate period.[10]
Israel
From the establishment ofIsrael in 1948 until 1967, the border between Israel andJordan ran through Abu Tor.[11] The first four roads beyond Hebron Road were Israeli and the remaining roads were Jordanian.[2] In January 1949, Israel and Jordan, represented byMoshe Dayan andAbdullah el-Tell, held talks on the status of Jerusalem. Dayan presented the partition of Jerusalem as a common interest, and offered an exchange of territories that included the military post in Abu Tor, but his offer was turned down.[12]
Demography
Abu Tor is one of the few Jerusalem neighborhoods with a mixed Arab and Jewish population. Due to its mixed population, many journalists, diplomats and United Nations employees choose to live there.[13] While the Jewish section of Abu Tor is predominantly secular, the neighborhood has two synagogues - Har Refaim Synagogue forAshkenazi Jews on Nachshon Street,[14] and Shalom V'Achva Synagogue forSephardi Jews.Abu Tor had a population of 15,500 in 2010.[15]
Urban development
A large multiplex cinema, the Sherover complex, is located in Abu Tor.[16] The center, just off Hebron Road, houses seven movie theaters, coffee shops and restaurants, an auditorium, a library, classrooms and art galleries.[17] The complex, which began operating in 2015, also screens films on the Sabbath.[18]
^Ruth Kark and Shimon Landman (1980). "The establishment of Muslim neighbourhoods in Jerusalem, outside the old city, during the late Ottoman period".Palestine Exploration Quarterly.112 (2):113–135.doi:10.1179/peq.1980.112.2.113.
^abA. Arnon (1992). "The Quarters of Jerusalem in the Ottoman Period".Middle Eastern Studies.28:1–65.doi:10.1080/00263209208700889.
^Ruth Kark and Michal Oren-Nordheim (1996). "Colonial cities in Palestine? Jerusalem under the British Mandate".Israel Affairs.3 (2):50–94.doi:10.1080/13537129608719419.
