Deir al-'Asal al-Fauqa

Deir al-'Asal al-Fauqa (Arabic: دير العسل الفوقا‎) is a Palestinian town located sixteen kilometers west of Hebron.The town is in the Hebron Governorate Southern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of over 1,600 in 2007.[1]

Deir al-'Asal al-Fauqa
Municipality type D (Village council)
Arabic transcription(s)
 • Arabicدير العسل الفوقا
Deir al-'Asal al-Fauqa
Deir al-'Asal al-Fauqa
Location of Deir al-'Asal al-Fauqa within Palestine
Coordinates: 31°28′07″N 34°56′17″E
Palestine grid144/097
StateState of Palestine
GovernorateHebron
Government
 • TypeVillage council
Population
 (2007)
 • Total1,600

Etymology

According to Palmer, the name Deir el ’Asl means "the monastery of honey".[2]

History

Ceramics from the Byzantine era have been found here.[3]

Ottoman era

In 1838, a Deir el-'Asl was noted as a place "in ruins or deserted," part of the area between the mountains and Gaza, but subject to the government of el-Khulil.[4][5]

In 1863 Victor Guérin noted "considerable ruins" at Khirbet Deir el-A'sal. There were ruined houses at each step he walked, and he found cisterns, silos and underground stores, dug into the rock, "probably dating back to ancient times".[6]

In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Palestine found here "foundations, and heaps of stones, caves, cisterns, and a ruined chapel, apparently Byzantine."[7]

British Mandate era

At the time of the 1931 census of Palestine the population of the village, called Kh. Der el Asal el Gharbiya, was counted under Dura.[8]

Jordanian era

In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Deir al-'Asal al-Fauqa came under Jordanian rule.

In 1961, the population of Deir al-'Asal al-Fauqa was 282.[9]

1967, aftermath

After the Six-Day War, Deir al-'Asal al-Fauqa has been under Israeli occupation.

In March 2013, Yusef a-Shawamreh, a 14-year-old from the village, who went with two others through the Israeli West Bank barrier near the village to pick Akub on part of his family’s land west of the barrier, was shot to death by Israeli soldiers, stationed to prevent unauthorized passage through the barrier. According to an IDF investigation, a-Shawamreh and his partners made a hole in the fence before passing. After passing through the fence the soldiers called them to stop. When they tried to escape, the soldiers shot towards a-Shawamreh's leg but mistakenly hit his waist, causing his death. Therefore, the soldiers were not prosecuted. B'Tselem criticized this decision, claiming that a-Shawamreh was shot without warning, and that, in any event, the decision to put soldiers in ambush near the fence and shoot those who pass was illegal.[10][11][12][13]

Footnotes
  1. 2007 PCBS Census Archived December 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p.118.
  2. Palmer, 1881, p. 392
  3. Dauphin, 1998, p. 963
  4. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, p. 6
  5. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 117
  6. Guérin, 1869, pp. 346-347: "...nous avons a notre droite des ruines considérables, dont le nom est Khirbet Deir el-A'sal. Elle sont disséminées sur les flancs et sur plateau d'une petite montagne rocheuse. En les explorant, je heurte a chaque pas, au milieu de broussailles plus on moins épaisses, des vestiges d'habitations détruites. Des citernes, des silos et des magasins souterrains, creusés dans le roc, remontent vraisemblablement à une haute antiquité."
  7. Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 328
  8. Mills, 1932, p. 30
  9. Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 22
  10. Nothing short of a war crime Mar. 28, 2014 Haaretz
  11. The bitter anniversary of Yusuf Shawamreh’s death
  12. Israeli forces kill Palestinian teen in southern West Bank
  13. WhatsApp messages show Israeli soldiers knew they were about to kill a child, 21 June 2015, Patrick Strickland

Bibliography
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