Qira, Salfit

Qira (Arabic: قيره‎) is a Palestinian town located in the Salfit Governorate in the northern West Bank, 19 kilometers southwest of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, it had a population of approximately 1,143 in 2007.[3]

For other places with the same name, see Qira.
Qira
Municipality type D (Village council)
Arabic transcription(s)
 • Arabicقيره
 • LatinQira (official)
Qira
Location of Qira within Palestine
Coordinates: 32°07′19″N 35°10′18″E
Palestine grid166/169
StateState of Palestine
GovernorateSalfit
Government
 • TypeVillage council
Elevation470 m (1,540 ft)
Population
 (2007)
 • Total1,143
Name meaningPitch[2]

Location

Qira is located 4.2 kilometers (2.6 mi) north of Salfit. It is bordered by Jamma'in and Marda to the east, Kifl Haris and Marda to the south, Kifl Haris to the west, and Zeita Jamma'in to the north.[1]

History

Pottery sherds from the Iron Age I - II, Persian, Hellenistic/Roman have been found here,[4] as has sherds from the Byzantine[5] and Crusader/Ayyubid eras.[4]

During the Crusader period, Diya' al-Din (1173–1245) writes that there was a Muslim population in the village.[6][7] He also noted that followers of Ibn Qudamah lived here.[8]

Sherds from the Mamluk era have also been found here.[4]

Ottoman era

In 1517, the village was included in the Ottoman empire with the rest of Palestine, and it appeared in the 1596 tax-records as Qira, located in the Nahiya of Jabal Qubal of the Liwa of Nablus. The population was 8 households and 1 bachelor, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, goats and beehives and a press for olive oil or grape syrup, in addition to occasional revenues and a fixed tax for people of Nablus area; a total of 2,000 akçe.[9] Sherds from the early Ottoman era have been found here.[4]

In 1838, Edward Robinson noted it as a village, Kireh, in the Jurat Merda district, south of Nablus.[10]

In 1870, Victor Guérin noted Kireh on a hill partly covered with olives, and having "barely a hundred and forty inhabitants".[11]

In 1882, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described Kireh as: "A moderate village on high ground, with a chapel venerated by the Moslems, but named after the Virgin Mary. The water supply is from a pool.[12]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Qireh had a population of 87 Muslims,[13] increasing in the 1931 census to 102 Muslims in 28 occupied houses.[14]

In the 1945 statistics the population was 140 Muslims[15] while the total land area was 2,249 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[16] Of this, 475 were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 1,145 for cereals,[17] while 14 dunams were classified as built-up areas.[18]

Jordanian era

In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Qira came under Jordanian rule.

The Jordanian census of 1961 found 259 inhabitants.[19]

Post-1967

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Qira has been under Israeli occupation.

After the 1995 accords, 97.6 % of village land is defined as Area B land, while the remaining 2.4 % is Area C. The Segregation Wall established around Ariel settlement isolates Qira from Salfit and neighboring villages, leading Qira residents to take alternative longer routes to reach Salfit.[20]

References
  1. Qira Village Profile, ARIJ, p. 4
  2. Palmer, 1881, p. 237
  3. 2007 PCBS Census Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p. 112.
  4. Finkelstein et al, 1997, p. 472
  5. Dauphin, 1998, p. 808
  6. Ellenblum, 2003, p. 244
  7. Talmon-Heller, 2002, p. 132
  8. Drory, 1988, p. 97
  9. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 133
  10. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 127
  11. Guérin, 1875, p. 173
  12. Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 285
  13. Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Nablus, p. 25
  14. Mills, 1932, p. 64
  15. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 19
  16. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 60
  17. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 107
  18. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 157
  19. Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 26
  20. Qira Village Profile, ARIJ, p. 16

Bibliography
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