Welcome To al-Burayj - البريج (אל-בריג')

District of Jerusalem Ethnically cleansed days ago	العربية Google Earth
	Gallery (12)

Statistic & Fact

Value

Occupation Date

October 19, 1948

Distance From District

28.5 (km) West of Jerusalem

Elevation

250 (meters)

Before & After Nakba, Click Map For Details

Pre-Nakba Map showing before and after destruction

Pre-Nakba Aerial View

Map Location

See location #32 on the map

View from satellite

Military Operation

First phase of Operation ha-Har

Exodus Cause

Military assault by Zionist troops

Village Temains

al-Burayj was mostly destroyed and defaced.

Ethnically Cleansing

al-Burayj inhabitants were completely ethnically cleansed.

Pre-Nakba
Land Ownership

Ethnic Group	Land Ownership (Dunums)*
Arab	18,856
Jewish	0
Public	124
**Total	19,080

*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics
**Town Lands' Demarcation Maps

Land Usage
As of 1945

Land Usage	Arab (Dunum)*
Citrus Groves	31
Irrigated & Plantation	77
Olive Groves	88
Planted W/ Cereal	9,426
Built up	14
Arable	9,534
Non-Arable	9,532

*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics

Population

Year	Population*
1922	382
1945	720
1948	835
Est. Refugees 1998	5,129

*Sourced from British Mandate's Village Statisitics

Number of Houses

Year	Number of Houses
1931	132

Near By Towns

Qazaza ↖	Bayt Far, Khirbat ↑ (N)	Dayr Rafat ↗
Mughallis ←	al-Burayj	→ Bayt Jimal
	↓ 'Ajjur	↘ Zakariyya

Town's Name Through History

al-Burayj name was derived from the Greek purgos meaning a tower.

Places of Warship

al-Burayj had a mosque called al-'Umari mosque and a Greek Orthodox Monastery to the west.

Archeological Sites

The village has several khirbas around it which contained cisterns, rock-hewn wine presses, tombs, foundations, columns, mosaic floors, and caves.

Exculsive Jewish Colonies
Who Usurped Village Lands

A large military base called Kanaf Staim occupies some of the village lands.

Village Before Nakba

The village stood on hilly terrain between two wadis in the north and south. To the west of al-Burayj was a secondary road that linked it to the highway between Bayt Jibrin (in the Hebron sub-disctrict) and the Jerusalem−Jaffa highway; dirt paths linked it to a group of nearby villages. The name al-Burayj, a diminutive of the Arabic word al-burj, is derived from the Greek purgos, which means tower. The village houses were originally scattered across the site in no particular configuration. New construction, however, took place along the roads that led to the village from many directions, so that the village plan began to take on a star-like shape. The houses were built of cement and stone. The village population was predominantly Muslim, with 10 Christians out of an estimated total of 720 in the mid-1940s. They maintained one mosque, called the al-'Umari mosque, perhaps as an allusion to the second Muslim caliph 'Umar ibn al-Khattab. There was also a Greek Orthodox monastery west of the village. Agriculture depended on rainfall and was based on grain, vegetables, and fruit trees, especially olive trees. Wild trees, grass, and herbs also grew on parts of the land. These parts were used as grazing areas, and the trees were a source of firewood. In 1944/45 a total of 31 dunums was devoted to citrus and bananas and 9,426 dunums were allocated to cereals; 77 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards. The village had several khirbas around it that contained cisterns, rock-hewn wine presses, tombs, foundations, columns, mosaic floors, and caves.

Village Occupation and Ethnic Cleaning

AI-Burayj was probably captured during the first phase of Operation Ha-Har (see 'Allar, Jerusalem sub-district). The village fell sometime between 19 and 24 October 1948, as Israeli forces moved to occupy a number of villages in the southern half of the Jerusalem corridor.

Zionists Colonies on Village Lands

The settlement of Sedot Mikha (142125), established in 1955, is south of the site, on village land.

Village Today

The site is now part of a large military base called Kanaf Staim (Wing Two). A large area is fenced in, and a watchtower has been built. The site is inaccessible to the public.

Source

Dr. Walid al-Khalidi, 1992: All That Remains.

Want to browse more? 80,000 pictures were grouped in these gallaries:

Pre-Nakba Aerial view of the village / صورة من الجو للقرية اخذت قبل النكبة

Display Name	Clan/Hamolah	Country of Residence
عائشه ابراهيم الشلختي	شلختي	Irbid-Al-Husn, Jordan
فادي الحنيني	سكاكية	بيت لحم, فلسطين
Mohammad Nasrallah	-	-
hani abu khadija	-	-
nnasrallah	Nasrallah	-
عبدالرحمن الحنيني	الحنيني	الخبر , الخبر
مصطفى ابو خديجه	ابو خديجه	الرصيفه, البريج
أوس عيسى الحنيني - أبو قصي	سكاكي	-
hamadah	المساعفه	-
احمد حسن	سكاكي	عمان, الاردن
فادي يوسف أحمد عبدالرازق الخطيب	الخطيب	عمان, الأردن
احمد الشلختي	الشلختي	اربد
محمود الشلختي	الشلختي	اربد
ابوعلي	-	البريج
Ashraf Alhasan	Eskaki/ Hasan	-
محمد جمال	-	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Mustafa AbuSaab	AbuSaab	-
Mahmoud Abu-Saab	-	Jordan
البريجي	حسن	عمان
اشرف نصرالله	-	-
ابو محمد الشرش	الشرش	-
اشرف ابوخديجة	ابوخديجة	الرياض -, السعودية
مساعفه	-	-
ماجد عبد الهادي	-	قطر, قطر
Aktham Abu Khadijeh	-	-
محمد123 غطاس1984	-	-
mohloay	نصرالله	-
البريجي	نصرالله	الاردن, البريج
عبدالله نصرالله	نصرالله	المنورة, السعودية
شباب المستقبل	-	القدس, حارس
saber	ESKAKI	-
Abdulqader Nasrallah	-	Dhahran, Khobar
NAEL HASAN	AL ESKAKI/ HASAN	AMMAN , JORDAN

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