Al-Burayj, Jerusalem

Al-Burayj or Bureij, lit. 'little tower',^[6] was a Palestinian Arab village in the Jerusalem Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War on October 19, 1948, during the first phase of Operation Ha-Har. The village was located 28.5 km west of Jerusalem.

Al-Burayj البريج'
Etymology: The little tower[1]
1870s map 1940s map modern map 1940s with modern overlay map A series of historical maps of the area around Al-Burayj, Jerusalem (click the buttons)
Al-Burayj Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 31°44′25″N 34°55′52″E
Palestine grid	143/127
Geopolitical entity	Mandatory Palestine
Subdistrict	Jerusalem
Date of depopulation	Not known[2]
Area [3]
• Total	19,080 dunams (19.08 km2 or 7.37 sq mi)
Population  (1945)
• Total	720[4][3]
Current Localities	Sdot Micha[5]Sdot Micha Airbase[5]

History

Late Ottoman period

In 1838 el-Bureij was noted as a Muslim village, located in er-Ramleh district.^[7]

In 1863 Victor Guérin noted it as a village of 200 inhabitants. The Sheikh's house was described as "fairly large and fairly constructed"; the others, less so. Tobacco plantations were spread around. He also noted large ancient blocks, which, it was said, originated from Kh[irbet] Tibneh, just to the north.^[8]

Socin found from an official Ottoman village list from about 1870 that buredsch had a population of 116 in a total of 41 houses, though that population count included men, only. It was further noted that it was located between Mughallis and Saydun.^[6] Hartmann found that el-buredsch had 40 houses.^[9]

In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described El Bureij as: "A small village on high ground, having a high house or tower in the middle, from which it is named."^[10]

British Mandate

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Buraij had a population of 398; all Muslims,^[11] increasing in the 1931 census to 621; 7 Christians and 614 Muslims, in a total of 132 houses.^[12]

In the 1945 statistics, the village had a population of 720; 10 Christians and 710 Muslims,^[4] with a total of 19,080 dunums of land.^[3] Of this, 31 dunams were for citrus and bananas, 77 were for irrigable land or plantations, 9,426 for cereals,^[13] while 14 dunams were built-up (urban) Arab land.^[14]

Al-Burayj's had a mosque named al-'Umari Mosque, and it was also home to a Greek Orthodox monastery.^[15]

1948, aftermath

During Operation Ha-Har, between the 19 and 24 October 1948, the Harel Brigade captured several villages, among them Bureij. The villagers fled, or were expelled eastwards.^[16]

Following the war, the area was incorporated into the State of Israel. In 1955 the moshav of Sdot Micha was established on land that had belonged to al-Burayj, south of the village site.^[5]

• 
  Al-Burayj 1945 1:250,000 (upper centre)
• 
  Al-Burayj 1947 1:20,000
• 
  Building in Al-Burayj after capture by Harel Brigade
• 
  Prisoners waiting to be interrogated, Al-Burayj, 1948
• 
  Al-Burayj 1948
• 
  Members of Harel Brigade in Al-Burayj 1948

Large part of the village land is now a military base called Sdot Micha Airbase, which is inaccessible to the public.^[5]