Al-Burayj
البريج'
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| Etymology: The little tower[1] | |
A series of historical maps of the area around Al-Burayj (click the buttons)
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  Al-Burayj Location within Mandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates: 31°44′25″N 34°55′52″E / 31.74028°N 34.93111°E / 31.74028; 34.93111 | |
| Palestine grid | 143/127 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Jerusalem |
| Date of depopulation | Not known[4] |
| Area | |
| • Total | 19,080 dunams (19.08 km2 or 7.37 sq mi) |
| Population
(1945)
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| • Total | 720[2][3] |
| Current Localities | Sdot Micha[5]Sdot Micha Airbase[5] |
Al-BurayjorBureij, 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.
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]
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,[2] 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]
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]
Large part of the village land is now a military base called Sdot Micha Airbase, which is inaccessible to the public.[5]
