[edit]The barrier in northern Jerusalem, which confines al-Juderia to an enclave under Israeli control.
Al Judeira is located (horizontally) 9.3 kilometers (5.8 mi) north-west of Jerusalem. To the east is Kalandia, Rafat is to the north, Al Jib is to the west, and Bir Nabala is to the south.[3]
Several scholars have suggested that Judeira is the site of Gederah in Benjamin, which is mentioned in the Bible as home to Yozabad the Gederathite, a Benjaminite warrior who defected to David. It is mentioned shortly after the nearby sites of Azmaveth (identified with modern-day Hizme), Anathoth (probably 'Anata) and Gibeon (Al Jib).[4][5][6]
In 1838 el-Jedireh was noted as a Muslim village, located north of Jerusalem.[8][9]
In 1863 Guérin described it as a small village, with a mosque consecrated to a Sheikh Yassin. In the courtyard in front of this sanctuary, he noticed what was possibly an old Corinthiancapital, which had been made into a mortar, where the villagers pounded coffee.[10] An Ottoman village list from about 1870 found that the village had a population of 40, in a total of 13 houses, though the population count only included men. It was also noted that it was located east of Al Jib.[11][12]
In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it as "a small village on a slope, surrounded by figs and olives, and with rock-cut tombs to the north."[4]
In the 1945 statistics Judeira had a population of 190 Muslims,[15] with 2,044 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[16] Of this, 353 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 1,314 used for cereals,[17] while 7 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[18]
^Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 25
^Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 57Archived 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine
^Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 103Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
^Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 153Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
^Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 23
^"West Bank Closures - Jerusalem"(PDF). United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. March 2004. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2007-10-14. Retrieved 2007-10-14.
