Jurish () is a Palestinian town in Nablus Governorate in the northern West Bank, located 27 kilometers southeast of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town had a population of 1,541 inhabitants in 2017.
Location Jurish is located southeast of Nablus. It is bordered by Tal al Khashabe to the east, Aqraba to the north, Qabalan to the north and west, Talfit to the west, and Qusra and Majdal Bani Fadil to the south.Jurish Village Profile, ARIJ, p. 4
History Sherds from the Early Bronze, Middle Bronze, Iron Age I, IA II, Hellenistic and the Roman era have been found here.Finkelstein et al, 1997, p. 759
It has been proposed to identify Jurish with Geresh, a Jewish village of the late Second Temple period mentioned by Josephus as the birthplace of the rebel leader Simeon Bar-Giora (a minority view identified Geresh with Jerash in modern-day Jordan). This identification is based on the name preservation and Bar Giora's activities in the toparchy of Acraba during the early phases of the First Jewish–Roman War. It has been also suggested that later the place was destroyed by the Roman general Vespasian.Avi Yonah, 1976, p. 61Tsafrir et al., 1994, p. 133Klein, E, 2009, "Jewish Settlement in the Toparchy of Acraba during the Second Temple Period - The Archaeological Evidence", in: Y. Eshel (ed.), Judea and Samaria Research Studies, Volume 18, Ariel, pp. 177-200 (Hebrew).
C. R. Conder and HH Kitchener remarked that to the north-east of Jurish was "a sacred place," adding that the site "appears to be the ancient Capharetæa (Kefr 'AtyaKefr ’Atya, the village of 'Atya, according to Palmer, 1881, p. 254), a Samaritan town, mentioned by Justin Martyr.Reland, 1714, p. 688, cited in Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 386 The two sites are, in fact, one, and the ruin apparently preserves the old name."Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 386Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 391
Sherds from the Umayyad/Abbasid and Mamluk eras have also been found here.
Ottoman era In 1517, the village was included in the Ottoman Empire with the rest of Palestine, and in the 1596 tax-records it appeared as Juris, located in the Nahiya of Jabal Qubal, part of Nablus Sanjak. The population was 16 households, 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, in addition to occasional revenues and a fixed tax for people of Nablus area; a total of 2,000 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 135 In the same tax-records, nearby Kafr 'Atiyya (at grid 181/167) had a population of 40 Muslim households, and paid 9,000 akçe in revenue.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 132 Sherds from the early Ottoman era have also been found here.
In 1852, Edward Robinson, passing among "so much good land; so many fine and arable, though not large plains," noted Jurish on a southern hill.Robinson and Smith, 1856, p. 296 In the same year, van de Velde described land near Jurish as "exceedingly beautiful and fertile. I had here a ride of an hour through valleys of such rare beauty and natural richness, that I feel myself quite unable to give you an adequate conception of it."van de Velde, 1854, p. 314 The village itself provided excellent accommodation and hospitality for visitors.
In 1870 Victor Guérin came from the north, noted first the ruins of Kefr A'athia, where corn was planted among the ruins. He then came to the spring Ain Jurish, where water was collected in a rectangular basin. He then continued to the top of the hill, where the village Jurish was situated. It had once been much larger, but was now reduced to about 20 inhabited houses. A shrine was consecrated to a Sheikh Hatem.Guérin, 1875, pp. 12-13
In 1882, the Palestine Exploration Fund's "Survey of Western Palestine" (SWP) described Jurish as: "A small village on a hill-top, with olives to the east."
British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Jurish had a population of 195 Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table IX, p. 25 increasing in the 1931 census when Jurish, together with Kafr 'Atiya had to 236 Muslim inhabitants, in 59 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 62
In the 1945 statistics, the population of Jurish (with Kafr Atiya) was 340 Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 18 while the total land area was 8,207 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 60 Of this, 1,358 dunams were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 4,249 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 106 while 14 dunams were classified as built-up areas.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 156
Jordanian era In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Jurish came under Jordanian rule.
The Jordanian census of 1961 found 419 inhabitants.Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 25
Post-1967 Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Jurish has been under Israeli occupation.
After the 1995 accords, 62% of village land has been defined as Area B land, while the remaining 38% is Area C.Jurish Village Profile, ARIJ, p. 14 Israel has confiscated 17 dunums of Jurish village land for the construction of the Israeli settlement of Migdalim, in addition to confiscating land for the road Route 505.Jurish Village Profile, ARIJ, p. 15
In October, 2021, it was reported that Israeli settlers set fire to olive trees belonging to Jurish, on land close to Migdalim.Israeli settlers set fire to olive trees in village near Nablus, October 05, 2021, Wafa
Demography Some of Jurish's residents originated in the former village of Kafr 'Atia (181/168).Grossman, D. (1986). "Oscillations in the Rural Settlement of Samaria and Judaea in the Ottoman Period". in Shomron studies. Dar, S., Safrai, S., (eds). Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House. p. 355-356
Jurish is said to be the ancestral origin for the majority of inhabitants in Beit Dajan.
References
Bibliography
External links Welcome To Jurish Survey of Western Palestine, Map 15: IAA, Wikimedia commons Jurish Village Profile, Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem, ARIJ Jurish, aerial photo, ARIJ Development priorities and needs in Jurish , ARIJ