al-Ras () is a Palestinian village in the Tulkarm Governorate in the eastern West Bank, located 7 kilometers South-east of Tulkarm. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, al-Ras had a population of 650 inhabitants in 2017. In 1997, refugees made up 11.1% of the population of al-Ras.Palestinian Population by Locality and Refugee Status Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics The healthcare facilities for al-Ras are based in Kafr Sur, where the facilities are designated as MOH level 2.Health care Facilities Tulkarm Governorate
History Ceramics from the Byzantine era have been found here.Dauphin, 1998, p. 769
Seven ruins are shown on the plan north of this village within about a mile. They are ancient watch towers, like those of Azzun.Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 210 One of them, known as Gasr Bint esh-Sheikh, dates from the late Hellenistic and early Roman periods.
Ottoman era Al-Ras was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 with all of Palestine, and in 1596 it appeared in the tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Bani Sa'b of the Liwa of Nablus. It had a population of 25 households, all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 33,3% on various agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, goats and/or beehives in addition to occasional revenues and a fixed tax for people of Nablus area; a total of 6,600 akçe. All the revenues went to a waqf.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 141
In 1838, Robinson noted er-Ras as a village in Beni Sa'ab district, west of Nablus.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 127
In 1870/1871 (1288 AH), an Ottoman census listed the village with 23 Household in the nahiya (sub-district) of Bani Sa'b.
In 1882 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Er Ras as: "a small hamlet on a high knoll, supplied by cisterns, with olives below on the north."Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 166
British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Ras had a population of 92 Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Tulkarm, p. 27 increasing in the 1931 census to 119 Muslims, living in 26 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 56
In the 1945 statistics the population of Er Ras was 160 Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 21 with 5,646 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 76 Of this, 1,029 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 2,027 were used for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 127 while 3 dunams were built-up (urban) land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 177
Jordanian era In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Al-Ras came under Jordanian rule.
In 1961, the population of Al-Ras was 269.Government of Jordan, 1964, p. 27
Post 1967 Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Al-Ras has been under Israeli occupation.
References
Bibliography
External links Welcome To al-Ras Survey of Western Palestine, Map 11: IAA, Wikimedia commons