The Jerusalem Subdistrict was one of the subdistricts of Mandatory Palestine. It was located in and around the city of Jerusalem. After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, on the Israeli side of the Green Line, the district was integrated into the Jerusalem District. On the other side, the West Bank was annexed into Jordan, the subdistrict was merged with Ramallah Subdistrict to form Jerusalem Governorate, one of three Jordanian governorates in the West Bank.

Towns and villages

+ Jerusalem Sub-District – Population by Village Village Muslims Jews Christians Others Total Abu Dis 1,940 1,940 ‘Allar 440 440 ‘Anata 540 540 ‘Aqqua 40 40 Artas 690 110 800 ‘Artuf 350 350 ‘Atarot 160 160 ‘Auja (El) 290 290 ‘Arab el Nuseirat 520 520 ‘Arab el Ka‘bina 260 260 ‘Arab el ‘Ureinat 210 210 ‘Arab es Sa‘ayida 110 110 Battir 1,050 1,050 Beit Duqqu 420 420 Beit Fajjar 1,480 1,480 Beit Hanina 1,590 1,590 Beit Ijza 70 70 Beit Iksa 1,410 1,410 Beit I‘nan 820 820 Beit ‘Itab 540 540 Beit Jala (Urban) 200 3,510 3,710 Beit Jala (Rural) Beit Jimal 120 120 240 Beit Mahsir 2,400 2,400 Beit Naqquba 240 240 Beit Safafa 1,370 40 1,410 Beit Sahur (Urban) 370 2,400 2,770 Beit Sahur (Rural) Beit Surik 480 480 Beit Thul 260 260 Beit Umm el Meis 70 70 Bethlehem (Urban) 2,370 6,430 20 8,820 Bethlehem (Rural) Biddu 520 520 Bir Nabala 590 590 Bureij 710 10 720 Deiraban 2,090 10 2,100 Deir ‘Amr 10 10 Deir el Hawa 60 60 Deir Rifat 330 100 430 Deir esh Sheikh 210 10 220 Deir Yasin 610 610 Duyuk 730 730 ‘Ein Karim 2,510 670 3,180 ‘Eizariya (El) 1,040 20 1,060 Har Tuv 80 80 Hizma 750 750 Husan 770 770 ‘Isawiya 720 10 730 ‘Ishwa‘ 620 620 ‘Islin 260 260 Jaba‘ 350 350 Jarash 190 190 Jericho 2,570 170 260 10 3,010 Jerusalem (Urban) 30,630 97,000 29,350 100 157,080 Jerusalem (Rural) Jib (El) 830 830 Judeira 190 190 Jura (El) 420 420 Kafr ‘Aqab 290 290 Kasla 280 280 Khadr (El) 1,130 1,130 Khan el Ahmar Khirbat Ismallah 20 20 Khirbat el Lauz 450 450 Khirbat el ‘Umur 270 270 Lifta 2,530 20 2,550 Malha (El) 1,930 10 1,940 Mukhmas 540 540 Nabi Musa (En) Palestine Potash Concession (North) 1,330 1,270 30 20 2,650 Nabi Samwil (En) 200 200 Nabhalin 620 620 Nataf 40 40 Neve Ya‘aqov 190 190 Nu‘eima 240 240 Qabu (El) 260 260 Qalandiya 190 190 Qaluniya 900 10 910 Motza 350 350 Qaryat el ‘Inab (Abu Ghosh) 820 40 860 Qastal (El) 90 90 Qatanna 1,150 1,150 Qiryat ‘Anavim 380 380 Ma‘ale 230 230 Qubeiba (El) 340 80 420 Rafat 280 280 Ram (Er) 350 350 Ramat Rahel 370 370 Ras Abu ‘Ammar 620 620 Sar‘a 340 340 Saris 560 560 Sataf 540 540 Sharafat 210 210 Shufat 760 760 Silwan 3,680 140 3,820 Saba 620 620 Sufla 60 60 Sur Bahir and Umm Tuba 2,450 2,450 Tur (Et) 2,380 390 2,770 Wadi Fukin 280 280 Walaja (El) 1,650 1,650 Tribal Units – ‘Arab Ibn ‘Ubeid, ‘Arab er Rashaida, ‘Arab es Sawahira, ‘Arab et Ta‘amira 7,070 7,070 TOTAL 103,830 100,200 43,770 150 247,950

Depopulated towns and villages

Allar Aqqur Artuf Bayt 'Itab Bayt Mahsir Bayt Naqquba Bayt Thul Bayt Umm al-Mays al-Burayj Dayr Aban Dayr 'Amr Dayr al-Hawa Dayr Rafat Dayr al-Shaykh Deir Yassin Ayn Karim Ishwa Islin Khirbat Ism Allah Jarash al-Jura Kasla Khirbat Al-Lawz Lifta al-Maliha Nitaf al-Qabu Qalunya al-Qastal Ras Abu 'Ammar Romema Sar'a Saris Sataf Suba Sheikh Badr Sufla Khirbat al-Tannur Khirbat al-'Umur al-Walaja (later reestablished 2km away)

The city of Jerusalem under British rule

In 1917 after the Battle of Jerusalem, the British Army, led by General Edmund Allenby, captured the city. In 1922, the League of Nations at the Conference of Lausanne entrusted the United Kingdom to administer Palestine, neighbouring Transjordan, and Iraq beyond it.

The British had to deal with a conflicting demand that was rooted in Ottoman rule. Agreements for the supply of water, electricity, and the construction of a tramway system—all under concessions granted by the Ottoman authorities—had been signed by the city of Jerusalem and a Greek citizen, Euripides Mavromatis, on 27 January 1914. Work under these concessions had not begun and, by the end of the war the British occupying forces refused to recognize their validity. Mavromatis claimed that his concessions overlapped with the Auja Concession that the government had awarded to Rutenberg in 1921 and that he had been deprived of his legal rights. The Mavromatis concession, in effect despite earlier British attempts to abolish it, covered Jerusalem and other localities (e.g., Bethlehem) within a radius of around the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.Shamir, Ronen (2013) Current Flow: The Electrification of Palestine. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

From 1922 to 1948 the total population of the city rose from 52,000 to 165,000, comprising two-thirds Jews and one-third Arabs (Muslims and Christians). Relations between Arab Christians and Muslims and the growing Jewish population in Jerusalem deteriorated, resulting in recurring unrest. In Jerusalem, in particular, Arab riots occurred in 1920 and in 1929. Under the British, new garden suburbs were built in the western and northern parts of the city and institutions of higher learning such as the Hebrew University were founded.

References