Saris, Jerusalem

Saris

ساريس
Saris ساريس
	Landscape near Saris, on a 1587 print by Jean Zuallart
	Etymology: Saris, personal name
	1870s map 1940s map modern map 1940s with modern overlay mapShow all A series of historical maps of the area around Saris, Jerusalem (click the buttons)
	Saris Location within Mandatory Palestine
	Coordinates: 31°47′53″N 35°04′26″E / 31.79806°N 35.07389°ECoordinates: 31°47′53″N 35°04′26″E / 31.79806°N 35.07389°E
Palestine grid	157/133
Geopolitical entity	Mandatory Palestine
Subdistrict	Jerusalem
Date of depopulation	16–17 April 1948
Area
• Total	10,699 dunams (10.699 km2 or 4.131 sq mi)
Population (1945)
• Total	560
Cause(s) of depopulation	Military assault by Yishuv forces
Current Localities	Shoresh, Sho'eva, Neve Ilan

Saris (Arabic: ساريس‎) was a Palestinian Arab village that was depopulated during the major offensive launched by the Haganah on 6 April 1948. Called Operation Nachshon, and launched before the British had left Palestine, its objective was to capture villages between Jerusalem and the coastal plain.^[6]

History[]

Yaqut al-Hamawi noted about Saris in the 1220s that it was "a village of the district round Jerusalem. It lies half-way between Jerusalem and Ar Ramlah, and 4 hours from either place".^[7]

Ottoman era[]

During Ottoman rule in Palestine, in 1596, Saris was a village in the nahiya (subdistrict) of Jerusalem under the liwa' (district) of Jerusalem and it had a population of 53 Muslim households, an estimated 292 persons. The villagers paid taxes on a number of crops, including wheat, barley, olives fruit and carob, as well as on goats, beehives and vineyards; a total of 7,098 akçe. A quarter of the revenue went to a Waqf.^[8]

In 1838, Edward Robinson noted Saris as a Muslim village in the District of Beni Malik, west of Jerusalem,^[9] while in 1852 he noted that the village "belonged feudally" to the Latham family, of Bayt 'Itab.^[10]

In 1863, the French explorer Victor Guérin found Saris to have an apparently ancient water well, while the houses looked "dilapidated".^[11] An Ottoman village list of about 1870 counted 57 houses and a population of 169, though the population count included men, only.^[12]^[13]

In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Saris as being located on top of a hill, with olive trees growing below the village.^[14]

In 1896 the population of Saris was estimated to be about 360 persons.^[15]

British Mandate era[]

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Saris had a population 373, all Muslims,^[16] increasing in the 1931 census to 470, still all Muslims, in 114 houses.^[17]

In the 1945 statistics the population of Saris was 560, all Muslims,^[5] and it had 10,699 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey.^[4]^[18] 366 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 3,677 for cereals,^[19] while 10 dunams were built-up (urban) land.^[20]

Saris, Palestine. 1948

1948 and after[]

On 13 April, before the village was attacked, Israel Galili wrote to Yosef Weitz of the JNF asking for a settlement to be established at Saris 'as soon as possible.'^[21]

On 17 April 1948 The Scotsman reported 'Jews destroyed a mosque, village school, and 25 houses, killing three women in an attack on the Arab village of Saris early today (16th). There were about 500 attackers.' The New York Times carried the same report and gave the number of Arab dead as seven. A Haganah statement is quoted as saying that the battalion stayed in the village for about five hours, blowing up 25 buildings and burning others.^[22]^[23]

Following the war, the area was incorporated into the State of Israel. The village of Shoresh was established 1 km south west of the remains of Saris in 1948, while Sho'eva was set up 0.5 km north east of the site in 1950, both on land that had belonged to Saris.^[18]

Saris 1943 1:20,000 (top right quadrant)
Saris 1945 1:250,000 (lower right quadrant)
Saris 10 May 1948 (lower right)
Members of Harel Brigade demolishing houses in Saris, 1948
Harel Brigade demolishing houses in Saris, 1948
Members of the Harel Brigade training outside Saris, 1948

The Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi described the village land in 1992: "The site is covered with stone rubble; iron bars protrude from the collapsed roofs. There are many open wells and several caves with arched roofs. A large number of trees, including cypress, fig, and almond trees, grow on the site. An abandoned grove of almond trees is located on the eastern side. In the middle of the slope are the remains of an artificial pool. The village cemetery, surrounded by trees, is located southwest of the site. It contains several large tombs, one of which is surrounded by a small, roofless enclosure; an almond tree grows in the center." He also noted that two forests had been established in the area by the Jewish National Fund and the Center for European Jewry.^[18]

References[]

^ Zuallart, 1587, p. 118
^ Palmer, 1881, p. 326
^ Morris, 2004, p. xx, village #345. Also gives cause of depopulation.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 58
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 25
^ Palestine Remembered – Saris
^ Le Strange, 1890, p. 531
^ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 112. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 315
^ Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 123
^ Robinson and Smith, 1856, pp. 153–156
^ Guérin, 1868, pp. 62, 281−283
^ Socin, 1879, p. 160 also noted it was located in the Beni Malik District
^ Hartmann, 1883, p. 118, also noted 57 houses
^ Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 18. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 315
^ Schick, 1896, p. 125
^ Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Jerusalem, p. 14
^ Mills, 1932, p. 43
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Khalidi, 1992, p. 316
^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 104
^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 154
^ Khalidi, 1992, p. 316, quoting Benny Morris.
^ Khalidi, 1992, pp. 315–316. The 1931 survey counted 114 houses in the village
^ Morris, 2004, pp. 234–235, 240

Bibliography[]

Barron, J.B., ed. (1923). Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922. Government of Palestine.
Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1883). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. 3. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945. Government of Palestine.
Guérin, V. (1868). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine (in French). 1: Judee, pt. 1. Paris: L'Imprimerie Nationale.
Hadawi, S. (1970). Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine. Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center.
Hartmann, M. (1883). "Die Ortschaftenliste des Liwa Jerusalem in dem türkischen Staatskalender für Syrien auf das Jahr 1288 der Flucht (1871)". Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins. 6: 102–149.
Hütteroth, Wolf-Dieter; Abdulfattah, Kamal (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. ISBN 3-920405-41-2.
Khalidi, W. (1992). All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948. Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies. ISBN 0-88728-224-5.
Le Strange, G. (1890). Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
Morris, B. (2004). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-00967-6.
Palmer, E.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. 2. Boston: Crocker & Brewster. (pp. 337, 339–340)
Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. 3. Boston: Crocker & Brewster.
Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1856). Later Biblical Researches in Palestine and adjacent regions: A Journal of Travels in the year 1852. London: John Murray.
Schick, C. (1896). "Zur Einwohnerzahl des Bezirks Jerusalem". Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins. 19: 120–127.
Socin, A. (1879). "Alphabetisches Verzeichniss von Ortschaften des Paschalik Jerusalem". Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins. 2: 135–163.
Zuallart, J. (1587). Il devotissimo viaggio di Gervsalemme. Roma.

External links[]

Welcome to Saris
Saris, Zochrot
Survey of Western Palestine, Map 17: IAA, Wikimedia commons
Saris, from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center

[1] Zuallart, 1587, p. 118

[2] Palmer, 1881, p. 326

[3] Morris, 2004, p. xx, village #345. Also gives cause of depopulation.

[Hadawi58-4] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 58

[1945p25-5] Jump up to: ^a ^b Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 25

[6] Palestine Remembered – Saris

[7] Le Strange, 1890, p. 531

[8] Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 112. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 315

[Robinson123-9] Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 123

[10] Robinson and Smith, 1856, pp. 153–156

[11] Guérin, 1868, pp. 62, 281−283

[12] Socin, 1879, p. 160 also noted it was located in the Beni Malik District

[13] Hartmann, 1883, p. 118, also noted 57 houses

[14] Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 18. Quoted in Khalidi, 1992, p. 315

[15] Schick, 1896, p. 125

[Census1922-16] Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Jerusalem, p. 14

[17] Mills, 1932, p. 43

[Khalidi_1992,_p._316-18] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Khalidi, 1992, p. 316

[19] Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 104

[20] Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 154

[21] Khalidi, 1992, p. 316, quoting Benny Morris.

[22] Khalidi, 1992, pp. 315–316. The 1931 survey counted 114 houses in the village

[23] Morris, 2004, pp. 234–235, 240

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show v t Palestinian Arab towns and villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestinian exodus by subdistrict
Acre Subdistrict	Amqa Arab al-Samniyya al-Bassa al-Birwa al-Damun Dayr al-Qassi al-Ghabisiyya Iqrit Iribbin Jiddin al-Kabri Kafr 'Inan Kuwaykat al-Manshiyya al-Mansura Mi'ar al-Nabi Rubin al-Nahr al-Ruways Suhmata al-Sumayriyya Suruh al-Tall Tarbikha Umm al-Faraj az-Zeeb
Beisan Subdistrict	Arab al-'Arida Arab al-Bawati Arab al-Safa al-Ashrafiyya al-Bira Beisan Danna Farwana al-Fatur al-Ghazzawiyya al-Hamidiyya al-Hamra Jabbul Kafra Kawkab al-Hawa al-Khunayzir Masil al-Jizl al-Murassas Qumya al-Sakhina al-Samiriyya Sirin Tall al-Shawk al-Taqa al-Tira Umm 'Ajra Khirbat Umm Sabuna Yubla Zab'a al-Zawiya
Beersheba Subdistrict	al-Imara al-Jammama al-Khalasa Auja al-Hafir
Gaza Subdistrict	Arab Suqrir Barbara Barqa al-Batani al-Gharbi al-Batani al-Sharqi Bayt 'Affa Bayt Daras Bayt Jirja Bayt Tima Bil'in Burayr Dayr Sunayd Dimra al-Faluja Hamama Hatta Hiribya Huj Hulayqat Ibdis Iraq al-Manshiyya Iraq Suwaydan Isdud al-Jaladiyya al-Jiyya Julis al-Jura Jusayr Karatiyya Kawfakha Kawkaba al-Khisas al-Masmiyya al-Kabira al-Masmiyya al-Saghira al-Muharraqa Najd Ni'ilya Qastina al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya al-Sawafir al-Shamaliyya al-Sawafir al-Sharqiyya Simsim Summil Tall al-Turmus Yasur
Haifa Subdistrict	Abu Shusha Abu Zurayq Arab al-Fuqara Arab al-Nufay'at Arab Zahrat al-Dumayri 'Atlit Ayn Ghazal Ayn Hawd Balad al-Sheikh Barrat Qisarya Burayka al-Burj al-Butaymat Daliyat al-Rawha' al-Dumun al-Ghubayya al-Fawqa al-Ghubayya al-Tahta Hawsha Ijzim Jaba' al-Jalama Kabara al-Kafrayn Kafr Lam al-Kasayir Khubbayza Lid al-Manara al-Mansi al-Mansura al-Mazar Naghnaghiya Qannir Qira Qisarya Qumbaza al-Rihaniyya Sabbarin al-Sarafand Khirbat al-Sarkas Khirbat Sa'sa' al-Sawamir Khirbat al-Shuna al-Sindiyana al-Tantura al-Tira Umm ash Shauf Umm az-Zinat Wa'arat al-Sarris Wadi Ara Yajur
Hebron Subdistrict	'Ajjur Barqusya Bayt Jibrin Bayt Nattif al-Dawayima Deir al-Dubban Dayr Nakhkhas Kudna Mughallis al-Qubayba Ra'na Tell es-Safi Umm Burj az-Zakariyya Zayta Zikrin
Jaffa Subdistrict	al-'Abbasiyya Abu Kabir Abu Kishk Bayt Dajan Biyar 'Adas Fajja al-Haram Ijlil al-Qibliyya Ijlil al-Shamaliyya al-Jammasin al-Gharbi al-Jammasin al-Sharqi Jarisha Kafr 'Ana al-Khayriyya al-Mas'udiyya al-Mirr al-Muwaylih Rantiya al-Safiriyya Salama Saqiya al-Sawalima al-Shaykh Muwannis Yazur
Jenin Subdistrict	al-Jawfa al-Mazar Ayn al-Mansi Lajjun Nuris Zir'in
Jerusalem Subdistrict	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 Ism Allah Jarash al-Jura Kasla al-Lawz Lifta al-Maliha Nitaf al-Qabu Qalunya al-Qastal Ras Abu 'Ammar Sar'a Saris Sataf Sheikh Badr Suba Sufla al-Tannur al-'Umur al-Walaja
Nazareth Subdistrict	al-Mujaydil Indur Ma'alul Saffuriyya
Ramle Subdistrict	Abu al-Fadl Abu Shusha Ajanjul Aqir Barfiliya al-Barriyya Bashshit Bayt Far Bayt Jiz Bayt Nabala Bayt Shanna Bayt Susin Bir Ma'in Bir Salim al-Burj al-Buwayra Daniyal Dayr Abu Salama Dayr Ayyub Dayr Muhaysin Dayr Tarif al-Duhayriyya al-Haditha Idnibba Innaba Jilya Jimzu Kharruba al-Khayma Khulda al-Kunayyisa al-Latrun Lydda al-Maghar Majdal Yaba al-Mansura al-Mukhayzin al-Muzayri'a al-Na'ani al-Nabi Rubin Qatra Qazaza al-Qubab al-Qubayba Qula Ramla Sajad Salbit Sarafand al-Amar Sarafand al-Kharab Saydun Shahma Shilta al-Tina al-Tira Umm Kalkha Wadi Hunayn Yibna Khirbat Zakariyya Zarnuqa
Safad Subdistrict	Abil al-Qamh al-'Abisiyya 'Akbara Alma Ammuqa Arab al-Shamalina Arab al-Zubayd Ayn al-Zaytun Baysamun Biriyya al-Butayha al-Buwayziyya Dallata al-Dawwara Dayshum al-Dirbashiyya al-Dirdara Fara al-Farradiyya Fir'im Ghabbatiyya Ghuraba al-Hamra' Harrawi Hunin al-Husayniyya Jahula al-Ja'una Jubb Yusuf Kafr Bir'im al-Khalisa Khan al-Duwayr Khirbat Karraza al-Khisas Khiyam al-Walid Kirad al-Baqqara Kirad al-Ghannama Lazzaza Madahil Al-Malkiyya Mallaha al-Manshiyya al-Mansura Mansurat al-Khayt Marus Meiron al-Muftakhira Mughr al-Khayt al-Muntar al-Nabi Yusha' al-Na'ima Qabba'a Qadas Qaddita Qaytiyya al-Qudayriyya al-Ras al-Ahmar Sabalan Safsaf Saliha al-Salihiyya al-Sammu'i al-Sanbariyya Sa'sa' al-Shawka al-Tahta al-Shuna Taytaba Tulayl al-'Ulmaniyya al-'Urayfiyya al-Wayziyya Yarda, Safad al-Zahiriyya al-Tahta al-Zanghariyya Zawiya al-Zuq al-Fawqani al-Zuq al-Tahtani
Tiberias Subdistrict	Awlam al-Dalhamiyya Ghuwayr Abu Shusha Hadatha al-Hamma Hittin Kafr Sabt Lubya Ma'dhar al-Majdal al-Manara al-Manshiyya al-Mansura Nasir al-Din Nimrin al-Nuqayb Samakh al-Samakiyya al-Samra al-Shajara al-Tabigha al-'Ubaydiyya Wadi Hamam Khirbat al-Wa'ra al-Sawda' Yaquq
Tulkarm Subdistrict	Khirbat Bayt Lid Bayyarat Hannun Fardisya Ghabat Kafr Sur al-Jalama Kafr Saba al-Majdal al-Manshiyya Miska Qaqun Raml Zayta Tabsur Umm Khalid Wadi al-Hawarith Wadi Qabbani al-Zabadida Khirbat Zalafa

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Saris ساريس
Landscape near Saris, on a 1587 print by Jean Zuallart^[1]
Etymology: Saris, personal name^[2]
1870s map 1940s map modern map 1940s with modern overlay mapShow all A series of historical maps of the area around Saris, Jerusalem (click the buttons)
Saris Location within Mandatory Palestine
Coordinates: 31°47′53″N 35°04′26″E / 31.79806°N 35.07389°E / 31.79806; 35.07389Coordinates: 31°47′53″N 35°04′26″E / 31.79806°N 35.07389°E / 31.79806; 35.07389
Palestine grid	157/133
Geopolitical entity	Mandatory Palestine
Subdistrict	Jerusalem
Date of depopulation	16–17 April 1948^[3]
Area ^[4]
• Total	10,699 dunams (10.699 km² or 4.131 sq mi)
Population (1945)
• Total	560^[5]^[4]
Cause(s) of depopulation	Military assault by Yishuv forces
Current Localities	Shoresh, Sho'eva, Neve Ilan