The name of Beit Surik town located to the northwest of Occupied Jerusalem was frequently heard Tuesday morning after the Palestinian young man Nemer al-Jamal carried out an anti-occupation shooting attack in Har Adar settlement killing three Israeli border guards.
Beit Surik was occupied in 1967 and it is located 12 kilometers away from the center of Occupied Jerusalem. Most of the town’s lands were confiscated in favor of the Israeli settlement expansion projects and the construction of the separation wall.
At the beginning of 1981 Israeli authorities confiscated nearly 1500 dunums of the town’s agricultural lands and established Har Adar settlement on the western side of the town. In 2003 500 other dunums were confiscated and many trees were uprooted near the settlement to construct a “security road” for settlers.
At the end of 2003 Israeli authorities announced their intention to extend the Jerusalem-Lod railway into the southern area of the town and seized approximately 1000 dunums of the town’s agricultural lands.
Israeli settlements
Three Israeli settlements were illegally built on the lands of Beit Surik. The first is Har Adar which was established in the western part of the town. Nearly 2000 dunums of the settlement’s area are seized from Beit Surik while the other 2000 dunums are taken from Qatanna town in Jerusalem.
The second is Ramot and it is located in the eastern side of the town covering an area of 4000 dunums while the third is Mevaseret Zion-Qalunya which is built in the southern side of the town with an area of 4000 dunums.
Population
The population of Beit Surik in 1922 was 352 people and it gradually increased to 3529 people in 1972. The town is situated at the height of 830 meters above the sea level.
According to the Beit Surik residents’ testimonies the town witnessed many heroic battles against the Israeli occupation including the battles of Bab al-Wad and al-Qastal led by Sheikh Abdul Qadir al-Husseini.
In the 1967 defeat of Arab countries otherwise known as the setback or Naksa in Arabic Beit Surik was attacked from all sides with different kinds of weapons by the Israeli army. The residents were then equipped with only 22 rifles which of course were not sufficient; therefore some residents were forced to leave the town to search for a safe place until the shelling was over.
Many families fled to Jordan and have never been able to return because of the Israeli decision denying Palestinian refugees their right to return.
The current area of Beit Surik is 6949 dunums including 1804 dunums located on the Green Line. The town is surrounded by the the villages of Beit Iksa Qalunya Biddu and Qatanna.
