Sa'ir

Sa'ir
Other transcription(s)
• Arabic	سعير
• Also spelled	Sa'eer (official) Saiour (unofficial)
Sa'ir Location of Sa'ir within the Palestinian territories
Coordinates: 31°35′04″N 35°08′43″E / 31.58444°N 35.14528°E / 31.58444; 35.14528Coordinates: 31°35′04″N 35°08′43″E / 31.58444°N 35.14528°E / 31.58444; 35.14528
Governorate	Hebron
Government
• Type	Municipality
• Head of Municipality	Hakim Shlalda
Area
• Jurisdiction	117,000 dunams (117.0 km2 or 45.2 sq mi)
Population (2007)
• Jurisdiction	18,045
Name meaning	"Small"

Sa'ir (Arabic: سعير‎, also spelled Saeer)^[1] is a Palestinian town in the Hebron Governorate in the southern West Bank located 8 kilometers (5.0 mi) northeast of Hebron. Nearby localities include Beit Fajjar and al-Arroub to the north, Beit Ummar to the northwest, Halhul to the west and Beit Einun and ash-Shuyukh to the south. The Dead Sea is just east of Sa'ir's municipal borders.^[2] In the 2007 census Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of over 18,045.^[3]

It has municipal jurisdiction over 117,000 dunams, 6,000 of which is built-up area and 11,715 of which is cultivated. The main economic activities in Sa'ir are agriculture and the Israeli labor market, although the latter has been adversely affected as a result of the Israeli restrictions following the Second Intifada in 2000-04. Olives are the major cash crop.^[2]

History

During the Roman Empire-era of rule in Palestine, the town was known "Sior" which derived from the Aramaic word sar or "loftiness."^[2] Byzantine ceramics have been found.^[4] The Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP), wrote that: "The tomb of El 'Ais (Esau), south of the village, is in a chamber 37 feet east and west by 20 feet north and south, with a Mihrab on the south wall. The tomb is 12 feet long, 3 1/2 feet broad, 5 feet high, covered with a dark green cloth and a canopy above. An ostrich egg is hung near. North of the chamber is a vaulted room of equal size, and to the east is an open court with a fig-tree, and a second cenotaph rudely plastered, said to be that of Esau's slave. Rock-cut tombs exist south-west of this place."^[5]

In 1596 Sa'ir appeared in the Ottoman tax registers as part of the nahiya of Halil in the Liwa of Quds. It had an entirely Muslim population consisting of 72 households. Taxes were paid on wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, goats and/or beehives.^[6]

The French explorer Victor Guérin visited the village in the 1860s, and found it having about 400 inhabitants.^[7] SWP described Sa'ir in 1883 as "a village of moderate size, in a valley surrounded with cultivated ground." A maqam ("saintly person tomb") located in Sa'ir was believed by the local Muslims to house the tomb of Esau who they referred to as "Aisa." The SWP stated this identification was false and that Esau's tomb was in the Biblical Mount Seir.^[8][9][10]

Under the name Sa'in, an Ottoman village list of about 1870 indicated 84 houses and a population of 186, though it is proposed that the population count included only men.^[11][12]

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Sa'ir had a population of 1,477, all Muslim.^[13] In the 1931 census the population of Si'ir was a total of 1,967, still entirely Muslim, in 388 inhabited houses.^[14] In 1945 the population of Si'ir was 2,710, all Arabs, who owned 92,423 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey.^[15] 2,483 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 10,671 for cereals,^[16] while 76 dunams were built-up (urban) land.^[17]

Present

Following the 1993 Oslo Accords Sa'ir was designated within "Area B" giving the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) control over the town's civil affairs while Israel maintained its control over security. In 1997, an elected 13-member municipal council was established by the PNA to administer Sa'ir. Its municipal borders include a number of small villages, including al-Uddeisa, ad-Duwwara, Irqan Turad, Kuziba, Wadi ar-Rum and Ras at-Tawil. Principal families include Shlaldah, Froukh, Jaradat, Mtur, al-Jabarin, al-Kawazbeh and al-Turweh.^[2] Hakim Shlaldah was elected mayor in the 2005 municipal elections.^[18]

In January, 2013, Rafat Jaradat, 30 years old, from Sa'ir, died in jail 5 days after he was arrested, from what Israeli sources called "sudden heart attack while under interrogation" ^[19] while Palestinian sources denies this.

References

Bibliography

External links

• 'ir%20Town.pdf Sa'ir Town (Fact Sheet)
• 'ir%20Areal%20Photo.jpg Arial Photo
• 'ir_tp_en.pdf Needs for development in Sa'ir town based on the community and local authorities’ assessment
• Welcome To Sa'eer
• Israeli Colonists set Olive Trees on Fire in Sa'ir Town 04, June, 2010, ARIJ
• Israeli Colonists Plough 20 Dunums of the Town of Sa’ir in Hebron Governorate. 01, January, 2011, ARIJ
• Israeli Colonists Level Tens of Dunums of Palestinian lands in Sa'ir town- Hebron Governorate 19, August, 2011, ARIJ
• Military Demolition Orders in Sa’ir Village northeast of Hebron City at the Southern parts of the West Bank 20, August, 2011, ARIJ

v t e Hebron Governorate Cities Bani Na'im ad-Dhahiriya Dura Halhul Hebron (al-Khalil) Idhna Sa'ir as-Samu Tarqumiyah Yatta Towns Beit Awwa Beit Kahil Beit Ula Beit Ummar Deir Sammit Kharas Nuba ash-Shuyukh Surif Taffuh Villages Anab al-Kabir Arab al-Fureijat Arab al-Ka'abneh Beit 'Amra Beit Einun Beit Maqdum Beit Mirsim Beit ar-Rush al-Fauqa Beit ar-Rush al-Tahta al-Baqa al-Bowereh al-Burj al-Buweib Deir al-'Asal al-Fauqa Deir al-'Asal al-Tahta Deir Razih ad-Deirat ad-Duwwara Fuqeiqis Hadab al-Alaqa Hadab al-Fawwar Hamrush al-Heila Hitta Hureiz Imneizil Imreish Jala Karma al-Karmil Khallet Edar Khallet al-Aqed Khalet al-Maiyya Khallet al-Masafer Khashem al-Daraj Khallet Salih Kheroshewesh Wal Hadedeyah Khirbet ad-Deir Khirbet Safa Khirbet Salama Khirbat al-Simia Khirbet Tawil ash-Shih Khirbet Zanuta Khursa al-Kum Kurza Kuseis Ma'in al-Majd Marah al-Baqqar Masafer Yatta an-Najada Qalqas Qla'a Zeta Qila Rabud al-Ramadin ar-Rihiya Sahel Wadi Elma Sikka Shuyukh al-Arrub as-Sura at-Tabaqa Tarrama at-Tuwani al-Uddeisa Umm Ashoqan Umm al-Butm Umm al-Khair, Hebron Umm Lasafa Wadi al-Amayer Wadi al-Kilab Wadi ash-Shajina Wadi Ubeid Zif Refugee camps al-Arroub Fawwar