Deir Sharaf

Deir Sharaf, like the rest of Palestine, was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517, and in the census of 1596 it was a part of the nahiya ("subdistrict") of Jabal Sami, which was part of the Sanjak of Nablus. The village had a population of 55 households, all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 33.3% on wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, beehives and/or goats, in addition to occasional revenues, a press for olive oil or grape syrup, and a tax on Muslims in the Nablus area; a total of 9,372 akçe. The whole of the revenue went to a Waqf for the Madrasa of Ramla.[5]

In 1838, Deir Sheraf was located in the Wady esh-Sha'ir District, west of Nablus.[6][7]

In 1870, Victor Guérin noted “a small square in front of the mosque paved by ancient slabs” in the village, which he called Deir Ech-Cheraf.[8]

In 1870/1871 (1288 AH), an Ottoman census listed the village in the nahiya (sub-district) of Wadi al-Sha'ir.[9]

In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Deir Sheraf: "A village of small size, situate[d] in a hollow. Above it, beside the road on the east, is a good spring, apparently perennial, and round this are vegetable gardens irrigated with its waters. Figs and olives also grow in the vicinity."[10]

Deir Sharaf 1920

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Deir Sharaf had a population of 487, all Muslims,[11] increasing in the 1931 census to 572, still all Muslim, in a total of 118 houses.[12]

In the 1945 statistics, Deir Sharaf had a population of 800, all Muslims,[13] with 7,190 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[14] Of this, 391 dunams were for plantations and irrigable land, 4,335 used for cereals,[15] while 71 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[16]

In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Deir Sharaf came under Jordanian rule.

The Jordanian census of 1961 found 1,241 inhabitants in Deir Sharaf.[17]

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Deir Sharaf has been under Israeli occupation. The population in the 1967 census conducted by Israel was 973, of whom 46 originated from the Israeli territory.[18]

After the 1995 accords, 23% of village land was classified as Area B, the remaining 77% as Area C. 236 dunams Deir Sharaf’s land has been confiscated by the Israel for the Israeli settlement of Shavei Shomron, located just north of Deir Sharaf.[19]

On 3 July 2014, Israeli authorities stated that they were confiscating 16 dunams of land near the village for “military purposes”.[20]