Ajjur before 1948
Distance from district center : 24 km northwest of Hebron
Elevation from the sea : 275 m
Population before 1948 : 2*917 in 1931 (includes Khirbat al-Sura); 3*730 in 1945
(includes Khirbat Ammuriyya)
Number of houses : 566 in 1931 includes Khirbat al-Sura
Schools : The village had two schools* one was a private school known by Abu al-Hasan
school* and the other was founded in 1934
Religious institutions : Ajjur had two mosques* one was an old mosque which was built
during the Fatimid period* the other was built during the British Mandate period
Shrines/maqams : Ajjur contained four shrines within its borders
Archeological sites : Ajjur was the site of the battle of Ajnadin
(AD 634)* in which the
Muslim Arabs triumphed over the Byzantines; it contains 22 other archaeological sites
Land ownership before 1948 in dunums : Arab 44*771; Jewish 0; Public 13*303; Total
58*074
(27*655 of which cultivable)
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Population remained in Palestine after 1948
Outside the 1949 armistice line
Prior to the ethnic cleansing of 1948* Ajjur was one of the larger Arab rural localities
in the country. Today* the indigenous Palestinian people of Ajjur are stateless
refugees* living mostly outside the 1949 armistice line (the so-called Green Line) in
Dheisha and Arrub refugee camps* south of Bethlehem.
Inside the 1949 armistice line
present absentees
Some of the former residents of Ajjur remain* perhaps* as internally displaced
persons* inside the state of Israel* known as ‘present absentees’ under the
Absentees Property Law of 1950. They are ‘present’ as tax-paying citizens in Israel*
yet ‘absent’ in that they are not allowed access to their properties; their homes*
lands* bank accounts* safe deposits* jewellery etc have been confiscated by the
state.