Abu Tor

Abu Tor is bounded by the Valley of Hinnom on the north, by the Valley of Azal (Wadi Yasul/Nahal Azal) on the south, Hebron Road and the old Jerusalem Railway Station to the west, and the Sherover Promenade, Armon HaNetziv and Peace Forest to the south.{{cite web|url=http://www.harrefaim.com/abutor.html |title=About Abu Tor - Har Refaim Synagogue, Abu Tor, Jerusalem |access-date=2008-04-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100430003600/http://www.harrefaim.com/abutor.html |archive-date=2010-04-30 }} About Abu Tor - Har Refaim Synagogue, Abu Tor, Jerusalem The "official" Hebrew name of the neighborhood is Givat Hananya ("Hananya's Hill").[https://books.google.com/books?id=Q8U9Gv7ibJ8C&pg=PA160 Studies in Historical Geography and Biblical Historiography] Zecharia Kallai

Image:HebronRdAbuTor.JPG

According to a traditional story, during the Ayyubid period after Saladin captured Jerusalem in 1187, the area of Abu Tor was assigned by Al-Aziz Uthman to an officer in Saladin's army.Moudjir ed-dyn, 1876, p. [https://archive.org/stream/histoiredejrus00ulayuoft#page/290/mode/1up 290], orig page 488, cited in Canaan, 1927, p. [https://archive.org/stream/MohammedanSaintsAndSanctuariesInPalestine/Mohammedan%20saints%20and%20sanctuaries%20in%20Palestine#page/n294/mode/1up 286]{{cite journal|author=Ruth Kark and Shimon Landman|title=The establishment of Muslim neighbourhoods in Jerusalem, outside the old city, during the late Ottoman period|journal=Palestine Exploration Quarterly|volume=112|year=1980|issue=2 |pages=113–135|doi=10.1179/peq.1980.112.2.113}} His name was Sheikh Shehab ed Din, but he was called "Sheikh Ahmed et Toreh" (Sheikh Ahmed of the bull) or "Abu Tor" (the man with the bull, or the father of the bull) as he was said to have accompanied Saladin riding on a bull.Palmer, 1881, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00conduoft#page/318/mode/1up 318]Warren and Conder, 1884, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00warruoft#page/397/mode/1up 397]

The hill on which Abu Tor stands was called "Jebel Deir Abu Tor" (mountain of the monastery of Abu Tor), or the "Hill of Evil Counsel", referring to a legend that it was the site of the house of Caiaphas, where Judas plotted to betray Jesus. A monastery or convent dedicated to St. Mark (whose emblem was an ox) may have once been there.Canaan, 1927, p. [http://digital.soas.ac.uk/LOAA003475/00002/296j 287] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418062600/http://digital.soas.ac.uk/LOAA003475/00002/296j |date=2015-04-18 }}

Abu Tor was developed as a residential quarter in the late 19th century by Muslim and Christian Arabs from Jerusalem.{{cite journal|author=A. Arnon|title=The Quarters of Jerusalem in the Ottoman Period|journal=Middle Eastern Studies|volume=28|year=1992|pages=1–65|doi=10.1080/00263209208700889}} A Jewish neighborhood called Beit Yosef was established in 1888.

Abu Tor was incorporated into the Jerusalem municipal district during the British Mandate period.{{cite journal|author=Ruth Kark and Michal Oren-Nordheim|title=Colonial cities in Palestine? Jerusalem under the British Mandate|journal=Israel Affairs|volume=3|year=1996|issue=2 |pages=50–94|doi=10.1080/13537129608719419}}

From the establishment of Israel in 1948 until 1967, the border between Israel and Jordan ran through Abu Tor.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nj.com/specialprojects/jerusalem/jeru3.html|title=Neighbors if not friends}} The first four roads beyond Hebron Road were Israeli and the remaining roads were Jordanian. In January 1949, Israel and Jordan, represented by Moshe Dayan and Abdullah el-Tell, held talks on the status of Jerusalem. Dayan presented the partition of Jerusalem as a common interest, and offered an exchange of territories that included the military post in Abu Tor, but his offer was turned down.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FGOY5oDGGLUC&pg=PA140|title=Jerusalem: A City and Its Future|first1=Marshall J.|last1=Breger|first2=Ora|last2=Ahimeir|date=June 1, 2002|publisher=Syracuse University Press|isbn=9780815629122 |via=Google Books}}

Abu Tor is one of the few Jerusalem neighborhoods with a mixed Arab and Jewish population. Due to its mixed population, many journalists, diplomats and United Nations employees choose to live there.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nj.com/specialprojects/index.ssf?/specialprojects/jerusalem/jeru3.html|title=NJ.com: Special Projects|access-date=2008-02-04|archive-date=2011-06-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605064908/http://www.nj.com/specialprojects/index.ssf?/specialprojects/jerusalem/jeru3.html|url-status=dead}} While the Jewish section of Abu Tor is predominantly secular, the neighborhood has two synagogues - Har Refaim Synagogue for Ashkenazi Jews on Nachshon Street,{{Cite web|url=http://www.harrefaim.com/|title=Har Refaim Synagogue - בית כנסת הר רפאים|website=www.harrefaim.com}} and Shalom V'Achva Synagogue for Sephardi Jews.

Abu Tor had a population of 15,500 in 2010.{{Cite web|url=http://bimkom.org.il/eng/wp-content/uploads/2.10_abu-Thor-w.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202095618/http://bimkom.org.il/eng/wp-content/uploads/2.10_abu-Thor-w.pdf|title=The first page in the facts|archivedate=February 2, 2014}}

A large multiplex cinema, the Sherover complex, is located in Abu Tor.[http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/the-rising-star-at-jerusalem-city-hall-1.449266 The rising star at Jerusalem City Hall], Haaretz The center, just off Hebron Road, houses seven movie theaters, coffee shops and restaurants, an auditorium, a library, classrooms and art galleries.[https://web.archive.org/web/20160410064315/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-141825888.html In calm J'lem neighborhood of Abu Tor, big construction project angers residents], The Jerusalem Post The complex, which began operating in 2015, also screens films on the Sabbath.{{Cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/culture/yes-planet-makes-jerusalem-big-screen-debut-411956|title=Yes Planet makes Jerusalem big-screen debut|website=The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com}}

{{Reflist|25em}}

{{Refbegin}}

• {{cite book|last1=Besant|first1=Walter|author-link1=Walter Besant|last2=Palmer|first2=E.H.|author-link2=Edward Henry Palmer|year=1871|url=https://archive.org/details/jerusalemcityhe00palmgoog|title=Jerusalem, the City of Herod and Saladin|location=London|publisher=Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund}} (p. [https://archive.org/stream/jerusalemcityhe00palmgoog#page/n430/mode/1up 432])
• {{cite book|last=Canaan|first=Tawfiq|author-link=Tawfiq Canaan|url=http://digital.soas.ac.uk/LOAA003475/00002/9j|title=Mohammedan Saints and Sanctuaries in Palestine|year=1927|location=London|publisher=Luzac & Co|access-date=2015-04-11|archive-date=2019-05-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190516015019/https://digital.soas.ac.uk/LOAA003475/00002/9j|url-status=dead}}
• {{cite journal | author = Conder, C. R. | author-link = Claude Reignier Conder | title = The Moslem Mukams | journal = Quarterly Statement - Palestine Exploration Fund | volume = 9 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/quarterlystateme09pale/page/89 89]–103 | url = https://archive.org/details/quarterlystateme09pale | year = 1877 }} (p. [https://archive.org/stream/quarterlystateme09pale#page/n109/mode/1up 100])
• {{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/histoiredejrus00ulayuoft|title=Histoire de Jérusalem et d'Hébron depuis Abraham jusqu'à la fin du XVe siècle de J.-C. : fragments de la Chronique de Moudjir-ed-dyn|year=1876|author=Moudjir ed-dyn|author-link=Mujir al-Din|editor=Sauvaire}}
• {{cite book|last=Nissenbaum|first=Dion|title=A Street Divided: Stories From Jerusalem's Alley of God|publisher=St. Martin's Press|year=2016|isbn=978-1250072948}}
• {{cite book|last=Palmer|first=E. H.|author-link=Edward Henry Palmer|year=1881|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp00conduoft|title=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|publisher=Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund}}
• {{cite book|last1=Warren|first1=Charles|author-link1=Charles Warren|last2=Conder|first2=Claude Reignier|author-link2=Claude Reignier Conder|year=1884|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp00warruoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Jerusalem|location=London|publisher=Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund}}

{{Refend}}

• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 17: [http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8379 IAA], [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.17.jpg Wikimedia commons]

{{Neighborhoods of Jerusalem}}

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Category:Neighbourhoods of Jerusalem

Category:19th-century establishments in Asia

Category:Populated places established in the 19th century