Kharas

Kharas does not appear in records from the 16th century.Grossman, D. (1986). "Oscillations in the Rural Settlement of Samaria and Judaea in the Ottoman Period". in Shomron studies. Dar, S., Safrai, S., (eds). Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House. p. 368 Oral tradition suggests that Kharas was founded after the 16th century.Grossman, D. "The expansion of the settlement frontier of Hebron's western and southern fringes". Geography Research Forum, 5, 1982, p. 62. Fellahin from Halhul established the settlement in the late 18th or early 19th century. A family from Sa'ir also relocated there due to conflicts in their hometown.

In the late Ottoman era, in 1838, Edward Robinson noted Kharas S 14° E from Bayt Nattif.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 2, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearc00smitgoog#page/n364/mode/1up 342] It was further noted as a Muslim village, between the mountains and Gaza, but subject to the government of Hebron.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/117/mode/1up 117]

Socin found from an official Ottoman village list from about 1870 that Charas had 38 houses and a population of 120, though the population count included men, only.Socin, 1879, p. [https://archive.org/stream/zeitschriftdesde01deut#page/149/mode/1up 149] It was also noted to be in the Hebron District Hartmann found that Charas had 40 houses.Hartmann, 1883, p.[https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_BZobAQAAIAAJ#page/n951/mode/1up 143]

In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Kharas as "a small village standing high on the side of one of the lower hills, with olives round it. On the east is a well."Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp03conduoft#page/305/mode/1up 305] C.R. Conder of the PEF thought that the neighboring "thickets" or woodlands of Kharas may have been the "forest of Hereth" described in {{bibleverse|1 Samuel|22:5|HE}}, and where the fugitive king of Israel, David, hid himself from King Saul.Conder (1879), p. [https://archive.org/stream/tentworkinpalest02conduoft#page/88/mode/1up 88]

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Kharas had a population of 577, all Muslim,Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Hebron, p.[https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n12/mode/1up 10] increasing in the 1931 census to 739, still all Muslim, in 153 houses.Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 33].

In the 1945 statistics the population of Kharas was 970 Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p23.jpg 23] and the land area 6,781 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Hebron/Page-050.jpg 50] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623032853/http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Hebron/Page-050.jpg |date=2018-06-23 }} 615 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 3,532 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Hebron/Page-093.jpg 93] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120907073152/http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Hebron/Page-093.jpg |date=2012-09-07 }} while 38 dunams were built-up (urban) land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Hebron/Page-143.jpg 143] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130131005326/http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Hebron/Page-143.jpg |date=2013-01-31 }}

File:Nuba 1945.jpg|Kharas, British Mandate map, 1:20,000

File:Surif 1945.jpg|Kharas 1945 1:250,000

In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Kharas came under Jordanian rule from 1948 until 1967. It was annexed by Jordan in 1950.

The Jordanian census of 1961 found 1,264 inhabitants in Kharas.Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/JordanCensusPages/JordanCensus1961-p22.pdf 22]

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Kharas has been under Israeli occupation. According to the 1967 Census, the village had a population of 1,364, of whom 101 originally came from Israeli Territory.{{Cite web |last=Perlmann |first=Joey |date=November 2011 – February 2012 |title=The 1967 Census of the West Bank and Gaza Strip: A Digitized Version |url=https://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/1967_census/vol_1_tab_2.pdf |access-date=29 November 2024 |website=Levy Economics Institute}}

Israel has confiscated approximately 2,000 dunums of the village land, half of which was used for the construction of the separation wall. After completion of the wall, 600 dunums of village land will be on the Israeli side of the wall (in the Seam Zone), isolated from the village.[http://vprofile.arij.org/hebron/pdfs/Kharas.pdf Kharas Town Profile], ARIJ, 2009, p. 15

There are five schools in the town: a boy's secondary school, a girls' secondary school, Khaled ibn al-Walid basic mixed primary school, a girls' primary school and a mixed gender high school. There are four mosques, a sports club, a government-run health clinic and an olive press (olive oil manufacturing is a major industry in the town).[http://www.palestineremembered.com/GeoPoints/Kharas_4938/Article_2743.html About Kharas Town and Municipality] {{in lang|ar}}

{{reflist|25em}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book | editor =Barron, J.B. | title =Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922 | url =https://archive.org/details/PalestineCensus1922 | publisher =Government of Palestine | year =1923 }}
• {{cite book|last=Conder|first=C.R.|author-link=C. R. Conder|title=Tent Work in Palestine. A Record of Discovery and Adventure|volume=2|publisher=Bentley on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund|year=1879|location=London|language=en|url=https://archive.org/stream/tentworkinpalest02conduoft#page/n9/mode/2up|oclc=23589738}}
• {{cite book|last1=Conder|first1=C.R.|author-link1=Claude Reignier Conder|last2=Kitchener|first2=H.H.|author-link2=Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|year=1883|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp03conduoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology|location=London|publisher=Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund|volume=3}}
• {{cite book|title=Byeways in Palestine|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22097/22097-h/22097-h.htm|first=J.|last=Finn|author-link=James Finn|year=1868|location=London|publisher=James Nisbett & Co.}}
• {{cite book | title = First Census of Population and Housing. Volume I: Final Tables; General Characteristics of the Population | author = Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics | year = 1964 | url = http://cs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/JordanCensus1961bits.pdf }}
• {{cite book|title=Village Statistics, April, 1945|url=http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nli/Hebrew/library/Pages/BookReader.aspx?pid=856390|author=Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics|year=1945}}
• {{cite book|title=Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine|url=http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html|first=S.|last=Hadawi|author-link=Sami Hadawi|year=1970|publisher=Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center|archive-date=2018-12-08|access-date=2014-12-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181208215837/http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html|url-status=dead}}
• {{cite journal | last = Hartmann | first = M. | author-link = Martin Hartmann | title = Die Ortschaftenliste des Liwa Jerusalem in dem türkischen Staatskalender für Syrien auf das Jahr 1288 der Flucht (1871) | journal = Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins | volume = 6 | pages = 102–149 | url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_BZobAQAAIAAJ | year = 1883 }}
• {{cite book | editor = Mills, E. | title = Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas | url = https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas | publisher = Government of Palestine | location = Jerusalem | year = 1932 }}
• {{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=Robinson|first1=E.|author-link1=Edward Robinson (scholar)|last2=Smith|first2=E.|author-link2=Eli Smith|year=1841|url=https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearc00smitgoog|title=Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838|location=Boston|publisher=Crocker & Brewster|volume=2}}
• {{cite book|last1=Robinson|first1=E.|author-link1=Edward Robinson (scholar)|last2=Smith|first2=E.|author-link2=Eli Smith|year=1841|url=https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearch03robiuoft|title=Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838|location=Boston|publisher=Crocker & Brewster|volume=3}}
• {{cite journal | last = Socin | first = A. | author-link = Albert Socin | title = Alphabetisches Verzeichniss von Ortschaften des Paschalik Jerusalem | journal = Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins | volume = 2 | pages = 135–163 | url = https://archive.org/details/zeitschriftdesde01deut | year = 1879 }}

{{refend}}

{{commons category}}

• [http://www.kharasi.ps Kharas website (Kharas website)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107020856/http://www.kharasi.ps/ |date=2019-01-07 }}
• [http://www.palestineremembered.com/GeoPoints/Kharas_4938/index.html Welcome To Kharas]
• [https://www.welcometopalestine.com/destinations/hebron/kharas/ Kharas], Welcome to Palestine
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 21: [http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8383 IAA], [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.21.jpg Wikimedia commons]
• [http://vprofile.arij.org/hebron/pdfs/Kharas%20Town.pdf Kharas Town (Fact Sheet)], Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem (ARIJ)
• [http://vprofile.arij.org/hebron/pdfs/Kharas.pdf Kharas Town Profile], ARIJ
• [http://vprofile.arij.org/hebron/images/Kharas%20Areal%20Photo.jpg Kharas aerial photo], ARIJ
• [http://vprofile.arij.org/hebron/pdfs/needsfordevelopment/Kharas_tp_en.pdf The priorities and needs for development in Kharas town based on the community and local authorities’ assessment], ARIJ

{{Hebron Governorate}}

Category:Towns in the West Bank

Category:Hebron Governorate

Category:Municipalities of Palestine

Category:Valley of Elah