Yajur (, Yâjûr) was a Palestinian Arab village located southeast of Haifa. It was depopulated during the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on April 25, 1948.
History Fragments of glass, and tombs with sarcophagi are located in the old village area today.
Yajur was mentioned as part of the domain of the Crusaders during the hudna (truce) between the Crusaders based in Acre and the Mamluk sultan Al Mansur Qalawun declared in 1283.Barag, 1979, p. 208
Ottoman era In 1799, it was noted on the map that Pierre Jacotin compiled that year, though it was misnamed as Beled el Charq (=Balad al-Sheikh).Karmon, 1960, p. 162
In 1872, the Ottoman authorities sold land in Yajur to two Lebanese businessmen, Sursock and Salim al-Khuri.Khalidi, 1992, p. 202
In 1875, Victor Guérin found the village to have about 200 inhabitants, and that it was surrounded by fig and olive trees.Guérin, 1880, pp. 401-402
A population list from about 1887 showed that Yajur had about 150 inhabitants; all Muslims.Schumacher, 1888, p. 177
In the early twentieth century the village, named El-Yadschur, was noted with 153 inhabitants. The village had a mosque. It was also noted that the villagers no longer owned their land, as it was owned by a selim el-churi, who planned to start silk production in the village.Mülinen, 1908, pp. 178-185
British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine Yajur had a population of 202; all Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Haifa, p. 33 while in the 1931 census it was counted with Nesher; together they had 1,449 inhabitants; 554 Muslim, 26 Christians and 858 Jews, in addition to 11 with no religion, in a total of 291 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 97
The area was acquired by the Jewish community as part of the Sursock Purchase. The Lebanese landowners sold land in Yajur to the Zionists, who in turn established the kibbutz of Yagur in 1922 on what had traditionally been village land.
The village population in the 1945 statistics was 610; 560 Muslims and 50 Christians, with a total of 2,720 dunams of land. Of this, Arabs owned 344 dunams (13 percent), and used 57 dunums of land for plantations and irrigable land, 261 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 92 while 18 dunams were classified as built-up land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 142 Meanwhile, 486 dunams of land (18 percent) were owned by Jews, while 1,785 dunams (66 percent) were classified as public (i.e. un-cultivatable) land.
1948 and aftermath Following the war the area was incorporated into the State of Israel. In 1992, the village site was described: "No traces of the houses remain on the site, which is marked by numerous fig trees and a smaller number of olive trees." Kibbutz Yagur uses part of Yajur's former land for agriculture, with cement factories on another part.
Gallery
References
Bibliography
Mülinen, Egbert Friedrich von 1908, Beiträge zur Kenntnis des Karmels "Separateabdruck aus der Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palëstina-Vereins Band XXX (1907) Seite 117-207 und Band XXXI (1908) Seite 1-258."
External links Welcome To Yajur al-Yajur, Zochrot Survey of Western Palestine, Map 5: IAA, Wikimedia commons Yajur, from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center