Deir Qaddis
Deir Qaddis () is a Palestinian town in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate in the central West Bank, located sixteen kilometers west of Ramallah. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of approximately 1,942 inhabitants in 2007. The town consists of 8,207 dunams, of which 438 dunams are classified as built-up area. As a result of 1995 accords, 7.7% of Deir Qaddis' land was transferred to the Palestinian National Authority for civil affairs, so-called Area B, but Israel still retains full control of 92.3% of the town, being in Area  C. Location. Deir Qaddis is located north-west of Ramallah. It is bordered by Kharbatha Bani Harith and Al-Itihad to the east, Shibtin to the north, Ni’lin to the west, and Bil’in to the south. History. Deir Qaddis means the "monastery of the saint". French explorer Victor Guérin found in the Kharbet (=ruin) Deir Kaddis remains of houses built with large blocks and several cisterns dug into the rock, while SWP (1882) notes a ruined monastery and cave near by the village, and that the name of the village indicates that a convent once existed here. Ottoman era . The village was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 with all of Palestine, and in 1596 it appeared in the tax registers as "Dayr Qiddis" in the "Nahiya" of Ramlah of the "Liwa" of Gazza. It had a population of 11 households, all Muslim, and paid taxes on wheat, barley, summer crops, olive- and fruit trees, goats and beehives, and a press for olives or grapes; a total of 5,400 akçe. No sherds from the early Ottoman era have been found here. In 1838 "Deir el-Kaddis" was noted as a village, located in the "Beni Hasan" area, west  of Jerusalem. In 1863 Guérin estimated that "Deir Kaddis" had about 350 inhabitants, while an Ottoman village list of about 1870 showed "Der Kaddis" had 36 houses and a population of 112, though the population count included only the men. In 1883, the PEF's "Survey of Western Palestine" described "Deir el Kuddis" as a "small hamlet on a high hill-top, with gardens to the north [..] There is a well on the east." British Mandate era. In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Dair Qaddis had a population of 299 inhabitants, all Muslims, increasing  in the 1931 census to a population of 368, still all Muslim, in 82 houses. In the 1945 statistics, the population of Deir Qaddis was 440 Muslims, with 8,224 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey. 1,815 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land, 1,069 dunams for cereals, while 8 dunams were built-up (urban) land. Jordanian era. In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Deir Qaddis came under Jordanian rule. The Jordanian census of 1961 found 752 inhabitants in Deir Qaddis. Post-1967. Deir Qaddis came under Israeli occupation during the 1967 Six -Day War. The population in the 1967 census conducted by the Israeli authorities was 461, 25 of whom originated from the Israeli territory. After the 1995 accords, 7.7% of the village's total area has been classified as Area B land, while the remaining 93.3% is Area C. According to ARIJ, Israel has confiscated land from Deir Qaddis in order to construct three Israeli settlements: Part of the village land was separated from Deir Qaddis after Israel finished the Israeli West Bank barrier in 2008. The first time the villagers were given permission to access their land behind the barrier  was in 2012. The town today contains a mosque, three schools (two primary and one secondary), two medical clinics and a sports club. The town's prominent families are Husain, Qattosa, Nasser, Abu Zeid, Hamada, Awadh, Abu Laban and Kreish.