It spreads across a large land area of 33,357 dunams (33.357 km2), of which 17.2% is under the civil jurisdiction of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and the remainder under Israeli military control. Most of the land under PNA administration is urban, surrounded by grape vines, and groves of fig and olive trees. 76% of the town's area is open space.[4]
The village name means "the monastery/house of Jerir." 19th-century orientalist E. H. Palmer writes that it was named for the Arab poet Jarir ibn Atiyah.[3]
History
Sherds from the Mamluk era have been uncovered.[5] In 1354, income from Deir Jarir was transferred to the waqf in Jerusalem to be used for the upkeep of the Khātūniyya Madrasa. In 1491-1492, annual revenue sent to the madrasa was 3,800 aspers .[6]
Ottoman period
In 1517, Deir Jarir was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire with the rest of Palestine. In 1596 Dar Jarir appeared in the tax registers as being in the nahiya of Quds in the liwa of Quds. It had a population of 23 Muslim households. Taxes were paid on wheat, barley, olives, vineyards, fruit trees, occasional revenues, goats and/or bee hives; a total of 4,300 akçe.[7] Shards from the early Ottoman era have also been found.[5]
In 1838, Deir Jureir was described as a Muslim village in the Beni Murrah region north of Jerusalem.[8][9]
When the French explorer Victor Guérin visited the village in 1863 and 1870, he found 200 inhabitants.[10]
An Ottoman village list dating from 1870 records 111 houses and a population of 394 including men only.[11][12]
In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Dar Jerir as "a village of moderate size, with ancient tombs to the south, and a spring to the west; a few olives on the same side."[13]
In 1896 the population of Deir Jarir was estimated to be about 828 persons.[14]
In the 1945 statistics, the population of Deir Jarir was 1,080, all Muslims,[17] who owned 33,161 dunams (33.2 km2; 12.8 sq mi) of land according to an official land and population survey.[18] 3,091 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 6,499 used for cereals,[19] while 40 dunams (4.0 ha; 9.9 acres) were built-up (urban) land.[20]
The Jordanian census of 1961 found 1,474 inhabitants in Deir Jarir.[21]
1967-present
Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Deir Jarir has been under Israeli occupation. The population of Deir Jerir in the 1967 census conducted by the Israeli authorities was 1,275, 18 of whom originated from the Israeli territory.[22]
After the 1995 accords, 15% of village land was classified as Area B, the remaining 85% as Area C. Israel has confiscated 1,264 of dunams of village land for the construction of the Israeli settlement of Kokhav HaShahar.[23]
In September 2005, hundreds of armed residents from Deir Jarir attacked the nearby town of Taybeh due to a family feud. A Palestinian Christian from Taybeh was accused of having an affair with a Muslim woman from Deir Jarir. 13 houses were burned down and three men were arrested (two from Deir Jarir and one from Taybeh). According to the BBC, however, the towns are still friendly and consider themselves one family".[24]
