Abu Dis or Abu Deis () is a Palestinian village in the West Bank, in the Jerusalem Governorate of the State of Palestine, bordering Jerusalem. Since the 1995 Oslo II Accord, Abu Dis land has been mostly part of "Area B", under Israeli military control and Palestinian civic control. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) census, Abu Dis had a population of 12,251 in 2017.
History
Abu Dis is situated on an ancient site, surrounded by deep valleys. Ruins have been found of ancient buildings, cisterns, grape presses and caves, one with a columbarium. Ceramics from Late Roman and Byzantine period has also been found.
The French explorer Victor Guérin thought Abu Dis was identical with ancient Bahurim, but this identification is not accepted today.
Ottoman era
Abu Dis was one of the most populous villages in the Sanjak of Jerusalem during the 16th century, with a population of several hundred. Wheat and barley formed the bulk of cash crops, but were supplemented by grapes, olives, fruit trees, beans, and products from goats and bees. Descendants of Saladin lived in the village and were entrusted one-third of the grain revenue by the Ottoman Empire. The adult males of the village paid a combined 6,250 akçe in annual taxes, a much more lower figure than other villages of the same size in the sanjak such as Beit Jala, Ein Karim, and Deir Dibwan. This could indicate that Abu Dis was less prosperous, alternatively it could be because it had fewer non-Muslims. In October 1553, Shaykh Sa'd al-Din al-Sharafi al-Maliki was appointed as the administrator of the waqf of the village, but was replaced in 1554 by Muhammad al-Fakhuri at the request of three prominent villagers who complained to the qadi of Jerusalem. He remained in this position until 1563. In 1596 Abu Dis appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Quds of the Liwa of Quds. It had a population of 80 Muslim households, and paid taxes on wheat, barley, olive trees, vineyards, fruit trees, goats and/or bee hives; a total of 15,000 akçe. All of the revenue went to a waqf.
In 1838 Abu Dis was noted as a Muslim village, part of el-Wadiyeh district, located east of Jerusalem.
When Guérin visited the village in 1870 he noted a house larger and higher than the others, which was that of the local sheikh. An official Ottoman village list from about the same year showed that Abu Dis had 52 houses and a population of 326, though the population count included only men.
By the old village mosque, known locally as Maqam Salah ad-Din, there is a grave with a slab of marble, with a poem written in "elegant naskhi script", dated to 1878.
In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described it as a "village of moderate size in a conspicuous position on a bare flat ridge, with deep valleys round it. The water-supply is from cisterns. Rock-cut tombs exists to the west.
In the late 19th century, the Sheikh of Abu Dis, Rasheed Erekat, promised to guarantee the safety of European tourists and pilgrims on the journey down to Jericho and the River Jordan. According to a 19th-century traveler, the "only way of accomplishing the journey to the Jordan ...(is) by paying the statutory tribute-money to the Sheikh of Abu Dees. This man has the privilege of extracting some sixteen shillings from each traveller who goes down to Jericho...He will send a man, possibly his own son along with you... arrayed in gorgeous apparel, and armed with sword and revolver."
In 1896 the population of Abu Dis was estimated to be about 600 persons.
British Mandate era
In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Abu Diz had a population of 1,029, all Muslims, increasing in the 1931 census to a population of 1,297, still all Muslims, in 272 houses.
In the 1945 statistics, Abu Dis had a population of 1,940 Muslims, with 27,896 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 4,981 dunams were used for cereals, while 158 dunams were built-up (urban) land.
Between 1922 and 1947, the population of Abu Dis increased by 110%. The town suffered extensive damage in the 1927 Jericho earthquake. All the homes were damaged and every cistern was cracked. Since Abu Dis depended on rain-water cisterns for its water supply, this caused great hardship. al-Eizariya (Bethany), half a mile away, suffered little damage.