al-Ras (
Arabic: الراس) is a
Palestinian village in the
Tulkarm Governorate in the eastern
West Bank, located 7 kilometers South-east of
Tulkarm. According to the
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, al-Ras had a population of 650 inhabitants in 2017.[1] In 1997, refugees made up 11.1% of the population of al-Ras.[3] The healthcare facilities for al-Ras are based in
Kafr Sur, where the facilities are designated as MOH level 2.[4]
History
Ceramics from the
Byzantine era have been found here.[5]
Seven ruins are shown on the plan north of this village within about a mile. They are ancient watch towers, like those of
Azzun.[6] One of them, known as Gasr Bint esh-Sheikh, dates from the
late Hellenistic and
early Roman periods.[7][8]
Ottoman era
Al-Ras was incorporated into the
Ottoman Empire in 1517 with all of
Palestine, and in 1596 it appeared in the
tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Bani Sa'b of the Liwa of
Nablus. It had a population of 25 households, all
Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 33,3% on various agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, goats and/or beehives in addition to occasional revenues and a fixed tax for people of Nablus area; a total of 6,600
akçe. All the revenues went to a
waqf.[9]
In 1838,
Robinson noted er-Ras as a village in Beni Sa'ab district, west of
Nablus.[10]
In 1870/1871 (1288
AH), an Ottoman census listed the village with 23
Household in the nahiya (sub-district) of Bani Sa'b.[11]
In the
1945 statistics the population of Er Ras was 160 Muslims,[15] with 5,646
dunams of land according to an official land and population survey.[16] Of this, 1,029 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 2,027 were used for cereals,[17] while 3 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[18]