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Buq'ata بقعاثا בוקעאתא‎
Town
Buq'ata town
Buq'ataThe Golan on the map of Syria; Buq'ata on the map of the Golan.Show map of the Golan HeightsBuq'ataBuq'ata (Syria)Show map of SyriaBuq'ataBuq'ata (the Golan Heights)Show map of the Golan Heights
Coordinates: 33°12′N 35°47′E / 33.200°N 35.783°E / 33.200; 35.783
Country	Golan Heights, internationally recognised as Syrian territory occupied by Israel. See Status of the Golan Heights.
Israeli District	Northern District
Israeli Subdistrict	Golan Subdistrict
Syrian Governorate	Quneitra Governorate
Syrian District	Quneitra District
Syrian Subdistrict	Mas'ade Subdistrict
Population	6,805

Buq'ata (Arabic: بقعاثا Buqʿāthā; Hebrew: בוקעאתא) is a Druze town, administered as a local council, in the northern section of the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights. Buq'ata covers an area of 7,000 dunams (7 km²) between two mountains in the Golan Heights, Mount Hermonit and Mount Varda. Located 1,070 metres above sea level, it had a population of 6,805 in 2022.

Granted the right to obtain Israeli citizenship following the passage of the Golan Heights Law, as of 2012 most of the residents, like the majority of Druze in the Golan Heights, had adopted permanent residency but refused Israeli citizenship and instead retained Syrian citizenship.

Buq'ata is one of the four remaining Druze communities on the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights, the others being Majdal Shams, Ein Qiniyye and Mas'ade. Geologically and geographically a distinction is made between the Golan Heights and Mount Hermon, the boundary being marked by the Sa'ar Stream; however, administratively they are usually grouped together. Buq'ata and Mas'ade are on the Golan side of the boundary, characterised by black volcanic rock (basalt), while Majdal Shams and Ein Qiniyye are on the Hermon side, thus sitting on limestone.

History

The presence of Druze around Mount Hermon is documented since the founding of the Druze religion in the beginning of the 11th century. Buq'ata was founded in the 1880s by families from the neighboring town of Majdal Shams. It was established on a late antique and medieval settlement where sherds from the Roman, Byzantine and Mamluk periods were found. Greek inscriptions were discovered at the village.

Buq'ata was destroyed in 1888 during a series of feuds between rival villages in the area, and again in 1925, during the Great Syrian Revolt against the French mandatory rule. It became part of independent Syria in 1946.

In the course of the Six-Day War in 1967, the town was captured by Israel.

Buq'ata achieved Israeli local council status in 1982.

During the Syrian civil war, some of the violence in nearby Syria spilled over into Buq'ata, where residents loyal to President Bashar al-Assad clashed with activists identifying with the Syrian opposition.

Demography

According to data compiled by Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics in 2001, Buq'ata ranked 2 out of 10 on the national socioeconomic index. In 2000, 72.5% of Grade 12 students graduated with a Bagrut matriculation certificate. In 2021, 98.9% of students matriculated, 2nd best in the country, though only 1.1% did so at the maximum level of mathematics and English studies, 9th worst in the country.

The inhabitants of Buq'ata have permanent residency in Israel and receive social welfare benefits from Israel.

Economy

The local economy is predominantly agricultural, with apples and grapes being the main crops. In 2013, Buq'ata harvested 55,000 tons of apples, which it sold to markets in Israel or Syria. This arrangement still worked in 2013, but was then under threat due to the civil war in Syria.

See also

• Status and position of Golan Heights Druze

References

1. "Regional Statistics". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
2. Aly, Abdel Monem Said; Feldman, Shai; Shikaki, Khalil (2013). Arabs and Israelis: Conflict and Peacemaking in the Middle East. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 206. ISBN 978-1-137-29084-7.
3. ^ Kerchner, Isabel. Echoes of Syria's War in the Golan Heights New York Times. August 7, 2012
4. Roy Marom, “Sukayk and al-Summāqah: Mamluk Rural Geography in the Northern Jawlān/Golan Heights in the Light of Qāytbāy’s Endowment Deeds,” in Kate Raphael and Mustafa Abbasi (ed.s), The Golan in the Mamluk and Ottoman Periods: an Archaeological and Historical Study: Excavations at Naʿarān and Farj, In Honour of Moshe Hartal, Yigal Ben Ephraim and Shuqri ‘Arraf, Annual of the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion Volume xiv (2024): 67
5. Killebrew, Grantham & Fine 2003, p. 63
6. Killebrew, Grantham & Fine 2003, p. 63
7. بانيت, موقع. "نتائج البجروت | من هي المدارس العربية في القمة- ومن تتذيلها؟". Panet (in Arabic).
8. "Assad harvests support from Druze in Israel - with apples", Joshua Mitnick for The Christian Science Monitor, 21 September 2013. Re-accessed 4 Oct. 2024.

Bibliography

• Killebrew, Ann E.; Grantham, Billy J.; Fine, Steven (2003). "A "Talmudic" House at Qasrin: On the Use of Domestic Space and Daily Life during the Byzantine Period". Near Eastern Archaeology. 66 (1/2). American Schools of Oriental Research. ISSN 1094-2076. JSTOR 3210932. Retrieved 2024-08-21.

v t e Quneitra Governorate of Syria
Quneitra District	Quneitra Asbah al-Asha Ayn al-Tineh Ayyuba Bariqa al-Bassa al-Sharqiya–Ayn Qadi Beer Ajam Ghadir al-Bustan Hader Hajja Khan Arnabah Kudna Kum al-Basha Kum al-Wasiyya–Marj Barghut Jabah Jubata al-Khashab Maalaqah Madinat al-Salam Masharah Mamtana Naba al-Sakher Qarqas al-Qahtaniyah al-Qasibah al-Rafid Ruwayhina al-Suwaysah Tirinja al-Ufaniya Umm Batinah
Fiq District	Sayda
Syrian localities in Israeli-occupied Golan Heights	Populated Buq'ata Ein Qiniyye Ghajar Majdal Shams Mas'ade Depopulated Al-Ahmadiyah Al-'Al Almin 'Ayn Fit Ain Hamra Ain Ziwan al-Birah al-Butayha Dabburah Dalwa Dayr Aziz Dayr Siras al-Eshshah Fiq Hafar Hatal Jabbin Jawziah Jubata ez-Zeit Kafr Harib Kafr al-Ma Kafr Naffakh Khisfin Khushniyeh Khokhah Kisrin Mansura Qarahta Er-Ramthaniyye Saffuriyah Shayta al-Sindiyanah Skufiyah as-Summaqah Umm al-Dananir Za'ura
Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights	Town Katzrin Kibbutzim Afik Ein Zivan Ein Gev El Rom Gadot Geshur Kfar Haruv Ma'agan Merom Golan Metzar Mevo Hama Mishmar HaYarden Natur Ortal Snir Tel Katzir Moshavim Alonei HaBashan Ani'am Avnei Eitan Bnei Yehuda Eliad Givat Yoav Haspin Kanaf Keshet Kidmat Tzvi Ma'ale Gamla Neot Golan Neve Ativ Nimrod Nov Odem Ramat Magshimim Ramot Sha'al Yonatan Community settlements Kela Alon Had Nes HaOn Trump Heights
Israeli settlements in italics were on the Mandatory Palestine side of the 1923 border.

v t e Northern District of Israel
Cities	Acre Afula Beit She'an Karmiel Kiryat Shmona Ma'alot-Tarshiha Maghar Migdal HaEmek Nahariya Nazareth Nof HaGalil Safed Sakhnin Shefa-'Amr Tamra Tiberias Yokneam Illit
Local councils	Israel Abu Snan Arraba Basmat Tab'un Beitegen Bi'ina Bir al-Maksur Bu'eine Nujeidat Daburiyya Deir al-Asad Deir Hanna Eilabun Ein Mahil Fassuta Hurfeish Hatzor HaGlilit I'billin Iksal Ilut Jadeidi-Makr Jish Julis Ka'abiyye-Tabbash-Hajajre Kabul Kafr Kanna Kafr Manda Kafr Yasif Kaukab Abu al-Hija Kfar Kama Kfar Tavor Kfar Vradim Kisra-Sumei Majd al-Krum Mashhad Mazra'a Metula Migdal Mi'ilya Nahf Peki'in Ramat Yishai Rameh Reineh Rosh Pinna Sajur Sha'ab Shlomi Shibli–Umm al-Ghanam Tuba-Zangariyye Tur'an Yafa an-Naseriyye Yanuh-Jat Yarka Yavne'el Yesud HaMa'ala Zarzir Occupied Buq'ata Ein Qiniyye Ghajar Majdal Shams Mas'ade Katzrin (Israeli settlement)
Regional councils	Israel Al-Batuf Beit She'an Valley Bustan al-Marj Northern Jordan Valley (Emek HaYarden) Gilboa Jezreel Valley Lower Galilee Ma'ale Yosef Mateh Asher Megiddo Merom HaGalil Mevo'ot HaHermon Misgav Upper Galilee Occupied Golan

• Towns in Quneitra Governorate
• Populated places established in the 1880s
• Local councils in Northern District (Israel)
• Druze communities in Syria
• 1880s establishments in Ottoman Syria