The Maps and Survey Department — Orient House

Notes

The Maps and Survey Department was established in 1983 by the late Faisal Husseini as part of the Arab Studies Society. In 1987, it produced a map of all Israeli settlements established since 1967 in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip, and it has updated the map ever since. In 1990, the department produced a map of historic Palestine, detailing all of the Palestinian towns and villages that were depopulated and destroyed in 1948, and established an archive of Palestinian land property titles from West Jerusalem.

In 1996, when Israel shut down the Arab Studies Society, the Maps and Survey Department moved to the Orient House. In 2001, the Orient House too was shut down by Israel and has been kept continuously closed by the government ever since. The department managed to remain open by moving to an office outside of the municipal boundaries.

The department has amassed an enormous collection of specialty maps of Jerusalem that is available for land researchers. It also has an archive of information and maps about Arab property in West Jerusalem.