Sursock family
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sursock is a Greek Orthodox, Lebanese family and one of Beirut's aristocratic families. The Sursock family made their money as traders.[1] The Sursocks were also landowners and for many decades Lebanon's leading business family, joining forces with the Otis Elevator Company to manufacture elevators.[2] Rue Sursock in the Achrafieh district in Beirut is named after the family, which owned many palatial homes on the street, such as the Sursock House.
[edit] 20th century land controversy
In addition to owning land in Lebanon, the Sursock family owned more than 60,000 acres (240 km²) the in the Vale of Esdraelon, the Jezreel Valley, in Palestine. The land encompassed 13 villages in the Emek.[3] It is believed that the Sursock family sold the land in Palestine for nearly three quarters of a million pound to the Jewish National Fund in 1906.[4] Jewish settlers would displace the Arab tenants of the villages. Arabs have always regarded the Jezreel Valley as the most fertile region in Palestine.[5] Palestinians today still resent the sale by the absentee Sursock family which caused several thousand farmers to be evicted from the lands they occupied for generations.[6]
[edit] Notable members of the Sursock family
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.rosegeorge.com/frameworks/generic/public_users/morearticles.asp?ArticleID=51
- ^ Saudi Aramco World : Made In: Lebanon
- ^ A/364/Add.2 PV.33 of 16 July 1947
- ^ (French) Beirut how you've changed ... or have you?
- ^ MidEastWeb The Report of Sir John Hope Simpson, 1930
- ^ פורום אומץ לסרב: The Palestinians and Balfour
