the european explorer van de velde visited "el-bussa" in 1851, and stayed with the sheikh, aisel yusuf, writing that "the clean house of sheck yusuf is a welcome sight, and the verdant meadows around the village are truly refreshing to the eye". he further noted that "the inhabitants of bussah are almost all members of the greek church. a few musselmans live among them, and a few fellahs of a bedouin tribe which wanders about in the neighborhood are frequently seen in the street."