Its western flank was bordered to the north by the Jewish neighborhood of Romema,[5][6] founded in 1921,[7] placing it close to the entrance to the city of Jerusalem.

[10] During the British Mandate for Palestine, Sheikh Badr was a semi-rural Arab village in western Jerusalem which benefited from its proximity to the major Jewish neighborhoods and thus increased employment opportunities.

[3] To create a "general air of insecurity" that would speed up the process, the Lehi blew up the home of the village mukhtar, Haj Suleiman Hamini, on January 11, 1948.

[5] The Arab residents evacuated Sheikh Badr between January 14 and 19, after which British policemen came in to guard the vacated homes.

However, Jews from the neighborhood of Nahlaot made several raids on the deserted village, destroying and setting fire to remaining property.

[15] In mid-1955, the decision was made to bury the remaining bodies in the Sheikh Badr cemetery in earth and to erect a headstone over each grave.