Jamma'in ( ar, جمّاعين) is a

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

town in the northern

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

located southwest of

Nablus Nablus ( ; ar, نابلس, Nābulus ; he, שכם, Šəḵem, ISO 259-3: ; Samaritan Hebrew: , romanized: ; el, Νεάπολις, Νeápolis) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a populati ...

, northwest of

Salfit Salfit ( ar, سلفيت) pronounced "Salfeet" is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, and the capital of the Salfit Governorate of the State of Palestine. Salfit is located at an altitude of , adjacent to the Israeli settleme ...

and north of

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ar, رام الله, , God's Height) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the ''de facto'' administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusale ...

. According to the

Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS; ar, الجهاز المركزي للإحصاء الفلسطيني) is the official statistical institution of the State of Palestine. Its main task is to provide credible statistical figures a ...

, the town had a population of 6,227 in 2007.2007 PCBS Census
.

. p.110.

Location

Jamma’in is located 11.26 km south of

. It is bordered by 'Einabus and

Huwwara Huwara ( ar, حُوّارة, ''ḥuwwarah'', ) is a Palestinian town located in the Nablus Governorate of the northern West Bank, south of Nablus, on the main road connecting Nablus southwards to Ramallah and Jerusalem. It is approximately ...

to the east,

Yasuf Yasuf ( ar, ياسوف) is a Palestinian village located in the Salfit Governorate of the State of Palestine, in the northern West Bank, northeast of Salfit, southwest of Nablus and adjacent to the Israeli settlement of Kfar Tapuach. According to ...

Iskaka Iskaka ( ar, إسكاكا) is a Palestinian town located in the Salfit Governorate of the State of Palestine, in the northern West Bank, 27 kilometers southwest of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, it had a populati ...

and Marda to the south,

Zeita Jamma'in Zeita Jamma'in ( ar, جمّاعين) is a Palestinian territories, Palestinian village in the Nablus Governorate in northern West Bank, located 16 kilometers southwest of Nablus. The village is located just north of Jamma'in, from which the villag ...

to the west, 'Asira al Qibliya and 'Urif to the north.

History

Jamma'in is situated on a high hill on the ancient site. Carved stones have been reused in village houses, walls, fencing and agricultural terraces. Rock-cut

cistern A cistern (Middle English ', from Latin ', from ', "box", from Greek ', "basket") is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by t ...

s have also been found. 400 meters north-west are tombs carved into rock which contains one

loculi Loculi ( sc, Lòcula) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Nuoro in the Italian region Sardinia, located about northeast of Cagliari and about northeast of Nuoro. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 538 and an area of . ...

and caves (called I-Qubay'ah).Dauphin, 1998, p. 807

Sherd In archaeology, a sherd, or more precisely, potsherd, is commonly a historic or prehistoric fragment of pottery, although the term is occasionally used to refer to fragments of stone and glass vessels, as well. Occasionally, a piece of broken p ...

s from the

Iron Age I The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly a ...

, IAII,

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

,Finkelstein and Lederman, 1997, p. 506

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

eras have also been found here.

Middle Ages

A village in the Crusader era (1123 CE) named "Gemmail", has been identified with Jamma'in. It was referred to as "Jamma'il" in medieval Arabic sources. The village was home to the Bani Qudama clan, who moved to

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

in 1156, during Crusader rule in Palestine.Meri, 2002, p
136
/ref> Their leader, and the ''

khatib In Islam, a khatib, khateeb or hatib ( ar, خطيب ''khaṭīb'') is a person who delivers the sermon (''khuṭbah'') (literally "narration"), during the Friday prayer and Eid prayers. The ''khateeb'' is usually the prayer leader ('' imam''), ...

'' (Muslim preacher) of the village, Ahmad ibn Qudama (father of

Ibn Qudamah Ibn Qudāmah al-Maqdisī Muwaffaq al-Dīn Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad ( ar, ابن قدامة المقدسي موفق الدين ابو محمد عبد الله بن احمد بن محمد ; 1147 - 7 July 1223), often re ...

and grandfather of Diya al-Din), left Jamma'in due to fears of persecution by King Baldwin, who intended to punish Ibn Qudamah for preaching against Crusader rule. The hilly and uninhabited area of Damascus the Banu Qudamah settled became the al-Salihiyah suburb, which was named either after the family, who were known as "the pious ones" (''as-salihiyyin'') or after the Abi Salih Mosque, which the family was associated with. Throughout the 11th and 12th centuries, Jamma'in was a center for

Hanbali The Hanbali school ( ar, ٱلْمَذْهَب ٱلْحَنۢبَلِي, al-maḏhab al-ḥanbalī) is one of the four major traditional Sunni schools (''madhahib'') of Islamic jurisprudence. It is named after the Arab scholar Ahmad ibn Hanbal ...

activity. The medieval Syrian geographer Yaqut (1179–1229) described the site as "A well in the hill of Nabulus, in the Filastin Province. It lies a

day's journey A day's journey in pre-modern literature, including the Bible, ancient geographers and ethnographers such as Herodotus, is a measurement of distance. In the Bible, it is not as precisely defined as other Biblical measurements of distance; the dis ...

distant from Jerusalem, and belongs to that city." Diya al-Din (1173-1245) refers to the presence of

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

s in Jamma'in during his lifetime, and he also noted that the village had a

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

. Crusader/

Ayyubid The Ayyubid dynasty ( ar, الأيوبيون '; ) was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni ...

and

Mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...

sherds have also been found here.

Ottoman era

Jamma'in was incorporated into the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

in 1517 with all of Palestine, and in 1596 it appeared in the tax registers as being in the ''

nahiya A nāḥiyah ( ar, , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level division w ...

'' of Jabal Qubal, part of

Nablus Sanjak The Nablus Sanjak ( ar, سنجق نابلس; tr, Nablus Sancağı) was an administrative area that existed throughout Ottoman rule in the Levant (1517–1917). It was administratively part of the Damascus Eyalet until 1864 when it became part o ...

. It had an entirely Muslim population of eighteen households and five bachelors. The inhabitants of the village paid a fixed tax rate of 33.3% on wheat, barley, summer crops,

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

trees, goats and/or beehives, and a press for grapes or olives; a total of 7,800

akçe The ''akçe'' or ''akça'' (also spelled ''akche'', ''akcheh''; ota, آقچه; ) refers to a silver coin which was the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire. The word itself evolved from the word "silver or silver money", this word is deri ...

. In the 17th century, the Qasim family ruled Jamma'in and twenty nearby villages, including

Awarta Awarta ( ar, عورتا) is a Palestinian town located southeast of Nablus, in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 5,623 inhabitants in 2007.

Beit Wazan Beit Wazan ( ar, بيت وزن) is a Palestinian village in the Nablus Governorate in northern West Bank, located 4.5 kilometers west of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the village had a population of 1,120 ...

, Haris and Zeita. Jamma'in was the seat of the Jamma'in subdistrict of the

District of Nablus The Nablus Sanjak ( ar, سنجق نابلس; tr, Nablus Sancağı) was an administrative area that existed throughout Ottoman rule in the Levant (1517–1917). It was administratively part of the Damascus Eyalet until 1864 when it became part o ...

. In 1834, when the

Egyptians Egyptians ( arz, المَصرِيُون, translit=al-Maṣriyyūn, ; arz, المَصرِيِين, translit=al-Maṣriyyīn, ; cop, ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, remenkhēmi) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian ...

under Ibrahim Pasha ruled Palestine, Ottoman-aligned Arab families in Palestine revolted under the leadership of

Qasim al-Ahmad Qasim Pasha al-Ahmad (died 1834) was the chief of the Jamma'in subdistrict of Jabal Nablus during the Ottoman and Egyptian periods in Palestine in the mid-19th century.Doumani, 1995, p.46/ref> He also served as the '' mutassalim'' (tax collecto ...

. The revolt, however, was crushed, and Qasim and his two eldest sons were hanged. The Zeitawi tribe migrated to the town from nearby Zeita (from which the family received its name) in the 18th century. In 1838, Edward Robinson noted it as a village, ''Jemma'in'', in the ''Jurat Merda'' district, south of Nablus. The French explorer

Victor Guérin Victor Guérin (15 September 1821 – 21 Septembe 1890) was a French intellectual, explorer and amateur archaeologist. He published books describing the geography, archeology and history of the areas he explored, which included Greece, Asia Mino ...

visited the village in 1870, and he estimated it had 1,400 inhabitants. The houses were better built than many other places in Palestine, and some seemed newly rebuilt.Guérin, 1875, pp
172
3 In 1882, the PEF's ''Survey of Western Palestine'' (SWP) described Jamma'in as "the largest village in the district, on high ground, surrounded with olive groves. The water supply is from a pool and a well east of the village."Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p
284
/ref>

British Mandate era

In the

1922 census of Palestine The 1922 census of Palestine was the first census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine, on 23 October 1922. The reported population was 757,182, including the military and persons of foreign nationality. The divisi ...

, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Jamma'in had a population of 720, all Muslims, increasing in the 1931 census to 957, still all Muslims, living in 202 houses.Mills, 1932, p
62
In the 1945 statistics, Jamma'in had a population of 1,240, all Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p
18
/ref> with 19,821

dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; tr, dönüm; he, דונם), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area equivalent to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amount ...

s of land, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 5,362 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 6,625 used for cereals, while 78 dunams were built-up (urban) land.

Jordanian era

In the wake of the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...

, and after the

1949 Armistice Agreements The 1949 Armistice Agreements were signed between Israel and Egypt,Jordanian rule. In 1961, the population was 1,965.

Post-1967

Since the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...

in 1967, Jamma'in has been under

Israeli occupation Israeli-occupied territories are the lands that were captured and occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967. While the term is currently applied to the Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights, it has also been used to refer to a ...

. Like many other Palestinian localities in the West Bank, Jamma'in's residents have been involved in the

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is one of the world's most enduring conflicts, beginning in the mid-20th century. Various attempts have been made to resolve the conflict as part of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, alongside other ef ...

, and have been a target of several raids by the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

(IDF). Since the

First Intifada The First Intifada, or First Palestinian Intifada (also known simply as the intifada or intifadah),The word ''intifada'' () is an Arabic word meaning "uprising". Its strict Arabic transliteration is '. was a sustained series of Palestinian ...

in 1987, six people from the town have been killed by the IDF and hundreds of its residents have been imprisoned. In January 2015 Israel forces set up an iron gate at the southern entrance to the village, its main exit point, blocking transit between Jamma'in and Marda. IDF soldiers deny entry to Palestinian citizens travelling in either direction. According to PA no explanation was given for the sudden move. After the 1995 accords, 77% of village land was classified as

Area B The Palestinian enclaves are areas in the West Bank designated for Palestinians under a variety of U.S. and Israeli-led proposals to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The enclaves are often compared to the nominally self-governing black ...

, the remaining 23% as Area C.

Demographics

In the 1997 census by the

(PCBS), Jaba' had a population of 4,311.

Palestinian refugees Palestinian refugees are citizens of Mandatory Palestine, and their descendants, who fled or were expelled from their country over the course of the 1947–49 Palestine war (1948 Palestinian exodus) and the Six-Day War (1967 Palestinian exodu ...

accounted for 3.9% of the inhabitants.. 1997 Census.

(PCBS). 1999. In the 2007 PCBS census, the population grew to 6,225, living in 1,010 households with each household containing an average of six members. There were 1,170 housing units. The gender ratio was 49.1% female and 50.9% male.

Economy

The two most prominent economic sectors of Jamma'in is stone-cutting and agriculture. Since the

Second Intifada The Second Intifada ( ar, الانتفاضة الثانية, ; he, האינתיפאדה השנייה, ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, label=none, '), was a major Palestinian uprising against Israel. ...

, the stone-cutting industry has grown weaker due to the cost of electricity increasing and the cost of stone, to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

, has decreased. Some people work in Palestinian government offices in Ramallah. Basket-weaving is not a major economic sector, but along with Zeita and

az-Zawiya Az-Zawiya ( ar, الزاويه) is a Palestinian town in the Salfit Governorate in the northern West Bank, located west of Salfit and south of Qalqilya. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, az-Zawiya had a population of 4,75 ...

, Jamma'in is well known for producing baskets made from olive wood fronds. Olives are the primary crop grown. There are two or three sheep and cow farms in Jamma'in. Milk, yogurt and cheese are sold in the town. There are two

s, a religious charity and a library in the town. There are five schools in Jamma'in; Two boys' schools, two girls' schools and co-ed school. Over 90% of the population over the age of 10 is literate. Most university students attend the

an-Najah National University An-Najah National University ( ar, جامعة النجاح الوطنية) is a Palestinian non-governmental public university governed by a board of trustees. It is located in Nablus, in the northern West Bank. The university has 22,000 studen ...

Government

Jamma'in is governed by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

of eleven members, including one reserved for females. In the 2005 Palestinian municipal elections, the

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...

-backed Al-Islamiya for Reform list won seven seats, the majority, and the

Fatah Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...

-backed Martyrs list won three seats and an Independent list won the remaining seat. Female candidates won two seats.Local Elections (Round two)- Successful candidates by local authority, gender and No. of votes obtained
Central Elections Commission - Palestine, p.11. 'Izzat Mahmoud Zeitawi succeeded Ahmad Mahmoud Zeitawi as head of the municipality of Jamma'in.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Jamma’in
Welcome to Palestine *Survey of Western Palestine, Map 14:
IAAWikimedia commons

Jamma'in Town Profile

Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem The Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem (ARIJ; ar, معهد الابحاث التطبيقية - القدس) is a Palestinian NGO founded in 1990 with its main office in Bethlehem in the West Bank. ARIJ is actively working on research project ...

(ARIJ)
Jamma'in (aerial photo)
ARIJ
Jamma'in Village Profile
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