Nahalin, also spelled Nahaleen, ( ar, نحالين) 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 ...
village located in the
Bethlehem Governorate
The Bethlehem Governorate ( ar, محافظة بيت لحم, Muḥāfaẓat Bayt Laḥm) is one of 16 Governorates of Palestine. It covers an area of the West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Its principal city and district capital is Bethlehem. Accordin ...
to the southwest of
Bethlehem
Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...
in the
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 ...
. The word ''nahaleen'' is
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
for those who collect honey from bees. The village was well known for beekeeping and tens of beehives still exist in Nahalin today. The village is also known locally for its almond and olive trees, vineyards, parsley and vegetables, namely onions and beans. The built-up area of Nahalin consists of roughly 730 dunams, 20 of which make up the old center of the village.
The village is located inside an enclave in the
Gush Etzion
Gush Etzion ( he, גּוּשׁ עֶצְיוֹן, ' Etzion Bloc) is a cluster of Israeli settlements located in the Judaean Mountains, directly south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the West Bank. The core group includes four Jewish agricultural v ...
settlement bloc, surrounded by the
Israeli settlements
Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...
of
Gvaot
Gevaot ( he, גְּבָעוֹת) is an Israeli outpostBen Sales'Israel’s land seizure: political favor or West Bank game-changer?,' Jewish Telegraphic Agency 2 September 2014. located in the West Bank, in the westernmost area of the Gush Etzion ...
,
Rosh Tzurim
Rosh Tzurim ( he, רֹאשׁ צוּרִים, eng. Top of the Rocks) is an Israeli settlement and religious kibbutz in the West Bank established in 1969. It is located about south of Jerusalem, 3.9 km east of the Green Line, inside barr ...
,
Neve Daniel
Neve Daniel ( he, נְוֵה דָּנִיֵּאל) is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Located in western Gush Etzion south of Jerusalem and just west of Bethlehem, it sits atop one of the highest points in the area - close to 1,000 meter ...
and
Betar Illit
Beitar Illit ( he, בֵּיתָר עִלִּית; officially Betar Illit; "Illit" is pronounced "ee-leet"; ar, بيتار عيليت) is an Haredi Jewish-Israeli settlement organized as a city council in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, sout ...
.
After the
Oslo Accords
The Oslo Accords are a pair of agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993; in 1995, 91% of Nahalin land was classified as
Area C, under full Israeli control, while the remaining 9% is
Area B
The Palestinian enclaves are areas in the West Bank designated for Palestinians under a variety of Israeli–Palestinian peace process, U.S. and Israeli-led proposals to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The enclaves are Israel and aparthe ...
, meaning that civil affairs have been under the control of the
Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine, and security matters under the control of 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 ...
.
[Nahhalin Village Profile]
ARIJ, p. 17
History
Potsherds from the
Byzantine period
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 ...
have been found at a hilltop. Modern Nahalin was built on the remains of a medieval-era village.
[Nahaline Old Core](_blank)
The Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation.
An archeological site known as Khirbet el-Kabra is situated on the western outskirts of the village.
Gershon Galil
Gershon Galil is Professor of Biblical Studies and Ancient History and former chair of the Department of Jewish History at the University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel.
Gershon Galil earned his doctorate from the Hebrew University in J ...
suggested to identify Khirbet el-Kabra with the biblical Nehelam, home of
Shemaiah the Nehelamite
Shemaiah, a name which in Hebrew (שמע-יה ''shema-Ya'') means "God Heard", may refer to:
* Shmaya (tanna), rabbinic sage who was leader of the Pharisees in the 1st century BC
* Any of several people in the Bible/Christian Old Testament; see ...
, who was mentioned in the
Book of Jeremiah
The Book of Jeremiah ( he, ספר יִרְמְיָהוּ) is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, and the second of the Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. The superscription at chapter Jeremiah 1:1–3 identifies the boo ...
as false prophet who went with the
captives to Babylon and who opposed
Jeremiah
Jeremiah, Modern: , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning " Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish ...
(). According to Galil, the modern-day village of Nahalin probably preserves the ancient Hebrew name.
Ottoman era
Nahalin 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 Nahalin 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 Quds of the ''
Liwa Liwa may refer to:
Places
; Chad
*Liwa (sub-prefecture) in Mamdi Department
; Indonesia
*Liwa, Indonesia
; Oman
* Liwa, Oman, place in Oman, area around Sohar University
*Liwa Province, Oman (wilayah)
; Poland
*Liwa, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeshi ...
'' of
Quds. It had a population of 40 Muslim households and 16 Christian households. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 33,3 % on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, grape syrup or molasses, and goats or beehives; a total of 3,880
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 ...
. Historically, Nahalin was frequented by
Bedouin
The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...
and was well known for its tradition of beekeeping.
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 the 1863, and he described it as "a jumble of small houses", with tobacco plantations surrounding it.
Martin Hartmann
Martin Hartmann (9 December 1851, Breslau – 5 December 1918, Berlin) was a German orientalist, who specialized in Islamic studies.
In 1875, he received his doctorate at the University of Leipzig as a student of Heinrich Leberecht Fleische ...
found Nahalin to have 17 houses.
In 1883,
PEF's ''
Survey of Western Palestine
The PEF Survey of Palestine was a series of surveys carried out by the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) between 1872 and 1877 for the Survey of Western Palestine and in 1880 for the Survey of Eastern Palestine. The survey was carried out after the ...
'' (SWP) described Nahalin as "A village of moderate size, on a kind of natural terrace on the side of a ridge, with a great valley to the north..
.To the north is a spring in the valley; there is also a second spring to the south.
.To the east is a
Mukam, with two large oak-trees, sacred to Haj 'Aleiyan." "There is a tradition about tomb of Haj 'Aleiyan, of whom it is related that, having been refused entrance into the mosques because of his ragged and filthy appearance, he spread his Abba on the sea and performed his prayers on it."
In 1896 the population of Nahalin was estimated to be about 162 persons.
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, Nahhalin had a population of 316; 312 Muslims and 4 Christians, where the Christians were all Orthodox. In the
1931 census the population of Nahhalin was a total of 440, (3 Christians and the rest Muslim), in 98 inhabited houses.
[Mills, 1932, p]
36
/ref>
In the 1945 statistics the population of Nahhalin was 620, all Muslims,[Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p]
25
/ref> who owned 16,144 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, 1,068 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 4,659 for cereals, while 63 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,[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 ...](_blank)
ian rule.
On March 28, 1954, an Israeli raid by Unit 101
Commando Unit 101 ( he, יחידה 101) was a special forces unit of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), founded and commanded by Ariel Sharon on orders from Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion in August 1953. They were armed with non-standard weapons ...
on an Arab Legion
The Arab Legion () was the police force, then regular army of the Emirate of Transjordan, a British protectorate, in the early part of the 20th century, and then of independent Jordan, with a final Arabization of its command taking place in 195 ...
base 4 kilometers outside Nahalin, where the Israeli forces missed the base and placed explosive charges and destroyed seven houses, including the mosque of the village [David Tal, Israel's road to the 1956 war, ''International Journal of Middle East Studies'', Vol. 28, No. 1. (Feb., 1996), pp. 59-81.] killed five national guards, three legionnaires (who were travelling from the Arab Legion base to the village) and one woman, and wounded eighteen civilians including men, women and children.[ S/3251]
Report dated 19 June 1954 by the Chief of Staff of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in Palestine to the Secretary-General concerning the Nahhalin incident The draft resolution was adopted, the delegation of Jordan and the Chairman voting in favour. 12. After the vote, the Chairman made the following statement:
"The Chairman deeply sympathizes with the Nahhalin villagers. The terror of such a night attack with its accompanying loss of life will not be easily forgotten, especially since this is not the first time Nahhalin village has felt the sting of the night raiders. I must, however, call upon the injured party to refrain from actions that will aggravate instead of lessen the existing tension. If there is to be any reciprocal action along the Jordan-Israel border, let it be only for acts of tolerance, understanding and co-operation. The parties to this Mixed Armistice Commission should not, in the face of difficult problems, lose sight of the fact that the co-operation necessary to the establishment of a peaceful border can find its beginning here in the Mixed Armistice Commission. In this case the evidence found establishes guilt without question. There seemed to be little effort on the part of the attackers to conceal their identity. I do not believe the Israel officials will encounter much difficulty in apprehending the perpetrators of this crime and bringing them to justice."
According to David Tal, the raid was the first of Israel's reprisal raids against a military target in Jordanian controlled territory.
In 1961, the population of ''Nahhalin'' was 1,015.
1967-present
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, Nahalin 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 ...
. The population in the 1967 census conducted by the Israeli authorities was 1,109.
From 1988-1991, journalist Helen Winternitz spent 3 years in Nahalin, publishing her experiences in the book '' A Season of Stones''.
During the early months of 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 ...
on 13 April 1989, five villagers were killed by Israel Border Police
The Israel Border Police ( he, מִשְׁמַר הַגְּבוּל, Mišmar Ha-Gvul) is the gendarmerie and border security branch of the Israel National Police. It is also commonly known by its Hebrew abbreviation Magav (), meaning border gua ...
during an early morning raid. The villagers claimed the security forces opened fire without provocation as they were leaving morning prayers at the mosque. Then General Amram Mitzna
Amram Mitzna ( he, עמרם מצנע, born 20 February 1945) is an Israeli politician and former general in the IDF. He is a former mayor of Haifa (1993–2003) and Yeruham (2005–2010) and led the Labor Party from 2002 to 2003. In 2012 he joine ...
claimed his forces had come under attack from about 100 stone-throwing youths. On 30 April 1989, preliminary findings of a military inquiry into the events indicated that the border police unit involved in the raid had "lost control and fired excessively". In May 1989, the military inquiry announced that disciplinary action against four officers and seven border policemen would be taken for "misconduct".
During the funeral for those killed Walid Najajra, aged 23, was shot in the head by Israeli soldiers
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branch ...
. He died a week later in the Makassed Hospital
Al Makassed Hospital ( ar, مستشفى المقاصد) is a Islamic teaching hospital of the Palestinian Arab’s charitable founded by Makassed Islamic Charitable Society, one of six hospitals in the East Jerusalem Hospitals Network. It has 250 ...
. Reports in the Israeli press stated that the army had launched an investigation.
After the 1995 accords, 9% of the village land has been classified as Area B
The Palestinian enclaves are areas in the West Bank designated for Palestinians under a variety of Israeli–Palestinian peace process, U.S. and Israeli-led proposals to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The enclaves are Israel and aparthe ...
, while the remaining 91% has been classified as Area C.[
Large parts of Nahalin's land are confiscated by Military Orders by declaring it Israeli "State Land".][''Under the pretext of State Property "The Israeli Occupation Authorities confiscate land in Nahhalin village"'']
. ARIJ, 5 March 2009 Israel has afterwards used the confiscated land to construct Israeli settlements
Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...
; 135 dunum of Nahalin land went to construct Geva’ot, 1166 dunum went to Betar Illit
Beitar Illit ( he, בֵּיתָר עִלִּית; officially Betar Illit; "Illit" is pronounced "ee-leet"; ar, بيتار عيليت) is an Haredi Jewish-Israeli settlement organized as a city council in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, sout ...
, and 110 dunum went to Rosh Zurim.[Nahhalin Village Profile]
p. 18
Since the beginning of the al-Aqsa 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. ...
, severe restrictions on movement have been placed on all residents. According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is a UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. UNRWA's mandate encompasses Palestinians displaced by the 1948 ...
(UNRWA), from the intifada's beginning in September 2000 until the road's November 2003 reopening with IDF checkpoint monitoring, the cluster of villages represented by Nahalin, Husan
Husan ( ar, حوسان) is a Palestinian town located west of Bethlehem, in the Bethlehem Governorate. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Husan had a population of 5,511 in 2007.
In the 1945 statistics the population of ...
and Battir
Battir ( ar, بتير) is a Palestinian village in the West Bank, 6.4 km west of Bethlehem, and southwest of Jerusalem. In 2017, the village had a population of 4,696. In 2014, Battir was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage Site as a "wor ...
were totally closed off and the only access was on foot via the Husan/al-Khadr junction.[ In 2004, all roads but one were reopened, and residents can now move more freely. In November of that year, ]USAID
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...
supported the paving of that road.
In the 2005 municipal elections in Nahalin, all ten elected candidates stood as independents. The candidate with the most votes was Qassim Yousif Mahmoud Awad, who got 1120 votes.
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 over 6,409 in mid-year 2006,Projected Mid -Year Population for Bethlehem Governorate by Locality 2004- 2006
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 ...
of whom 35% are under the age of 18. Approximately 150 - 200 persons are registered with UNRWA as refugees of the 1948 war. Villagers carry a West Bank ID card.[
Some 90% of the population between the ages of 18 and 35 are unemployed.][ The natural growth of the village will become a problem in the future due to lack of living space.][ Nahalin will become entirely closed in by both the expanding settlements and the ]Israeli West Bank barrier
The Israeli West Bank barrier, comprising the West Bank Wall and the West Bank fence, is a separation barrier built by Israel along the Green Line and inside parts of the West Bank. It is a contentious element of the Israeli–Palestinian c ...
, placing severe constraints on the movement of residents and their access to services outside the village.[
]
References
Bibliography
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External links
Welcome To Nahhalin
Nahalin
Welcome to Palestine
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 17:
IAA
Wikimedia commons
Wikimedia Commons (or simply Commons) is a media repository of free-to-use images, sounds, videos and other media. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation.
Files from Wikimedia Commons can be used across all of the Wikimedia projects in ...
UNRWA Profile of Nahalin Village
Nahhalin Village (Fact Sheet)
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)
Nahhalin Village Profile
ARIJ
Nahhalin aerial photo
ARIJ
The priorities and needs for development in Nahhalin village based on the community and local authorities’ assessment
ARIJ
Villagers of Nahalin witness the destruction of their environment
20, August, 2003, POICA
New Israeli Evacuation & Confiscation orders in Nahalin village
15, December, 2008, POICA
New Israeli Security Road to isolate more than 4400 dunums from Nahalin Village
13, January, 2009, POICA
Nahalin, Al-Jab'a, and Al-Ma'sara village In the Spot light Bethlehem Governorate rural communities targeted by a series of demolishing orders
29, June, 2011, POICA
Soaking Nahalin with Sewage - Bethlehem Governorate
05, September, 2011, POICA
How dispossession happens. The humanitarian impact of the takeover of Palestinian springs by Israeli settlers
March 2012, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs occupied Palestinian territory
The Christian family refusing to give up its Bethlehem hill farm
BBC
{{Bethlehem Governorate
Seam Zone
Populated places in the Bethlehem Governorate
Towns in the West Bank
Municipalities of the State of Palestine