Kafr Qaddum

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Kafr Qaddum
Arabic	كفر قدوم
Government	Village Council
Also Spelled	Kafar Qaddum (officially) Kafr Kadum (unofficially)
Governorate	Qalqilya
Population	4,500 (2006)
Jurisdiction	18,943 dunams (18.9 km²)

Kafr Qaddum (Arabic: كفر قدوم‎) is a Palestinian town in the northern West Bank, located 13 kilometers southwest of Nablus and 17 kilometers east of Qalqilya in the Qalqilya Governorate. Surrounding towns include Jit to the east and Hajjah to the south. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town had a population of approximately 3,500 inhabitants in mid-year 2006.^[1]

Kafr Qaddum's total land area consists of nearly 19,000 dunams (about 8,000 under Palestinian civil administration and 11,000 under complete Israeli control).^[2] Its built-up area consists of 529 dunams. Olive groves make-up 80% of the remaining land, 15% is used for vegetation purposes, 5% are planted crops.^[3]

Prior to the Second Intifada, about 50% of the Kafr Qaddum's economy depended on work in Israel as the primary source of income, 20% depended on agriculture and animal raising, while 30% depended on jobs in private and public sectors. After 2002, over 75% of the population became jobless as business became the only other alternative for income generation. Emigration has registered a record level during the past two years ranging between 10-15 % of the total population.^[3]

[edit] Name

Locals believe that the Prohpet Ibrahim (Abraham) was circumsized in the village using an axe (Qaddum) hence the name would mean "town of the Axe". To this day, there is a shrine in Kafr Qaddum caled (the shrine of the Khalil), Khalil meaning friend, as the prohpet Ibrahim was named the friend of Allah..^[4]

Another theory is that the word "Qaddum" is a mispronounced "Qaddama" meaning "ahead" or "advanced".