| Jib | |
|---|---|
| Other transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | الجيب |
| • Also spelled | al-Jib (official) al-Jeeb, el-Jib, el-Jeeb (unofficial) |
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Jib
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| Coordinates: | |
| Governorate | Jerusalem |
| Government | |
| • Type | Village Council |
| Area | |
| • Jurisdiction | 9,879 dunams (9.9 km2 / 3.8 sq mi) |
| Population (2006, approx.) | |
| • Jurisdiction | 4,700 |
| Name meaning | none; root is similar to that of Gibeon |
Jib (Arabic: الجيب, also transliterated al-Jib) is a Palestinian village in the Jerusalem Governorate, located ten kilometers northwest of Jerusalem,[1] in the seam zone of the West Bank.[2] According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, al-Jib had a population of approximately 4,700 in 2006.[3] The modern village is identified with the ancient city of Gibeon.
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The first scientific identification of al-Jib with the ancient Canaanite city of Gibeon was made by Edward Robinson in 1838.[4] Archaeological excavations led by James Pritchard in 1956, 1957, and 1959 confirmed this identification with the discovery of 56 jar handles inscribed with the Semitic triliteral gb'n.[4] The inscriptions were dated to the end of the Judean monarchy and have been cross-referenced against genealogical lists in the Book of Chronicles. While they include many Benjaminite names, they also include non-Israelite names, attesting to the intermixing of local population.[4]
In the Book of Joshua, ancient Jib or Gibeon is described as "a large city, like one of the royal cities", and as being the place where Joshua made the sun stand still (Joshua 10:12). The flat and fertile land with many springs which surrounds it gave rise to a flourishing economy, attested to in the large number of ancient jars and wine cellars discovered there. The jars could hold 45 liters of wine each and 66 wine cellars two meters deep and dug out of rock have been unearthed in Jib.[4]
"El-Jib" was described by the geographer Yâkût in 1225 as having two fortresses standing close together.[5]
By the 1550's the agricultural revenues of Jib belonged to the endowment (waqf) of Mamluk Sultan Inal (r. 1453-61) in Egypt. However, three tribes of the Hutaym Bedouin were affiliated with the village. The taxes they paid plus levies normally earmarked for the military were in the 1550's designated for the waqf of Hasseki Sultan Imaret in Jerusalem.[6]
After the 1948 termination of the British Mandate of Palestine, Jordan assumed control of al-Jib as part of the West Bank, which was taken over by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day war. The large urban Israeli settlement bloc of Giv'at Ze'ev-Giv'on, established in 1977-1978, and Giv'on Hadashah, established in 1985, is located to the village's west.[7] The Oslo Accords of the mid-1990s saw al-Jib come under the PNA's control as 'Area B'.These Accords designated al-Jib as part of Area B, giving the PNA control over civilian matters, with Israel retaining control over security matters.
Part of the construction route proposed for the Israeli West Bank barrier during the al-Aqsa Intifada would completely surround al-Jib and two other villages, forming an enclave.[2] One effect is that it would prevent the Palestinian residents without Israeli citizenship or permanent residency cards from using the nearby road-system serving Jerusalem and nearby Israeli settlements.[8]
Israel claims that it intends to build two alternate roads that will link the enclave to the rest of the West Bank to prevent its complete isolation. One will connect the enclave with Ramallah, which lies to its north, while the other will connect al-Jib to the Bedouin area, which lies to its west, by means of three underground passageways and two bridges. The road's construction will require complex engineering work and will cost tens of millions of shekels, so it is likely that the project will take a long time, if ever, to complete.[8]
B'Tselem points out that because thousands of the enclave's residents hold Israeli identity cards, they are entitled to free access to East Jerusalem by law, and that the barrier thus "will severely impair [their] human rights" by cutting off direct access.[8]
Jib is on the list of "Endangered Cultural Heritage Sites in the West Bank Governorates" compiled by the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MOCIP) of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) due to the excavations of ancient Gibeon.[9] During the second Intifada, the Palestinian Association for Cultural Exchange (PACE) brought together Palestinian youth and elders from the surrounding villages to repair and restore the ancient water pool and other sites around the village.[10]
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