| Al-Jiftlik | |
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| Other transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | الجفتلك |
| • Also spelled | Al-Jeftlik (official) El-Jeftlak (unofficial) |
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Al-Jiftlik
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| Coordinates: | |
| Governorate | Jericho |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipality |
| • Head of Municipality | Muhammad Omar Jahalin[1] |
| Area | |
| • Jurisdiction | 81,283 dunams (81.2 km2 / 31.4 sq mi) |
| Population (2006) | |
| • Jurisdiction | 4,400 |
al-Jiftlik (Arabic: الجفتلك) is a Palestinian town in the West Bank's Jordan Rift Valley several kilometers from the Jordanian border. According to the PCBS statistics for 2006, it was home to 4,401 and set on an area of 81,283 metric dunum.[2]
Jiftlik was established on the lands of the Abd-al-Hadi family from Nablus, as well as on agricultural lands belonging to Tubas for Palestinian refugees. It is located along the Wadi al-Far'a.
The majority of the land in Al-Jiftlik belonged to Al Masaeed tribe, a powerful bedouin family whose land spanned from Damia on the east bank to the borders of Jericho on the west bank.
The town's name is derived from the Turkish word Chiflik, the term for land tenure in the late Ottoman Empire which was applied in this as in many other Ottoman locations. During the mandate period, there was a Tegart fort known as the Jiftlik Police Post just west of the present village.[3]
Jiftlik is designated as 'Area C' under the Oslo Accords, meaning it is subject to Israeli military administration. Like several other villages in the Jordan Valley area, the village has in the past been subject to Israeli restrictions on construction and movement, which have been blamed in part for the lack of economic development. The village lacks electricity infrastructure, it has primary school managed by the UNRWA with 950 students.
Jiftlik is within a few kilometers of the Israeli settlements Massua, Hamra and Argaman.
In the aftermath of Israel's victory in the 1967 Six-Day War, over 800 homes in Jiftlik were razed by the Israeli army and its 6,000 inhabitants were ordered to leave. Jiftlik's inhabitants, however, returned to the town.[4]
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