Zababdeh

Zababdeh
Other transcription(s)
 • Arabic الزبابدة
 • Also spelled al-Zababida (official)
az-Zubabdeh (unofficial)
Zababdeh

Location of Zababdeh within Palestine

Coordinates: 32°23′07.23″N 35°19′23.42″E / 32.3853417°N 35.3231722°ECoordinates: 32°23′07.23″N 35°19′23.42″E / 32.3853417°N 35.3231722°E
Governorate Jenin
Government
 • Type Village council (from 1995)
Area
 • Jurisdiction 5,719 dunams (5.7 km2 or 2.2 sq mi)
Population (2007)[1]
 • Jurisdiction 3,665
Website www.zababdeh.ps

Zababdeh or Zababida (Arabic: الزبابدة‎) is a Palestinian town in the northern West Bank located 15 km southeast of Jenin and 2 km from the Arab American University.

History

Remains of a Frankish bovaria (=farm) has been found.[2]

Ottoman era

The village was (re-)founded in 1834 by three Christian Greek Orthodox families who purchased the land from Jenin Muslims.[3]

In 1882, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it as a "moderate sized village at the south edge of the arable plain called Wady es Selhab, supplied by a well on the east, with a low hill covered with brushwood on the south."[4]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Zababdeh had a population of 482; 64 Muslims and 418 Christians,[5] increasing in the 1931 census to 632; 91 Muslims and 541 Christians, in a total of 134 houses.[6]

In 1945 Zababida had a population of 870, all Arabs, and the jurisdiction of the village was 5,719 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[7] 2,510 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land, 3,067 dunams for cereals,[8] while 16 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[9]

1948-1967

After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Zababdeh was ruled by the Hashemites of Jordan.

Post-1967

Zababdeh came under Israeli occupation along with the rest of the West Bank after the 1967 Six-Day War.

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics 2007 census, there were 3,665 residents,[1] of which roughly two-thirds are Christians,[10] and by law the mayor has to be a Christian., divided into Latin, Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic and Anglican communities. For two decades, from 1974-5 until he was posted to a position as parish priest in Gaza (1995), the village priest was Manuel Musallam, a Fatah activist and native of Birzeit, who developed excellent educational facilities in th village that attracted commuting Muslim students from Jenin.[3] The Latin Catholic mission established its presence in the village in 1883. Conflicts with Muslim residents are rare, according to Weaver.[3]

Twin towns – Sister cities

Zababdeh is twinned with:

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 2007 Locality Population Statistics. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).
  2. ↑ Ellenblum, 2003, p.250
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Alain Epp Weaver, 'The crescent and the cross are the marks on my hands: The performance of Palestinian unity amid political fragmentation,' in Paul S Rowe, John H.A. Dyck, Jens Zimmermann (eds.) Christians and the Middle East Conflict, Routledge 2014 pp.137-151, p.138.
  4. ↑ Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 229
  5. ↑ Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Jenin, p. 29
  6. ↑ Mills, 1932, p. 71
  7. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 55
  8. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 100
  9. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 150
  10. ↑ 64% according to : "Zababdeh is one of the larger Villages with significant Christian populations in the north of the West Bank with 2,251 Christians out of 3,500 citizen."
  11. ↑ "Welcome to Zababdeh". Ixelles.be. Retrieved 8 November 2013.

Bibliography

External links