Beit Iksa
| Beit Iksa | |
|---|---|
| Other transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | بيت إكسا |
| • Also spelled | Bayt Iksa (official) Beit Exsa (unofficial) |
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 Beit Iksa
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| Coordinates: 31°49′05″N 35°10′50″E / 31.81806°N 35.18056°ECoordinates: 31°49′05″N 35°10′50″E / 31.81806°N 35.18056°E | |
| Governorate | Jerusalem |
| Government | |
| • Type | Village Council |
| • Head of Municipality | Bajes Abud |
| Area | |
| • Jurisdiction | 7,734 dunams (7.7 km2 or 3.0 sq mi) |
| Population (2006) | |
| • Jurisdiction | 1,600 |
| Name meaning | "The house of Iksa"[1] |
Beit Iksa (Arabic: بيت إكسا) is a Palestinian village in the Jerusalem Governorate, located 6 kilometers northwest of Jerusalem in the West Bank. Beit Iksa, a village of 1,600 inhabitants, was classified as "Area B" as a result of the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1995. Since then, civil affairs have been under the control of the Palestinian National Authority, while security matters are handled by the Israel Defense Forces.[2]
Beit Iksa contains two primary schools run by the Palestinian National Authority. Students attending secondary school travel to Jerusalem or nearby towns for education.[2]
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History [edit]
During the Crusader period the village was known as Jenanara, according to its inhabitants.[3]
According to Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau, he was informed in 1874 that the inhabitant belonged to the Banu Zayd tribe, and that the village earlier had been named Umm el Ela.[4]
The village was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 with all of Palestine, and in 1596 it appeared under the name of Bayt Kisa in the tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Quds of the Liwa of Quds. It had a population of 79 households, all Muslim, and paid taxes on wheat, barley, olive trees, vineyards, fruit trees, orchard, goats and/or bee hives, and a press for olives or grapes.[5]
In 1841 a local leader, Abd al-Qadir al-Khatib, built an Ottoman castle located in the southern part of the village, while one of his brother built a smaller version five years later.[6]
In 1863 the French explorer Victor Guérin passed by the village, and was told it had 300 inhabitants. He noted that the surroundings were cultivated with vines and olive trees.[7] An Ottoman village list of about 1870 showed that "Bet Iksa" had 70 houses and a population of 147, though the population count included only men.[8]
In 1883, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described it as a "village of moderate size, with stone houses, and a well on the north, near which is the sacred tree of Neby Leimun. There are a few olives round the village."[9]
In 1945 Bein Iksa had a population of 1,410, all Arabs, with 8,179 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[10] Of this, 1,427 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 2,690 used for cereals,[11] while 43 dunams were built-up land.[12]
Population [edit]
According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), Beit Iksa had a population of approximately 1,600 inhabitants in mid-year 2006.[13] From the population, over 80% are Palestinian refugees.[2]
In a census conducted in 1922 by the British Mandate authorities, "Bait Iksa" had a population of 791, all Muslims,[14] increasing in the 1931 census to a population of 1003, still all Muslims, in 221 houses.[15]
According to the land researcher Sami Hadawi, the population grew to 1,410 in 1945. However, following Israel's victory in the 1967 Six-Day War, Beit Iksa counted 633 inhabitants, due to the number of residents that fled the village. Most of the village's inhabitants hold Palestinian ID cards and live in Beit Iksa's built-up area of 417 dunams or 5.4% of the village's total land area of 7,734 dunams.[16]
References [edit]
- ^ Palmer, 1881, p. 286
- ^ a b c Village Profiles: Profile of Beit Iksa, Jerusalem United Nations Relief and Works Agency. January 2004.
- ^ Clermont-Ganneau, 1896, vol. 1, p. 479
- ^ Clermont-Ganneau, 1896, vol. 2, p. 42
- ^ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 121.
- ^ Sharon, 1999, p. 105 ff.
- ^ Guérin, 1868, p. 256
- ^ Socin, 1879, p. 146
- ^ Conder and Kitchener, 1883, p. 8
- ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in S. Hadawi, Village Statistics, 1945. PLO Research Center, 1970, p. 56
- ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in S. Hadawi, Village Statistics, 1945. PLO Research Center, 1970, p. 101
- ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in S. Hadawi, Village Statistics, 1945. PLO Research Center, 1970, p. 151
- ^ Projected Mid -Year Population for Jerusalem Governorate by Locality 2004- 2006 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS)
- ^ J. B. Barron, ed. (1923). Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922. Government of Palestine. Table VII, Sub-district of Jerusalem, p. 14.
- ^ Mills, 1932, p. 38
- ^ Beit Iksa village loses its lands for the Israeli Segregation Wall Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem
Bibliography [edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Beit Iksa |
- Clermont-Ganneau, Charles Simon (1896): Archaeological Researches in Palestine 1873-1874, Volume 1.
- Clermont-Ganneau, Charles Simon (1896): Archaeological Researches in Palestine 1873-1874, Volume 2.
- Conder, Claude Reignier; Kitchener, H. H. (1883). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology 3. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
- Guérin, Victor (1868). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine. Vol 1, Judee, pt. 1.
- Guérin, Victor (1875). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine. Vol 2; Samarie, pt. 2. p. 400
- Hadawi, Sami (1970), Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine, Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center
- Hütteroth, Wolf-Dieter; Abdulfattah, Kamal (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft.
- Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
- Palmer, E. H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
- Sharon, Moshe (1999), Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum Palaestinae, Vol. II, B-C, BRILL, ISBN 9004110836
- Socin, A. (1879). "Alphabetisches Verzeichniss von Ortschaften des Paschalik Jerusalem". Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 2: 135–163.
External links [edit]
- January 1, 1995 :"Minaret of Arab village of Beit Iksa confronts Jewish district of Ramot."
- May 17, 2006 :"Beit Iksa village loses its lands for the Israeli Segregation Wall"
- December 8, 2006: "Beit Iksa: the making of another ghetto"
- January 16, 2007 :"Israel hits Beit Iksa, Nabi Samuel and Beit Surik with new military order in favor of the Segregation Wall"
- August 17, 2008: "The Zionist La Passionara" (extensive reference within a bigger article)
- August 4, 2009 :"Israel annexes Palestinian village near Jerusalem"
- December 17, 2010: Israel Decides To Confiscate 50 Dunams In East Jerusalem
- July 21, 2011: Troops Uproot Olive Orchards Near Jerusalem
- Beit Iksa Official Website
- Welcome To Bayt Iksa
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