Fasayil

Fasayil
Other transcription(s)
• Arabic	فصايل
• Also spelled	al-Fasa'il (official) Khirbet al-Fasayil (unofficial)
Fasayil Location of Fasayil within the Palestinian territories
Coordinates: 32°01′29.50″N 35°26′35.46″E
Governorate	Jericho
Founded	1980s
Government
• Type	Village Council
Area
• Jurisdiction	47,951 dunams (48.0 km2 or 18.514 sq mi)
Population (2006)
• Jurisdiction	900

Fasayil or Fasa'il (Arabic: فصايل‎) is a Palestinian village in the northeastern West Bank, a part of the Jericho Governorate, located 14 kilometers northwest of Jericho and about 40 kilometers southeast of Nablus. The closest Palestinian locality is Duma to the west. The village's total land area is 47,951 dunams. The village is located adjacent to the Israeli settlement of Petza'el, the modern Hebrew of al-Fasayil's name.

History

Antiquity

Fasayil was known as Phasaelis. The village's ancient name derived from a tower that Herod the Great built in the Jordan Valley north of Jericho in dedication to his elder brother Phasael. This has led to the belief that Herod founded Phasaelis. It was mentioned by Roman historian Josephus as being south of Archelais and was part of a toparchy reigned by Herod's sister Salome I. It is also found on the Map of Madaba surrounded by date palms. The tomb of an anchorite named Peter was found in the village in 1949.

The ruins of a monastery dedicated to Saint Cyriacus, a commemorated monk who died 556 CE, is also located in al-Fasayil. Among the ruins on the site is a large square building, of which now only the outline is visible, because it is almost completely buried. At the mouth of the nearby Wadi al-Fasayil, in a little mound, there is a birkeh ("pool") and many unexcavated remains of walls. The site is called Tell Sheikh ad-Diab because of a tomb of this personage, still in good condition.

It was mentioned by a monk named Brocardus in the 13th century as being a small village called Pheselch and in the 14th century by Marino Sanuto the Elder as being a small village by the name of Fasaelis.

Modern era

The current village of Fasayil was established by Bedouins, mostly Palestinian refugees from the Naqab desert in the 1980s. Many of the inhabitants are registered as residents of the Bethlehem Governorate and not Jericho. Fasayil was part of the Nablus Governorate until 1995 when it became a part of the Jericho Governorate.

In 2006, Israeli authorities demolished 15 shelters in the village, and in 2008 an additional 6 were demolished. Fasayil gained international attention when in 2007 the Israel Defense Forces planned on demolishing the village's primary school. Since Fasayil is located in Area C of the West Bank, Israel has complete control over the village, and granting building permits are authorized by them; the school was built without a permit. Residents often complain about the rarity of Israel permitting construction in the village.

Demographics

Its population was 318 in 1961, decreasing dramatically to about 150 in 1983. According to a census taken by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Fasayil had a population of 648 in 1997, of which 31% were refugees fleeing other parts of the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day War. The gender make-up was approximately 50% male and 50% female. There were 900 inhabitants in mid-year 2006.