Yasuf
| Yasuf | |
|---|---|
| Other transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | ياسوف |
| • Also spelled | Yassuf (official) Yasouf (unofficial) |
 Yasuf
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| Coordinates: 32°06′23″N 35°14′08″E / 32.10639°N 35.23556°ECoordinates: 32°06′23″N 35°14′08″E / 32.10639°N 35.23556°E | |
| Governorate | Salfit |
| Government | |
| • Type | Village Council |
| Area | |
| • Jurisdiction | 8,550 dunams (8.6 km2 or 3.3 sq mi) |
| Population (2007) | |
| • Jurisdiction | 1,621 |
Yasuf (Arabic: ياسوف) is a Palestinian town located in the Salfit Governorate in the northern West Bank, 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) northeast of Salfit, 37 kilometres (23 mi) southwest of Nablus and adjacent to the Israeli settlement of Kfar Tapuach. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, it had a population of 1,621 in 2007.[1] About 87% of the population relies on agriculture for income, while the remainder work in the public sector.[2]
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Archeology[edit]
NE and SW of the village is a large cemetery, with tombs carved into rock, some with arcosolia. Byzantine ceramics have also been found.[3]
History[edit]
At the time of Roman rule over Palestine (c. 63 BCE-330 CE), the village was known as Yaashuv, and it was one of three important markets for fruits, grains and legumes in the northern Judean mountains, southern Samaria, and the region of Lod.[4]
During the Crusader period, Diya' al-Din (1173–1245) writes that there was a rural mosque in Yasuf, indicating that there was a significant Muslim population in the village at the time.[5]
The place appeared in 1596 Ottoman tax registers as Yasuf ar-Rumman, being in the Nahiya of Jabal Qubal of the Liwa of Nablus. It had a population of 41 households and 8 bachelors, all Muslim. The villagers paid taxes on wheat, barley, summercrops, olives, goats and beehives.[6]
French explorer Victor Guérin visited the village in 1870, and he found it to have about 350 inhabitants. The village appeared ancient, with old masonry reused in houses and walls. The village had an excellent supply of water which was collected in a pool, near the steps down was a beautifully carved niche with a shell motif. This pool provided water for gardens of olive and pomegranate trees.[7] In The Survey of Western Palestine (1882), Yasuf is described as, "an ancient village," located in a valley, with a Roman road passing nearby.[8][9] Inside the village is "a good spring ... and olives. A beautiful garden of pomegranates exists north of the spring. The water comes out of a cleft in a cliff, near which is an ancient well with steps. There is a sacred place, with a large oak (Sindian), and a ruined shrine, south-west of the village, near 'Ain er Raja. There are drafted stones in many houses, and remains of well-built enclosures, now ruined. Many well-cut rock tombs are also found on either side." It is further noted that the village is mentioned by name in the Samaritan Book of Joshua, and in the 'Samaritan Chronicle', its ancient name is recorded as Jusepheh.[8]
Also in the village were, "rock-cut tombs with kokim [...]". A subterranean channel led out from the spring that contained small fish and there were pillar shafts there too. To the west of the village under an oak tree lay the ruins of a maqam[disambiguation needed] for Sheikh Abu Hasan among the remains of other old drystone enclosures. To the north of the maqam was a rock-cut tomb, "with three loculi under arcosolia." Tombs also lay to the northeast and southwest with well-cut arched doors. In the valley to the northwest was a modern vault with a mihrab.[9]
In a census conducted in 1922 by the British Mandate authorities, Yasuf had a population of 172, all Muslims,[10] while in the 1931 census it had 61 occupied houses and a population of 257, still all Muslim.[11] In 1945 the population was 360, all Arabs, while the total land area was 6,068 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[12] Of this, 928 were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 1,991 for cereals,[13] while 35 dunams were classified as built-up areas.[14]
Israeli-Palestinian conflict[edit]
On 11 December 2009, Yasuf's Al-Kabir Mosque was vandalized and burnt.[15] Israeli police suspect the action was undertaken by Israeli settlers.[16] Prayer carpets and holy books were destroyed in the fire, and the arsonists left behind graffiti reading, "We will burn all of you," and, "Prepare to pay the price."[16] A few months previous radical settlers declared that Palestinians in the West Bank would pay a "price tag" every time Israeli forces dismantled illegal Israeli settlement structures.[16] Following the incident, Israeli forces opened fire on 100 Palestinian residents of the village who were protesting the arson.[16]
In January 2010, the extremist settler Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira was arrested by the Israeli police for alleged involvement in the torching of the mosque. He denied any involvement, and was later released due to lack of evidence.[17][18]
In April 2010, the settlers spray-painted elsewhere in the village the words "Thank you God, for not making me a Gentile".[19]
References[edit]
- ^ 2007 PCBS Census Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p. 112.
- ^ Yassuf Village: General Information Land Research Center. 18 September 2008.
- ^ Dauphin, 1998, p. 810
- ^ Safrai, 1994, p. 66.
- ^ Ellenblum, 2003, p. 244.
- ^ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 134.
- ^ Guérin, 1875, p. 162-3
- ^ a b Conder and Kitchener, 1882, vol 2, p. 287.
- ^ a b Conder and Kitchener, 1882, vol 2, p. 378.
- ^ J. B. Barron, ed. (1923). Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922. Government of Palestine. Table IX, Sub-district of Nablus.
- ^ E. Mills, ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine. p. 66.
- ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in S. Hadawi, Village Statistics, 1945. PLO Research Center, 1970, p. 61
- ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in S. Hadawi, Village Statistics, 1945. PLO Research Center, 1970, p. 108
- ^ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in S. Hadawi, Village Statistics, 1945. PLO Research Center, 1970, p. 158
- ^ West Bank settlers set fire to mosque, Maan News, 11 December 2009.
- ^ a b c d Mark Weiss (December 12, 2009). "Mosque fire leads to West Bank clash". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2009-12-12.
- ^ "Rabbi arrested, suspected in West Bank mosque arson", BBC News, 27 January 2010
- ^ 'IDF to blame for price-tag atmosphere'
- ^ "Palestinian mosque torched in suspected 'price tag' operation by settlers." by Avi Issacharoff. Haaretz.
Bibliography[edit]
- Conder, Claude Reignier; Kitchener, H. H. (1882). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology 2. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
- Claudine Dauphin (1998). La Palestine byzantine, Peuplement et Populations, Vol. III : Catalogue. BAR International Series 726. Oxford: Archeopress.
- Guerin, Victor (1875). Description Géographique, Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine. "Seconde partie -Samarie" ("Tome II"). Unknown parameter
|part=ignored (help) - Ellenblum, Ronnie (2003). Frankish Rural Settlement in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem (Illustrated ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-52187-4, 9780521521871 Check
|isbn=value (help). - Hadawi, Sami (1970). Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine. Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center.
- Wolf-Dieter Hütteroth and Kamal Abdulfattah (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.
- E. Mills, 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.
- Safrai, Zeev (1994). The economy of Roman Palestine (Illustrated ed.). Routledge. ISBN 0-415-10243-X, 9780415102438 Check
|isbn=value (help).
External links[edit]
- The Expansion of Tapuah settlement Established on the Land of Yasuf Village - Salfit Governorate, 01, July, 2000, ARIJ
- A New Colonial Outpost in Iskaka and Yasouf - Salfit, 15, October, 2011, ARIJ
- Israeli Settlers Rage jammed on the villages of Iskaka and Yasouf "Razing Palestinian lands for expanding Nofei Nehemia outpost ", 16, October, 2011, ARIJ
- Ravaging 78 Olive Trees in Jama'een and Yasouf villages – Salfit 14, January, 2012, ARIJ
- Welcome To Yasuf
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