Location
Azzun is located 7–9 km west of Qalqiliya. It is bordered by Kafr Laqif and Wadi Qana to the east, Kafr Thulth to the south, Nabi Ilyas, An Nabi Elyas to the west, and Jayyous, Jayyus and Khirbet Sir to the north.History
Azzun was established in the 17th or 18th century by the Bani Sa'b tribe.Grossman, D. (1986). "Oscillations in the Rural Settlement of Samaria and Judaea in the Ottoman Period". in Shomron studies. Dar, S., Safrai, S., (eds). Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House. p. 346 The modern village is situated on a strategically advantageous strong point that overlooks a crossroads. Ancient findings from both the Hellenistic period, Hellenistic and Roman Empire, Roman periods were found at the site, including the epitaph of a third-century CE Roman veteran. Several kilometers north of the village are a number of ancient dry stone towers. PEF Survey of Palestine, PEF visited in 1873 and reported six or seven such towers, the best-preserved of them had six Course (architecture), courses standing, and part of the roof. The locals stated that they were Watchtower (agricultural), ancient vineyard towers. The towers were surveyed by the Israel Archaeological Survey in 1967–1968, and one of them was excavated in the 1970s on behalf of the Society for the Archaeological Survey of Israel. The excavation uncovered Hellenistic and Judaea (Roman province), early Roman period pottery as well as a single ribbed fragment that may date to the Palaestina Prima, Byzantine period.Ottoman era
Azzun was a site of battle - part of Napoleon Bonaparte's French campaign in Egypt and Syria, campaign in Ottoman Syria. An Arab poet, Ibrahim Touqan was quoted as saying, "by means of Azzun, how soaked [in] the blood [of] Franks [in the] mother valley." When the French army marched into Palestine under the command of Napoleon in February 1799, it faced powerful and unexpected resistance from the inhabitants of Jabal Nablus under the command of their local leaders. They attacked the French army while it was marching towards Acre, especially near the valley of Azzun, taking part in the Battle of Mount Tabor (1799), battle of Tal-Tabur. The participation of the inhabitants and local leaders of Nablus in the struggle against Napoleon reflected a territorial sense in resistance to a foreign army. Ihsan al-Nimr wrote that “the truth is that [Bonaparte’s] morale was weakened around Jabal Nablus, in the valley of Azzun, Qaqun, and al-Marj ... he headed for Acre with disappointment and without determination”. Sheikh Yussuf Jarrar wrote a poem asking the inhabitants, especially the prominent families of Jabal Nablus, to march towards Acre in order to fight the French. In Doumani's words, the poet exposes “the cohesiveness of this reign’s social formation and the shared sense of identity among its inhabitants versus the factionalism of multiple territorially based centers of power... The most striking aspect of this poem is what it does not say. Not once in its twenty-one verses does it mention Ottoman rule, much less the need to protect the empire or the glory and honor of serving the sultan.” Pierre Jacotin called the village ''Hazoun'' on his map in 1799 from the same campaign. In 1838, the American scholar Edward Robinson (scholar), Edward Robinson noted ''Azzun'' as a village in the ''Beni Sa'ab'' district, west of Nablus. In 1852 Robinson visited the village, which he described as having 290 males, all Muslim except for one family of Christians. In 1882, the Palestine Exploration Fund, PEF's ''PEF Survey of Palestine, Survey of Western Palestine'' described Azzun as a "small village lying low on the hill-side, with several Water well, wells and olives on every side." In the 1860s, the Ottoman authorities granted the village an agricultural plot of land called Ghabat 'Azzun in the former confines of the Forest of Arsur (Ar. Al-Ghaba) in the coastal plain, west of the village. This detached parcel of woodland became the nucleus for Tabsur (Khirbat 'Azzun), founded by 'Azzuni families.British Mandate era
In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate authorities, ''Azzun'' had a population of 700; 691 Muslims and 9 Christians,Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Tulkarem, pJordanian era
In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Azzun came under Jordanian rule. It was Jordanian annexation of the West Bank, annexed by Jordan in 1950. The Jordanian census of 1961 found 2,096 inhabitants in Azzun.1967 and aftermath
Since the Six-Day War, Azzun has been under Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Israeli occupation. After the Oslo II Accord, 1995 accords, about 24.7% of the land was classified as Palestinian enclaves, Area B, the remaining 75.3% as Area C (West Bank), Area C. Israel has expropriated 268 dunums of village land for the construction of the Israeli settlement of Ma'ale Shomron. In 1996 a Municipality (Palestinian Authority), municipal council was established to administer Azzun's civil affairs. The council has eleven members appointed by the Palestinian government. In 2012, the villages of ''Islah'' and ''Izbat al-Tabib'' were merged into the municipality of Azzun upon decree of the Palestinian Ministry of Local Government. ‘Azzun Town Profile (including ‘Isla & ‘Izbat at Tabib Localities)Demography
Local origins
The major families of Azzun are the ‘Adwan, Badwan, Radwan, Salim, Hussein, Sweidan, Zamari (or Zummary), Abu Hanniya, Odah, Hawashah, Tabib, Suleiman, Radi, Mas’ud and Abu Dayyah. Residents of Azzun originally came from the south Hebron Hills, Hebron Mountain and from Ramallah.References
Bibliography
*al-Nimr, Ihsan, (1938–1975): Tarikh Jabal Nablus wa-l-Balqaʼ [History of Mount Nablus and al-Balqa’] (Nablus: Matbaʻat jamiʻat ʻummal al-matabiʻ al-taʻawuniyya), * * * * * * * * * * * *External links