Beit Ijza (, also spelled Bayt Ijza); is a village in the
Jerusalem Governorate
The Quds Governorate (), also known as Jerusalem Governorate, is one of the 16 governorates of Palestine and located in the central part of the West Bank. The current governor, appointed by the Palestinian National Authority, is Adnan Ghaith s ...
in the central
West Bank
The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
with an area of 2,526
dunam
A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; ; ; ), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area analogous in role (but not equal) to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amo ...
s. Located approximately six miles north of
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
, it had a population of 698 in 2007 and 854 by 2017.
Location
Beit Ijza is located north-west of
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
, bordered by
Al Jib
Al Jib or al-Jib () is a Palestinian territories, Palestinian village in the Jerusalem Governorate of the State of Palestine, located ten kilometers northwest of Jerusalem, partially in the Seam Zone, seam zone of the West Bank. The surrounding l ...
to the east and Al Jib lands to the north,
Beit Duqqu
Beit Duqqu () is a Palestinian village in the Jerusalem Governorate, located northwest of Jerusalem in the central West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 1,754 in 2017.
Location
Beit ...
to the west, and
Biddu
Biddu Appaiah (born 8 February 1945) is a British-Indian singer-songwriter, composer, and music producer who composed and produced many worldwide hit records during a career spanning five decades. Considered one of the pioneers of disco, Euro ...
to the south.
History
Ottoman era
Beit Izja has its earliest mention in a record from 1538/9, where it was listed as a ''mazra'a'' (farm). In 1596 it appeared in the tax registers as being in the ''
nahiya
A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level divisi ...
Al-Quds
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the oldest cities in the world, and is considered holy to the three major Abrahamic religions—Jud ...
under the name of ''Bayt Iza''. It had a population of 6 household;Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 119 who were all
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
s. They paid a fixed
Ziamet
Ziamet was a form of land tenure in the Ottoman Empire, consisting in grant of lands or revenues by the Ottoman Sultan to an individual in compensation for their services, especially military services. The ziamet system was introduced by Osman I, ...
tax-rate of 33.3% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, vineyards, fruit trees, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues; a total of 2,500
akçe
The ''akçe'' or ''akça'' (anglicized as ''akche'', ''akcheh'' or ''aqcha''; ; , , in Europe known as '' asper'') was a silver coin mainly known for being the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire. It was also used in other states includi ...
.
In 1738
Richard Pococke
Richard Pococke (19 November 1704 – 25 September 1765)''Notes and Queries'', p. 129. was an English clergyman and writer. He was the Bishop of Ossory (1756–65) and Meath (1765), both dioceses of the Church of Ireland. However, he is best kn ...
named it ''Beteser'', seeing it "on the hill to the east of the valley".
In 1838, it was described as a Muslim village, located in the ''Beni Malik'' area, west of Jerusalem.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 124 /ref>
In 1883 the PEF's ''
Survey of Western Palestine
The PEF Survey of Palestine was a series of surveys carried out by the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) between 1872 and 1877 for the completed Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) and in 1880 for the soon abandoned Survey of Eastern Palestine. The ...
'' (SWP) described ''Beit Izza'' as: "a village of moderate size on a hill with a spring at some distance to the west."
British Mandate era
In the
1922 census of Palestine
The 1922 census of Palestine was the first census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine, on 23 October 1922.
The reported population was 757,182, including the military and persons of foreign nationality. The divis ...
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
s,Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Jerusalem, p 15 /ref> decreasing slightly in the 1931 census to 54 Muslims, in 14 houses.Mills, 1932, p 38 /ref>
In the 1945 statistics Beit Ijza had a population of 70 Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p 24 /ref> with a total of 2,550
dunam
A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; ; ; ), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area analogous in role (but not equal) to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amo ...
s of land, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, Arabs used 122 dunams for plantations and irrigable land, 922 for cereals, while 8 dunams were built-up (urban) land.
Jordanian era
In the wake of the
1948 Arab–Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...
, and after the
1949 Armistice Agreements
The 1949 Armistice Agreements were signed between Israel and Egypt,Jordanian rule.
The Jordanian census of 1961 found 129 inhabitants in Beit Ijza.
Post 1967
Since the
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
in 1967, Beit Ijza has been under
Israeli occupation
Israel has occupied the Golan Heights of Syria and the Palestinian territories since the Six-Day War of 1967. It has previously occupied the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt and southern Lebanon as well. Prior to 1967, control of the Palestinian terr ...
.
Under the 1995
Oslo II Accord
The Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, commonly known as Oslo II or Oslo 2, was a key and complex agreement in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process. Because it was signed in Taba, Egypt, it is sometimes called the Taba Agre ...
, 6.7% of the total village area was classified as Area B, and the remaining 93.3% classified as
Area C
Area C (; ) is the fully Israeli-controlled territory in the West Bank, defined as the whole area outside the Palestinian enclaves (Areas A and B). Area C constitutes about 61 percent of the West Bank territory, containing most Israeli settle ...
, under full Israeli control. Israel has confiscated land in Beit Ijza for settlements, including
separation wall
A separation barrier or separation wall is a Barricade, barrier, wall or fence, constructed to limit the movement of people across a certain line or border, or to ethnic segregation, separate peoples or cultures. A separation barrier that runs a ...
extends onto Beit Ijza land, leaving 980 dunums, (or 38.1% of the total village's area), behind the wall, on the Israeli side. The Palestinian owners of the land must rely on Israeli permission to access their land. Permission is only granted to the property owner, often elderly people, leaving them unable to hire help to work the land. One family in Beit Ijza lives with walls on all sides of its property due to extensive land expropriations by Israel.
Shrine
Tawfiq Canaan
Tawfiq Canaan () (24 September 1882 – 15 January 1964) was a pioneering Palestinian physician, medical researcher, ethnographer, and Palestinian nationalist. Born in Beit Jala during the rule of the Ottoman Empire, he served as a medical off ...
found a
Maqam (shrine)
A maqām () is a Muslims, Muslim shrine constructed at a site linked to a religious figure or Wali, saint, commonly found in the Levant (or ''al-Shām),'' which comprises the present-day countries of Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Israel. It is ...
for ''en-nabi'' Yusif, on a spot which dominated Beit Ijza.Canaan, 1927, pp 417294
Wikimedia commons
Wikimedia Commons, or simply Commons, is a wiki-based Digital library, media repository of Open content, free-to-use images, sounds, videos and other media. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation.
Files from Wikimedia Commons can be used ...
Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem
The Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem (ARIJ; ) is a Palestinian NGO founded in 1990 with its main office in Bethlehem in the West Bank. ARIJ is actively working on research projects in the fields of management of natural resources, water m ...
