Deir Nidham

Deir Nidham ( ar, دير نظام) is a Palestinian village in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate in the central West Bank. It is located approximately northwest of the city of Ramallah and its elevation is . According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) 2007 census, the town had a population of 879.

Location

Deir Nidham is located northwest of Ramallah. It is bordered by Umm Safa and Kobar to the east, Nabi Salih and Bani Zeid to the north, 'Abud and Bani Zeid to the west, and Al-Itihad to the south.

History

Sherds have been found here from the Byzantine, Crusader/Ayyubid and Mamluk eras.Finkelstein et al., 1997, p. 366

Ottoman era

In 1517, the village was included in the Ottoman empire with the rest of Palestine, and in the 1596 tax-records it appeared as ''Dayr an-Nidam'', located in the ''Nahiya'' of Jabal Quds of the ''Liwa'' of Al-Quds. The population was 4 households, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on agricultural products, which included wheat, barley, olive trees, vineyards and fruit trees, goats and beehives in addition to "occasional revenues"; a total of 1200 akçe. Sherds from the early Ottoman era has also been found here.

In 1863 Victor Guérin visited and described it as being half ruined and inhabited only by a hundred fellahins. Several cisterns, partially filled, and a number of antique stones, scattered on the ground or reused, proved to him that it had succeeded a former locality. An Ottoman village list from about 1870 found that the village had a population of 59, in a total of 17 houses, though the population count included men, only.Socin, 1879, p
152
Also noted that it was in the ''Bani Zeid'' district, and wondered if it could be the Muslim village ''Deir ed-Dam'', mentioned in Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p
124
/ref>

In 1882, the PEF's ''Survey of Western Palestine'' (SWP) described it: "A small hamlet on a high point, with olives round it. It is just above the ruins of Tibneh, and water is obtained from the 'Ain Tibneh."

In 1896 the population of ''Der en-nizam'' was estimated to be about 147 persons.

British era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Deir Nidham (''Dair Inzam'') had a population of 106 Muslims.Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Ramallah, p.
16
/ref> increasing in the 1931 census when ''Deir Nizam'' had 166 Muslims in 34 houses.Mills, 1932, p
48

In the 1945 statistics the population was 190 Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p
26
/ref> while the total land area was 1,938 dunams, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 514 were plantations and irrigable land, 483 for cereals, while 31 dunams were classified as built-up areas.

Jordanian era

In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements.

The Jordanian census of 1961 found 267 inhabitants.

1967-present

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Deir Nidham has been under Israeli occupation. The population in the 1967 census conducted by the Israeli authorities was 216.

After the 1995 accords, 4.7% of village land is defined as Area B land, while the remaining 95.3 is defined as Area C. In 1997 Israel confiscated 604 dunums of village land for the Israeli settlement of Halamish.

A secondary school exists in Deir Nidham and high school students are educated at a nearby village. Most university students attend Birzeit University or the al-Quds Open University. The electricity network in the village is affiliated with that of Jerusalem, while its water network is managed by the Palestinian National Authority. A village council of seven members was established in 2005 to govern the village.About the Council
Deir Nidham Village Council.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Official Website
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 14
IAAWikimedia commons

Deir Nidham village (fact sheet)
Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem (ARIJ)
Deir Nidham village profile
ARIJ
Deir Nidham, aerial photo
ARIJ
Locality Development Priorities and Needs in Deir Nidham Village
ARIJ
{{Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate

Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate
Villages in the West Bank
Municipalities of the State of Palestine