Immatain

Immatain
Other transcription(s)
  Arabic إماتين

Viewpoint of Immatain
Immatain

Location of Immatain within the Palestinian territories

Coordinates: 32°11′31″N 35°09′27″E / 32.19194°N 35.15750°E / 32.19194; 35.15750Coordinates: 32°11′31″N 35°09′27″E / 32.19194°N 35.15750°E / 32.19194; 35.15750
Palestine grid 165/177
Governorate Qalqilya
Founded 1250 (estimate)
Government
  Type Village council
  Head of Municipality Haythem Sameer Sawan
Area
  Jurisdiction 10,000 dunams (10.0 km2 or 3.9 sq mi)
Population (2006)
  Jurisdiction 2,450
Name meaning Amatin p.n.,[1] Ferata, p.n.[2]

Immatain (Arabic: إماتين) is a Palestinian village located in the Qalqilya Governorate in the northwestern West Bank, about seventeen kilometers southwest of Nablus. The current mayor of Immatain is Haythem Sawan.

Population

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Immatain had a population of approximately 2,450 inhabitants in mid-year 2006.[3] Almost double the amount live abroad for political and economical reasons. Each year, on average two family units immigrate from Immatain. Immatain has four families. They are Sawan, Ghanim, Albaree, and Matanee.

Family name Population est. Percent of the population
Sawan 1220 49.8%
Ghanim 850 34.7%
Albaree 255 10.4%
Matanee 125 5.1%

Population growth (1922 - 2007)

[4]

Geography

The village's lands are mostly filled with olive trees, forests, and blooming vegetation and is a prime farming location. Immatain relies on agriculture and support from descendants who reside abroad. The nearest locality is the village of Fara'ata, which is about one kilometer away. Immatain and the surrounding villages make Amra Area. These villages are Fara'ata, Jit, Kafr Qaddum, Baqat al-Hatab, Hajja, Jinsafut and al-Fanduq.

Land ownership

The following is a breakdown of land ownership.[4]

Ethnic group Land ownership (dunams) Land ownership (%)
Arab 7,152 99.9%
Jewish 0 0%
Christian 0 0%
Public 3 0.0004%

Land usage

The following is a breakdown of the land usage during 1945 in the dunams.[4]

Land usage type Arab dunams Percentage
Irrigated and plantation 967 8%
Area planted with olives 1,042 9%
Area planted with cereal 3,067 25%
Built-up 32 0.3%
Cultivable 4,034 33%
Non-cultivable 3,089 24.7%
Total 12,240 100%

History

The newly built mosque and minaret

Byzantine ceramics have been found in the village.[5]

Ottoman era

Immatain and Fara'ata were incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 with all of Palestine, and in 1596 Immatain appeared in the tax registers as Matin, being in the Nahiya of Jabal Qubal of the Liwa of Nablus. It had a population of 20 households and 1 bachelor, all Muslim. The villagers paid taxes on wheat, barley, summer crops, olives, goats and beehives.[6]

In 1870 the French explorer Victor Guérin visited Fara'ata (now included in Immatain), which he described having "a very small number" of people, with some cisterns and remains of a stone sarcophagus as remnants of former history.[7]

In Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine (1882), Immatain was described as "a village of moderates size on the slope of the hill, with a few olives."[8] Fara'ata was described as a "small village of ancient appearance, standing on a [..] mound, with a rock-cut tomb to the south, and a sacred Mukam to the east." Fara'ata was noted in the Samaritan Chronicle (from the 12th century) under the name of Ophrah, while it has been known under its present name since the 14th century.[9]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Immatain (called "Ammatain") had a population of 234, while Far'ata had a population of 36, both places all Muslim.[10] In the 1931 census Immatin had 67 occupied houses and a population of 334,[11] while Far'ata had a population of 47, in a total of 11 houses. Again, both places were all Muslim.[12]

In 1945 the population of Immatin was 440, all Muslims,[13] while the total land area was 7,155 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[14] Of this, 967 were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 3,067 for cereals,[15] while 32 dunams were classified as built-up areas.[16] At the same time the population of Far'ata was 70 Muslims,[13] while the total land area was 1,664 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[17] Of this, 56 were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 961 for cereals,[15] while 10 dunams were classified as built-up areas.[16]

1948-1967

In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Immatain came under Jordanian rule.

Post-1967

After the Six-Day War in 1967, Immatain has been under Israeli occupation.

Immatain has more than 20 mostly small businesses. Most of the residents work in agriculture, while others work as retailers or laborers. Its main source of revenue is olive oil production.

In 2010, Far'ata was described by Gideon Levy as one of the Palestinian villages where the people "live in terror of the settlers and their accursed 'Price tag,' and nobody came to their defense".[18]

Footnotes

  1. Palmer, 1881, p. 178
  2. Palmer, 1881, p. 182
  3. Projected Mid -Year Population for Qalqilya Governorate by Locality 2004- 2006 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.
  4. 1 2 3 "Immatin - اماتين -Nablus - Palestine Remembered". www.palestineremembered.com. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  5. Dauphin, 1998, p. 800
  6. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 136
  7. Guérin, 1875, pp. 179 -180, cited in Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 185
  8. Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 162
  9. Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, pp. 162-163
  10. Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Nablus, p. 25
  11. Mills, 1932, p. 62
  12. Mills, 1932, p. 61
  13. 1 2 Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 18
  14. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 60
  15. 1 2 Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 106
  16. 1 2 Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 156
  17. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 59
  18. Twilight Zone / The mountain that was as a monster, Gideon Levy, May 20, 2010, Haaretz

Bibliography

External links

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