Madama, Nablus

Madama, Nablus
Municipality type C
Arabic transcription(s)
•  Arabic	مادما
Madama
Madama, Nablus Location of Madama, Nablus within Palestine
Coordinates: 32°11′00″N35°14′10″E / 32.18333°N 35.23611°E / 32.18333; 35.23611
Palestine grid	171/176
State	State of Palestine
Governorate	Nablus
Government
• Type	Municipality
Population  (2017) [1]
• Total	2,092
Name meaning	from personal name [2]

Madama is a Palestinian village in the Nablus Governorate.

Location

Madama is located 4.78 kilometres (3 mi) south of Nablus. It is bordered by Burin to the east, Asira al-Qibliya to the west and south, and Tell and Iraq Burin to the north. ^[3]

History

Ottoman era

In 1517, the village was included in the Ottoman empire with the rest of Palestine, and in the 1596 tax-records it was noted as Madama, located in the Nahiya of Jabal Qubal, part of Nablus Sanjak. The population was 36 households, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues and a fixed tax for people of Nablus area; a total of 6,250 akçe. ^[4]

In 1870/1871 (1288 AH), an Ottoman census listed the village in the nahiya (sub-district) of Jamma'in al-Thani, subordinate to Nablus. ^[5]

In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Madama as: "a small hamlet in a valley." ^[6]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Madama had a population of 170, all Muslims, ^[7] increasing in the 1931 census to 211, still all Muslims, in a total of 67 houses. ^[8]

In the 1945 statistics Madama had a population of 290 Muslims ^[9] and a total of 3,361 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey. ^[10] Of this, 162 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 1,943 used for cereals, ^[11] while 30 dunams were built-up land. ^[12]

Jordanian era

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

The Jordanian census of 1961 found 456 inhabitants in Madama. ^[13]

Post-1967

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Madama has been under Israeli occupation.

After the 1995 accords, 62 % of Madama land was defined as Area B, while the remaining 32% was defined as Area C. Israel has confiscated 139 dunams of land from Madama in order to construct the Israeli settlement of Yitzhar. ^[14]

Settler violence

See also: Israeli settler violence

In 2006, an incident occurred in Madama in which neighbouring Israeli settlers both "poisoned the village's only well and shot at aid workers who came to clean it." ^[15]

In May 2017, Israeli settlers, apparently from Yitzhar, attacked a Palestinian shepherd from Madama. The Palestinian was "bleeding profusely", and was sent to a hospital in Nablus. The Israeli soldiers "fired in the air, dispersing the assailants", but none of the attackers were arrested. ^[16]

In April 2018, Israeli soldiers were filmed "cheering after shooting unarmed Palestinian with rubber bullets" by a roadblock by Madama. ^[17]

In May 2019, it was reported that Israeli settlers from Yitzhar had started razing and levelling Palestinian-owned agricultural lands in Madama, in order to make a settler-only road. ^[18]

In September 2019, settlers from Yitzhar stormed the southern part of Madama and set fire to olive trees. ^[19]

On 20 January 2023, about 30 settlers escorted by 7 soldiers came to the village of Madama and began stoning residents homes. Residents attempting to defend their homes were fired upon by the soldiers, who used tear gas and several live rounds. The settlers then left the area through village olive groves, breaking three roughly five-year-old olive trees on their way out. ^[20]  

References

1. Preliminary Results of the Population, Housing and Establishments Census, 2017 (PDF). Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) (Report). State of Palestine. February 2018. pp. 64–82. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
2. Palmer, 1881, p. 187
3. Madama Village Profile, p. 4
4. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 131
5. Grossman, David (2004). Arab Demography and Early Jewish Settlement in Palestine. Jerusalem: Magnes Press. p. 253.
6. Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 163
7. Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Nablus, p. 24
8. Mills, 1932, p. 62
9. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 19
10. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 60
11. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 107
12. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 157
13. Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 26
14. Madama Village Profile, p. 16
15. Pearce, Fred (1 March 2006). "Running on empty". The Guardian .
16. Palestinian shepherd suffers head wound in attack by Israelis in West Bank, Yotam Berger, May 27, 2017, Haaretz
17. Israeli soldiers filmed cheering after shooting unarmed Palestinian with rubber bullets, 25 April 2018 The Independent
18. Israeli settlers raze Palestinian lands for settler-only road, May 6, 2019, Ma'an News Agency
19. Settlers Storm Madama Village, September 5, 2019
20. "Madama, Nablus District: Israeli settlers attack Palestinian homes with stones and vandalize trees. Soldiers fire live rounds in the air and tear gas canisters at village residents coming out to defend their homes". Btselem. 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2024.

Bibliography

• Barron, J.B., ed. (1923). Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922. Government of Palestine.
• Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1882). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. Vol. 2. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
• Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics (1964). First Census of Population and Housing. Volume I: Final Tables; General Characteristics of the Population (PDF).
• Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945.
• Hadawi, S. (1970). Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine. Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center.
• Hütteroth, W.-D.; Abdulfattah, K. (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. ISBN   3-920405-41-2.
• Mills, E., 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.

External links

• Welcome To Madama
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 11: IAA, Wikimedia commons
• Madama Village Profile, Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem, ARIJ
• Madama photo, ARIJ
• Development Priorities and Needs in Madama, ARIJ