Yatma

Yatma (Arabic: يتما‎) is a Palestinian town in the Nablus Governorate in northern West Bank, located 15 kilometers south of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town had a population of 2,981 inhabitants in mid-year 2006.[2]

Yatma
Municipality type D (Village council)
Arabic transcription(s)
 • Arabicيتما
Yatma, 2012
Yatma
Location of Yatma within Palestine
Coordinates: 32°06′30″N 35°16′06″E
Palestine grid175/168
StateState of Palestine
GovernorateNablus
Government
 • TypeVillage council
Population
 (2006)
 • Total2,981
Name meaningfrom Yetma, personal name[1]

Location

Yatma is located 12.4 km south of Nablus. It is bordered by Qabalan to the east and south, Beita to the north, Yasuf and As Sawiya to the west.[3]

History

Pottery sherds from the Iron Age II, Persian, Hellenistic/Roman and the Crusader/Ayyubid eras have been found here.[4]

It has been suggested that this was the place of origin of Dosthai of Kefar Iathma,[5] and that it was the Eincheitem of the Crusader period.[4]

Sherds from the Mamluk era has also been found here.[4]

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 Yitma, located in the Nahiya of Jabal Qubal of the Liwa of Nablus. The population was 10 households and 2 bachelors, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, goats and beehives, a press for olive oil or grape syrup, in addition to occasional revenues and a fixed tax for people of Nablus area; a total of 1,800 akçe.[6] Sherds from the early Ottoman era have also been found here.[4]

In 1838, Edward Robinson noted it as part of Jurat Merda District, south of Nablus.[7][8]

In 1850/1 de Saulcy noted Yatma on his travels in the region,[9] as did Victor Guérin in 1870.[10]

In 1882, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine Yetma was described as "A little village, on high ground, with olives round it."[11]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Yatma had a population of 242 Muslims,[12] increasing in the 1931 census to 325 Muslims, in 64 houses.[13]

In the 1945 statistics the population was 440 Muslims[14] while the total land area was 3,777 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[15] Of this, 1,214 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land, 1,741 for cereals,[16] while 44 dunams were classified as built-up areas.[17]

Jordanian era

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

The Jordanian census of 1961 found 618 inhabitants.[18]

Post 1967

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

After the 1995 accords, 29% of village land is defined as Area B land, while the remaining 71% is defined as Area C land. Israel has also confiscated village land for Israeli bypass roads.[19]

In 2011, two cars were set ablaze in Yatma and the village mosque was vandalised with Hebrew graffiti, reading "price tag" and "Migron", in what was assumed to be a price tag attack by Israeli settlers.[20][21]

References
  1. Palmer, 1881, p. 250
  2. Projected Mid -Year Population for Nablus Governorate by Locality 2004- 2006 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
  3. Yatma Village Profile, ARIJ, p. 4
  4. Finkelstein et al, 1997, p. 639
  5. Neubauer, 1868, pp. 268-269
  6. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 136
  7. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 3, Appendix 2, p. 127
  8. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 3, p. 92
  9. Saulcy, 1854, vol 1, p. 103
  10. Guérin, 1875, p. 163
  11. Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 287
  12. Barron, 1923, Table IX, p. 25
  13. Mills, 1932, p. 66
  14. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 19
  15. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 61
  16. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 108
  17. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 158
  18. Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 25
  19. Yatma Village Profile, ARIJ, pp. 15-17
  20. Second West Bank Mosque Vandalized, Settlers Blamed, 8 September 2011
  21. Quamar Mishirqi-Asad,'High ‘Price Tag’ in the Mosque of the Village Yatma,' in Rabbis for Human Rights, 13 September 2011. Archived September 3, 2012, at the Wayback Machine

Bibliography
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