Town in the State of Palestine, in the northern West Bank
Municipality type D in Jenin, Palestine
Zababdeh or Zababida (Arabic: الزبابدة) is a town in the State of Palestine, in the northern West Bank, located 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) southeast of Jenin and 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) from the Arab American University.
History
Zababdeh was likely established in the 18th century by Christian shepherds from Taybeh, who previously resided in Al-Mughayyir.[3]
Earlier remains found at the site include sherds from the Middle Bronze Age II, Iron Age I & II, through to the Byzantine era.[4] Remains of a Frankish bovaria (=farm) has been noted,[5] while sherds from the Mamluk and Ottoman era have also been found.[4]
Ottoman era
The village was (re-)founded in 1834, during the Ottoman era, by three Christian Greek Orthodox families who purchased the land from Jenin Muslims.[6] In 1838 "Zabedet" was noted as a Greek Christian village in the Haritheh area, north of Nablus.[7]
In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it as a "moderate sized village at the south edge of the arable plain called Wady es Selhab, supplied by a well on the east, with a low hill covered with brushwood on the south."[8]
The Latin Catholic mission established its presence in the village in 1883.[6]
In the 19th century sister Marie-Alphonsine Danil Ghattas lived here.[9]
British Mandate era
In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Zababdeh had a population of 482; 64 Muslims and 418 Christians,[10] where the Christians were 83 Orthodox, 261 Roman Catholics and 74 Church of England.[11] In the 1931 census the number of inhabitants had increased to 632; 91 Muslims and 541 Christians, in a total of 134 houses.[12]
In 1945 Village Statistics Zababida had a population of 870; 90 Muslims and 780 Christians,[13] and the jurisdiction of the village was 5,719 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[14] 2,510 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land, 3,067 dunams for cereals,[15] while 16 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[16]
Jordanian era
After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Zababdeh was ruled by the Hashemites of Jordan.
In 1961, the population of Zababide was 1,474,[17] of whom 1,077 were Christian.[18]
Post-1967
Zababdeh came under Israeli occupation along with the rest of the West Bank during the 1967 Six-Day War. The population of Kufeir Zababida in the 1967 census conducted by Israel was 1,520, of whom 329 originated from the Israeli territory.[19]
According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics 2007 census, there were 3,665 residents,[1] of which roughly two-thirds are Christians,[20] divided into Roman Catholic (Latin), Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic and Anglican communities. For two decades, from 1974–75 until he was posted to a position as parish priest in Gaza in 1995, the village priest was Manuel Musallam, a Fatah activist and native of Birzeit, who developed excellent educational facilities in the village that attracted commuting Muslim students from Jenin.[6] The city also has a Muslim minority; both communities live without conflicts.[6]
Palestine
