Hajjah, Qalqilya

Hajjah (Arabic: حجة‎) is a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank, located eighteen kilometers west of Nablus in the Qalqilya Governorate. Hajjah is originally an Aramaic word translated as "market" or "society". According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of approximately 2,500 inhabitants in mid-year 2006.[3]

For other uses, see Hajjah (disambiguation).
Hajjah
Municipality type D (Village council)
Arabic transcription(s)
 • Arabicحجة
 • LatinHajjah (official)
Haja (unofficial)
Hajjah
Location of Hajjah within Palestine
Coordinates: 32°12′17″N 35°07′50″E
Palestine grid162/179
StateState of Palestine
GovernorateQalqilya
Government
 • TypeVillage council
Elevation409 m (1,342 ft)
Population
 (2006)
 • Total2,500
Name meaningKuryet Hajja, The town of Hajja, from personal name, or pathway[2]

Location

Hajja is located 15.9 kilometers (9.9 mi) east of Qalqiliya City. It is bordered by Kafr Qaddum and Immatin to the east, Al Funduq and Jinsafut to the south, Kafr ‘Abbush, Kafr Laqif and Baqat al Hatab to the west, and Kur to the north.[1]

History

Ceramics from the Byzantine era have been found here.[4] In a Samaritan text, the town was known to be inhabited by Samaritan High Priests.[5]

During the reign of the Mamluk sultan An-Nasir Muhammad, in 722 AH/1322 CE, a mosque was constructed in the village. A minaret was added to it in 735 AH/1334-1335 CE. These building were done in the name of Muhammed bin Musa bin Ahmed, a local imam, whose grave stone is also by the mosque, dating his death to 749 AH/1348 CE.[6]

Ottoman era

Hajja was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 with all of Palestine, and in 1596 it appeared in the tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Bani Sa'b of the Liwa of Nablus. It had a population of 96 households, all Muslims. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 33.3% on various agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, goats and/or beehives, in addition to "occasional revenues", a press for olive oil or grape syrup, and a tax for people of the Nablus region; a total of 19,200 akçe. All of the revenues went to a waqf.[7]

In 1838, Robinson noted Kuryet Hajja as a village in Beni Sa'ab district, west of Nablus,[8] while in 1870 Victor Guérin noted it from Fara'ata.[9]

In 1882 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) noted about Kuryet Hajja: "A good-sized village on high ground, supplied by wells. It has a rock-cut tomb on the west, and appears to be an ancient place."[10]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Qariyet Hajjeh had a population of 642 inhabitants, all Muslims,[11] increasing in the 1931 census to 731 Muslims, with 206 houses.[12]

In the 1945 statistics the population was 960 Muslims,[13] with 13,119 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[14] Of this, 4 dunams were for citrus and bananas, 1,226 dunams were for plantations or irrigated land, 5,045 were for cereals,[15] while 36 dunams were built-up land.[16]

Jordanian era

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

The Jordanian census of 1961 found 1,093 inhabitants.[17]

1967-present

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

After the 1995 accords, 37.2% of village land was assigned as Area B land, while the remaining 62.8% is assigned Area C.[18]

Israel has confiscated 216 dunums of land from Hajja to establish two Israeli settlements, Karne Shomron and Neve Oramin, with the remainder of the land for these two settlements taken from Jinsafut, Kafr Laqif and Deir Istiya). Israel has also confiscated land from Hajja to build bypass roads and the Israeli West Bank barrier.[18]

Notable people

References
  1. Hajja village profile, ARIJ, p. 4
  2. Palmer, 1881, p. 187
  3. Projected Mid -Year Population for Qalqiliya Governorate by Locality 2004- 2006 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
  4. Dauphin, 1998, p. 798
  5. Conder, 1876, p. 196
  6. Sharon, 2013, pp. 270-277
  7. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 139
  8. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 127
  9. Guérin, 1875, p. 180
  10. Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 166
  11. Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Nablus, p. 24
  12. Mills, 1932, p. 61
  13. Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 18
  14. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 59
  15. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 106
  16. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 156
  17. Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 25
  18. Hajja village profile, ARIJ, p. 17

Bibliography
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