Ibziq

Khirbet Ibziq, Kh. Ibzîk, the ruin of Ibzîk, p.n.[1] is the name of a village[2] with two ruins in the West Bank, separated by one kilometer and referred to in the Manasseh Hill Country Survey as Khirbet Ibziq (Lower, al-Tahta) and Khirbet Ibziq (Upper, al-Fauqa). They are about twenty kilometers northeast of Nablus.[3] The "Lower" site is to the northeast of the "Upper" site.[4]

Khirbet Ibziq
Village council
Arabic transcription(s)
 • Arabicإبزيق
Khirbet Ibziq
Location of Salhab within Palestine
Coordinates: 32°22′44″N 35°25′46″E
Palestine grid188/197
StateState of Palestine
GovernorateTubas
Government
 • TypeVillage council
Area
 • Total800 dunams (80 ha or 200 acres)
Population
 (2005)
 • Total350
 • Density440/km2 (1,100/sq mi)
Name meaning"Kh. Ibzîk, the ruin of Ibzîk, p.n.,"[1]

History

Most scholars consider Khirbet Ibzik to have been the location of the biblical Bezek (also, Bezec) mentioned in 1 Samuel 11,[3][5][6][7] although on the basis of archaeological evidence an alternate location for Bezek at Salhab has been proposed.[3][8] Most scholars also think that the "Bezek" of 1 Samuel 11 is the same location as the "Bezek" of Judges 1, although others propose that the two refer to different locations.[3]

The Lower site contains pottery from the Byzantine and Early Islamic Periods, and in the Byzantine period appears to have been coterminous with the Upper site.[9] The Upper site, sometimes referred to simply as Khirbet Ibzik, contains a variety of pottery fragments extending from the Iron Age to the medieval period,[10] including the Byzantine era.[11]

In addition to the variation between Ibziq, Ibzik, and Ebziq[2] the term Khirbet or khirbat is an Arabic term for a ruin, and is sometimes abbreviated "Kh.", spelled "hirbet" or "Khǔrbet," or left out altogether. The form Tell Ibziq also occurs.[12]

Ottoman era

In 1882 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine noted about Khǔrbet Ibzik that it was "evidently an ancient site, with traces of ruins, cisterns and caves, . . . There is a kubbeh in the ruins sacred to Sheikh Hazkin."[13]

Israeli occupation

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

The village has 49 children of school age. The European Union provided the town with two prefabricated classrooms to cater to their needs from grades 1 to 6. The Israeli Defense Forces dismantled the structures down in October 2018 and it was announced in May of the following year that Israel intended to sell off the confiscated materials at auction in June 2019.[14] The EU recognizes that the structures are illegal under Israeli law, but defends their infraction of that local legislation in terms of what is permissible in international law. The EU was also concerned that at auction the building materials would be bought by settlers. It also stated that the Israeli measure worked out as financial damage to donors amounting to 15,320 euros, and demanded either a restitution of the materials to the beneficiaries, or compensation. Israel offered to restore the materials before auction if the EU agreed not to erect them in violation of its laws again, a proposal rejected by the EU.[15]

On 26 March 2020, Israel confiscated building materials from the village, part of which were meant for emergency housing and a clinic for the ongoing coronavirus victims.[16]

References
  1. Palmer, 1881, p. 201
  2. Kh Ebziq (Fact Sheet), ARIJ
  3. Freedman and Myers, 2000, p. 177
  4. Zertal, 2007, p. 191
  5. Conder, 1876, p. 69
  6. Conder, 1881, p. 44
  7. Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 231
  8. Zertal, 2007, pp. 105, 197
  9. Zertal, 2007, p. 192
  10. Zertal, 2007, p. 196
  11. Dauphin, 1998, p. 791
  12. Sasson, 2014, p. 130
  13. Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 237
  14. Oliver Holmes, 'Israel to auction prefab classrooms donated by EU to Palestinians ,' The Guardian 31 May 2019
  15. Yotam Berger, Noa Landau, 'Israel Delays Auction of Prefab Classrooms the EU Donated Palestinians,' Haaretz 4 June 2019: “It is part of the occupied Palestinian territory and part of any viable future Palestinian state. All EU activity in the West Bank is fully in line with international humanitarian law. The EU provides humanitarian assistance to communities in need in Area C in accordance with the humanitarian imperative. While Israel has overall security and administrative responsibility in Area C, under international law Israel also has the obligation to protect and facilitate development for the local population, and to grant unimpeded access for humanitarian assistance.”
  16. During the Coronavirus crisis, Israel confiscates tents designated for clinic in the Northern West Bank, 26 March 2020, Btselem

Bibliography
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