Mas-ha

Mas-ha (Arabic: مسحة‎) is a Palestinian village located in the Salfit Governorate in the northern West Bank, 24 kilometers southwest of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, it had a population of 2,003 in 2007.[3]

Mas-ha
Municipality type D (Village council)
Arabic transcription(s)
 • Arabicمسحة
Mas'ha, seen from Elkana
Mas-ha
Location of Mas-ha within Palestine
Coordinates: 32°06′28″N 35°03′06″E
Palestine grid155/168
StateState of Palestine
GovernorateSalfit
Government
 • TypeVillage council
Elevation281 m (922 ft)
Population
 (2007)
 • Total2,003
Name meaning"Gravelly soil"[2]

Location

Mas-ha is located 12.5 kilometers (7.8 mi) north-west of Salfit. It is bordered by Biddya to the east, Az Zawiya to the south, Azzun Atma to the west, and Sanniriya and Beit Amin to the north.[1]

History

Potsherds from the Byzantine, Byzantine/Umayyad, Crusader/Ayyubid and Mamluk era have been found here.[4]

Ottoman era

Potsherds from the early Ottoman era have also been found.[4] Masha appeared in 1596 Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Jabal Qubal, part of the Sanjak of Nablus. It had a population of five 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, a press for olives or grapes, and occasional revenues and a fixed tax for people of Nablus area; a total of 2,300 akçe.[5]

In 1838, Edward Robinson noted it as a village, Mes-ha, in the Jurat Merda district, south of Nablus.[6]

French explorer Victor Guérin passed by the village in 1870, and estimated it as having about 300-350 inhabitants, and fig-tree lined borders.[7] In 1882 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Mes-ha as "a good-sized village, with a high central house, but partly ruinous. It is supplied by cisterns, and the houses are of stone."[8]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Mas-ha (called: Masha) had a population of 80, all Muslims,[9] increasing slightly in the 1931 census to 87 Muslims in a total of 20 houses.[10]

In the 1945 statistics the population was 110, all Muslims,[11] while the total land area was 8,263 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[12] Of this, 1,612 were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 2,482 for cereals,[13] while 18 dunams were classified as built-up (urban) areas.[14]

  • Mas-ha 1941 1:20,000
  • Mas-ha 1945 1:250,000

Jordanian era

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

In 1961, the population was 478.[15]

Post-1967
Israeli soldiers at a gate in Mas-ha

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

In the early 2000s, there were several protest against the plans of the building of the Israeli West Bank barrier, which would cut off Mas-ha villagers from much of their land. The protest, which resulted in the shooting of one Israeli citizen in 2003,[16] were ultimately unsuccessful.

Loss of land

Mas-ha has been subjected to numerous Israeli confiscations for the benefit of various Israeli objectives. ARIJ lists the losses as follows:

Israeli Settlements bordering Mas-ha village and land loss
Settlement Date of establishment Pop 2013 Area confiscated from Mas-ha
Elkana 1977 3,719 1,626
Etz Efraim 1985 731 546
Sha'arei Tikva 1982 4,493 8
Bnot Orot Yisrael 1989 -- 176
Total 8,943 2,356
Source: ARIJ 2013[17]

See also

References
  1. Mas-ha Village Profile, ARIJ, p. 4
  2. Palmer, 1881, p. 239
  3. 2007 PCBS Census Archived 2010-12-10 at the Wayback Machine Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p. 112.
  4. Finkelstein, 1997, p. 264
  5. Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 131
  6. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 126
  7. Guérin, 1875, p. 145 ff
  8. Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 286
  9. Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Nablus, p. 26
  10. Mills, 1932, p. 63
  11. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 19
  12. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 60
  13. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 107
  14. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 157
  15. Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 26
  16. Police Question Israeli Shot by IDF Troops During Fence Protest, Amos Harel, Dec 28, 2003, Haaretz
  17. Mas-ha Village Profile, ARIJ, 2013, p. 17

Bibliography
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