Misilyah

Misilyah (Arabic: مسلية‎), sometimes spelled Mithilîyeh and Misilîyeh, is a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank, located 14 kilometers south of the city of Jenin. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the village had a population of 2,252 inhabitants in mid-year 2006.[2] The main agricultural crops cultivated in Misilya are olives, grapes, figs, and vegetables. Roman and Islamic ruins have been found in the village.

Misilyah
Municipality type D (Village council)
Arabic transcription(s)
 • Arabicمسلية
Misilyah
Location of Misilyah within the West Bank
Misilyah
Location of Misilyah within Palestine
Coordinates: 32°23′12″N 35°17′17″E
Palestine grid177/199
StateState of Palestine
GovernorateJenin
Government
 • TypeVillage council
Population
 (2006)
 • Total2,252
Name meaning'an example', In Phænician: 'an image', in old Arabic it means: 'traces of a dwelling which are becoming effaced'[1]

Geography

Misilyah is situated in a small plain in the foothills of Jabal Faḳu'ah, or Mount Gilboa.[3] The plain, Marj al-Gharaḳ, also spelled Merj el-Ghǔrǔk, which lacks any natural drainage, was described at the beginning of the 20th century as transforming into a large swamp during the rainy season, only to dry up in summer, when the resulting field was cultivated with grain.[4]

History

C. R. Conder suggested in the 1880s that Misilyah was ancient Bethulia,[5][6] but Zertal, 2004, found no archeological evidence supporting this.[7]

Pottery sherds from the late Roman, Byzantine, early Muslim and Medieval eras have been found here.[7]

Ottoman era

In 1838, Edward Robinson noted the village when he travelled in the region, as bordering the extremely fertile Marj Sanur.[8] He listed it as part of the District of Haritheh, north of Nablus.[9]

In 1870, Victor Guérin noted it, "sitting on the northern slopes of a hill planted with superb olive trees; at the bottom there is a fertile and well-cultivated plain."[10]

In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Meselieh: "A small village, with a detached portion to the north, and placed on a slope, with a hill to the south, and surrounded by good olive-groves, with an open valley called Wady el Melek (' the King's Valley') on the north. The water-supply is from wells, some of which have an ancient appearance. They are mainly supplied with rain-water."[11]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Meselayyeh had a population 190 Muslims,[12] increasing in the 1931 census to 222 Muslim, in a total of 49 houses.[13]

In the 1945 statistics the population was 330 Muslims,[14] with a total of 9,038 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[15] Of this, 2,683 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land, 2,592 dunams were for cereals,[16] while a total of 23 dunams were built-up, urban land.[17]

Jordanian era

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

In 1961, the population of Misilya was 606.[18]

Post-1967

After the Six-Day War in 1967, Misilyah has been under Israeli occupation.

On 17 January 2016 a 21 year old resident of Masliya was shot dead by Israeli soldiers.[19][20]

References
  1. Palmer, 1881, pp. 112 188
  2. Projected Mid -Year Population for Jenin Governorate by Locality 2004- 2006 Archived 2008-09-20 at the Wayback Machine Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
  3. Marcus Jastrow; Frants Buhl (1901–1906). "Bethulia (Bαιτουλοόα, Bαιτουλία, Bετυλοόα, Bαιτυλοόα; Vulgate, Bethulia)". The Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk & Wagnalls. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  4. Joseph Jacobs; Immanuel Benzinger; Judah David Eisenstein (1901–1906). "Palestine". The Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk & Wagnalls. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  5. Conder, 1881, pp.194–195
  6. Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, pp. 436-437
  7. Zertal, 2004, pp. 228-229
  8. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, p. 153
  9. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2 appendix, p. 130
  10. Guérin, 1874, p. 344
  11. Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, pp. 156-157
  12. Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Jenin, p. 29
  13. Mills, 1932, p. 69
  14. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 16 Archived 2018-09-05 at the Wayback Machine
  15. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 54
  16. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 99
  17. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 149
  18. Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 25
  19. Palestinian shot dead near Nablus after alleged attempted attack Ma'an 17/1/2016
  20. Palestinian Shot After Attempting to Stab Israelis in the West Bank Ha'aretz 17/1/2016

Bibliography
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