Nisf Jubeil (
Arabic: نصف جبيل also spelled Nisf Jbeil or Nisf Jubayl) is a
Palestinian village in the
Nablus Governorate in the northern
West Bank, located northwest of
Nablus. According to the
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) census, it had a population of 394 in 2007. There were a total of 83 households and 17 business establishments.[4] By 2017, the population was 471.[2]
Geography
Nisf Jubeil is situated on a terrace along the Wadi Nib outlet of the Sebastiya Valley, with an approximate elevation of 400 meters above sea level. It is 2.5 kilometers east of the town of
Sebastia.[5] Other nearby localities include
Ijnisinya to the south,
Yasid to the east and
Beit Imrin to the north.[6] The nearby Ein Sharqiya spring serves as a source of water and there are 30
cisterns in the village.[5]
In 1596, Nisf Jubeil appeared in
Ottoman tax registers as "Jubayl", a village in the nahiya of Jabal Sami in the liwa of
Nablus. It had a population of 30
Muslim households and 36
Christian households.[7][8] They paid a fixed tax-rate of 33.3% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, goats and beehives; a total of 10,040
akçe. 1/3 of the revenues went to a
Waqf.[8]
In 1838 there were approximately 200 Christians, including a priest living in the village.[9] The Christians were of the Greek Orthodox faith.[10][11]
Victor Guérin found an ancient
sarcophage in Nisf Jubeil, used as a trough. He estimated there were 300 inhabitants, including some Christians.[12] In 1882, Nisf Jubeil was described as "a small village in an open valley, with a spring to the east and olives. Some of the inhabitants are Greek Christians."[13]
In 1870/1871 (1288
AH), an Ottoman census listed the village in the nahiya (sub-district) of Wadi al-Sha'ir.[14]
In the
1945 statistics the population was 260; 80 Muslims and 180 Christians,[17]
while the total land area was recorded as 5,054 dunams.[18] Of this, 890 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 2,443 used for cereals,[19] while 28 dunams were built-up land.[20]
In 1961, the population of Nisf Jubeil was 228,[21] of whom 50 were Christian.[22]
1967-present
Since the
Six-Day War in 1967, Nisf Jubeil has been under
Israeli occupation, and according to the Israeli census of that year, the population of Nisf Jubeil stood at 221, of whom 14 were registered as having come from Israel.[23]
In 1979 Nisf Jubeil's built-up area amounted to 25
dunams. Its village center contained a few old houses, two
Greek Orthodox churches and a
mosque,[5] called the Nisf Jubeil Mosque.[24] The mayor of the village is currently Adil Barakat.[1] Nisf Jubeil has a mixed population of
Christians and
Muslims.[25]
^Grossman, D. (1986). "Oscillations in the Rural Settlement of Samaria and Judaea in the Ottoman Period". in Shomron studies. Dar, S., Safrai, S., (eds). Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House. p. 352