Jab'a

Jab'a is mentioned in Eusebius' renowned work, Onomasticon, as Gabatha [Gava'ot] (Γαβαθα),Eusebius, Onomasticon – The Place Names of Divine Scripture, (ed.) R. Steven Notley & Ze'ev Safrai, Brill: Leiden 2005, p. 70 (§339), note 339 {{ISBN|0-391-04217-3}} believed by historical geographer, Samuel Klein to be Jab'a southeast of Bayt Nattif. Jab'a has been identified by Conder as the biblical site of Gibeah,Tristram (1897), p. [https://archive.org/stream/bibleplacesortop00tris#page/82/mode/2up 69]; Conder and Kitchener, 1883, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp03conduoft#page/53/mode/1up 53] mentioned in {{bibleverse |Joshua| 15:57}}. Although not conclusive, it is said to be the burial-site of Habakuk the prophet. Elsewhere Eusebius purports that Habakuk was buried near a place called Ενκηλα (`Ain Qe'ilah), seven miles from Bayt Jibrin, and which place is now called Khirbet Qila.Samuel Klein, Eretz Yehudah ("The Land of Judah"), Tel-Aviv 1939, p. 198.

Byzantine ceramics have been found here.Dauphin, 1998, p. 921

Jab'a does not appear in records from the 16th century.Grossman, D. "The expansion of the settlement frontier of Hebron's western and southern fringes". Geography Research Forum, 5, 1982, p. 64. Oral tradition suggests that it was founded in a later period.

In 1596, Jaba appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Quds of the Liwa of Quds, with a population of 3 Muslim households. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 33.3% on wheat, barley, olives, and goats or beehives; a total of 1,110 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 112

Local tradition suggests Jab'a inhabitants came from Beit Suweir{{clarify|Same as Beit Sawir? If yes, pls add Wikilink.|date= February 2024}}, founding the village following an assault on their previous settlement by the Ta'amreh tribe, an event that likely occurred in the 18th century.

In 1863, the French explorer Victor Guérin found Jab'a reduced to a hundred souls,Guérin, 1869, p. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr06gugoog#page/n395/mode/1up 382] while the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described Jeba in 1883 as "a small village standing upon a high, narrow ridge, with a steep valley to the north. The houses are of stone. To the east are caves in the face of the rock."Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp03conduoft#page/25/mode/1up 25]

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Al Jaba'a had a population of 122 inhabitants, all Muslims.Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Hebron, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n12/mode/1up 10] while at the time of the 1931 census, El Jab'a had a population of 176, still Muslim, living in a total of 36 houses.Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 32]

In the 1945 statistics the population of El Jab'a was 210, all Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p23.jpg 23] who owned 5,593 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Hebron/Page-050.jpg 50] 102 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 1,880 used for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110605000346/http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Hebron/Page-093.jpg 93] while 12 dunams were built-up (urban) land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [https://web.archive.org/web/20141031003705/http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Hebron/Page-143.jpg 143]

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

The Jordanian census of 1961 found 332 inhabitants.Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/JordanCensusPages/JordanCensus1961-p22.pdf 22]

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Jab'a has been held under Israeli occupation.

After the 1995 accords, 3.5% of village land was classified as Area B land, while the remaining 96.5% was classified as Area C. Israel has put Jab'a inside the Gush Etzion block, effectively isolating it from its Palestinian neighbours. The Israeli West Bank barrier will extend on Al Jab’a lands, isolating 90% of Jab'a's land from the village.[http://vprofile.arij.org/bethlehem/pdfs/VP/Al_Jab'a_vp_en.pdf Al Jab’a Village], ARIJ, p. 16

On 25 February 2015, in an apparent price tag attack, a mosque in the village was torched. Israeli police were investigating it. The attack coincided with the anniversary of the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre that took place in Hebron 21 years ago.{{cite web |url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/2/25/palestinian-mosque-torched-in-price-tag-attack.html |title=Palestinian mosque torched in apparent 'price tag' attack |work=Al Jazeera America |date=25 February 2015}} The fire was discovered by worshipers who quickly extinguished it. The carpets and walls were damaged but no one was reported to have been injured. Graffiti in Hebrew called for "revenge attacks" against Arabs and Muslims, according to eyewitnesses.{{cite web |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/mosque-torched-near-bethlehem-in-apparent-hate-crime/ |title=Mosque torched near Bethlehem in apparent hate crime |work=The Times of Israel |date=25 February 2015}}

In October 2020, Israeli settlers destroyed 300 olive trees in the northern part of the village.[https://imemc.org/article/israeli-colonizers-chop-destroy-300-palestinian-olive-trees/ Israeli Colonizers Chop & Destroy 300 Palestinian Olive Trees], 15 October 2020, IMEMC

The village houses are small and consist of just one spacious room surrounded by a large area of farmland, on which almonds and olives and grapes are cultivated.[http://www.cchp.ps/index.php?lang=en&page=123352474125 Jab'aa] Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation.

According to a report by Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem, the people of Jab'a village can trace their roots back to 1948 when they originally came from the villages of Rafat and Sajartah.[http://vprofile.arij.org/bethlehem/pdfs/VP/Al_Jab'a_vp_en.pdf Al Jab’a Village], ARIJ, p. 5

{{reflist|25em}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book | editor =Barron, J.B. | title = Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922 |url=https://archive.org/details/PalestineCensus1922 |publisher = Government of Palestine | year = 1923}}
• {{cite book|last1=Conder|first1=C.R.|author-link1=Claude Reignier Conder|last2=Kitchener|first2=H.H.|author-link2=Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|year=1883|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp03conduoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology|location=London|publisher=Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund|volume=3}}
• {{cite book | last= Dauphin |first = C.|author-link= Claudine Dauphin| title = La Palestine byzantine, Peuplement et Populations |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FC1mAAAAMAAJ |volume = III : Catalogue | series = BAR International Series 726 | year = 1998 | publisher = Archeopress | location = Oxford|language =fr|isbn= 0-860549-05-4}}
• {{cite book | title = First Census of Population and Housing. Volume I: Final Tables; General Characteristics of the Population | author = Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics | year = 1964|url=http://cs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/JordanCensus1961bits.pdf}}
• {{cite book|title=Village Statistics, April, 1945 |url=http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nli/Hebrew/library/Pages/BookReader.aspx?pid=856390|author=Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics|year=1945}}
• {{cite book|last=Guérin|first=V.|author-link=Victor Guérin|title=Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine|url=https://archive.org/details/descriptiongogr06gugoog|volume=1: Judee, pt. 3|year=1869|publisher= L'Imprimerie Nationale|location=Paris|language=fr}}
• {{cite book|title=Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine|url=http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html|first=S.|last=Hadawi|author-link=Sami Hadawi|year=1970|publisher=Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center}}
• {{cite book | last1= Hütteroth |first1=W.-D.|author-link1=Wolf-Dieter Hütteroth |first2=K. | last2=Abdulfattah |author-link2=Kamal Abdulfattah| title = Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=wqULAAAAIAAJ | year = 1977 | publisher = Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft|isbn= 3-920405-41-2}}
• {{cite book | editor = Mills, E. | title = Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas |url=https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas | publisher = Government of Palestine | location = Jerusalem | year = 1932}}
• {{cite book|last=Palmer|first=E.H.|author-link=Edward Henry Palmer|year=1881|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp00conduoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer|publisher=Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund}}
• {{cite book|last=Tristram|first=H.B.|author-link=Henry Baker Tristram|year=1897|url=https://archive.org/stream/bibleplacesortop00tris#page/n5/mode/2up|title=Bible Places: or, The Topography of the Holy Land: a Succinct Account of All the Places, Rivers, and Mountains, etc.|location=London}}

{{refend}}

• [http://www.palestineremembered.com/GeoPoints/al_Jab_a_1022/index.html Welcome To al-Jab'a], Palestine Remembered
• [https://www.welcometopalestine.com/destinations/bethlehem/jaba/ Jaba], Welcome to Palestine
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 17: [https://web.archive.org/web/20181103051759/http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8379 IAA], Wikimedia commons
• [http://vprofile.arij.org/bethlehem/pdfs/EN/Al%20Jab'a_fs_en.pdf Al Jab'a Village (Fact Sheet)], Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem, ARIJ
• [http://vprofile.arij.org/bethlehem/pdfs/VP/Al_Jab'a_vp_en.pdf Al Jab’a Village], ARIJ
• [http://vprofile.arij.org/bethlehem/images/areal/Al%20Jab'a_ap_en.jpg Al Jab'a aerial photo], ARIJ
• [http://vprofile.arij.org/bethlehem/pdfs/needsfordevelopment/Al%20Jab'a_vp_en.pdf The priorities and needs for development in Al Jab’a village based on the community and the local authorities’ assessment], ARIJ
• [http://palsolidarity.org/tag/al-jaba/ Al Jab’a]

{{Bethlehem Governorate}}

Category:Seam Zone

Category:Bethlehem Governorate

Category:Villages in the West Bank