Anzah or 'Anza () is a Palestinian village in the located 18 km southwest of the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank. Its total land area consists of 4,740 dunams of which nearly a 1/4 is covered with olive orchards. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 1,938 inhabitants in 2017.
History Pottery sherds from the Byzantine, early Muslim and the Medieval eras have been found here.Zertal, 2004, pp. 202-203
Ottoman era In 1830, during the Ottoman era, when the forces of Bashir Shihab II besieged Sanur, they were harassed by the people of Anzah.Shehabi 1969, III, pp. 805-806; cited in Zertal, 2004, pp. 202-203 In 1838, 'Anaza was noted as being in the District of esh-Sha'rawiyeh esh-Shurkiyeh, the eastern part.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd app, p. 129
In 1870, Victor Guérin found it "situated on a hill and counting scarcely a hundred inhabitants today. A belt of olive trees surrounds it."Guérin, 1875, p. 217
In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described it as: "A village of ancient appearance on a hill perched above the plain, the houses descending the slope on the south-east. It has two wells down the hill and a good olive grove near the road on the south. The houses are of stone."Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 155
British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, the village had a population of 537 Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Jenin, p. 29 increasing slightly in the 1931 census to 642 Muslims, with 137 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 67
In the 1944/5 statistics, the population was 880 Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 16 with a total of 4,740 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. 54 Of this, 958 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land, 2,110 dunams for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 98 while 16 dunams were built-up (urban) land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 148
Jordanian era In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Anzah came under Jordanian rule.
In 1961, the population of 'Anze was 1,011.Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 25
Post-1967 Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Anzah has been held under Israeli occupation. According to the Israeli census of that year, the population of Anza stood at 807, of whom 13 were registered as having come from Israel. Under the Oslo Accords, most of this town was assigned to Area B, with political control assigned to the Palestinian National Authority.B'Tselem Interactive Map https://www.btselem.org/map
Demography The village has six major families: Obaid, Sadaqa, Barahmeh, Ataya, Khader, and Omour.
Anzah's residents has origins in Yatta. They say they have longstanding roots in the area.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. 350-351
See also List of cities in Palestinian Authority areas
Footnotes
Bibliography
External links Welcome To 'Anza facebook Anza, Welcome to Palestine Survey of Western Palestine, Map 11: IAA, Wikimedia commons