Beit Iba () is a Palestinian village in the Nablus Governorate in the North central West Bank, located 7 kilometers northwest of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the village had a population of 4,079 inhabitants in 2017.
Location Beit Iba is located west of Nablus. It is bordered by Nablus and Beit Wazan to the east, An-Naqura and Zawata to the north, Deir Sharaf and Qusin to the west, and Sarra and Beit Wazan to the south.Beit Iba Village Profile, ARIJ, p. 4
History Ceramics from the Byzantine era have been found here.Dauphin, 1998, p. 771
Ottoman era In 1517, the village was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire with the rest of Palestine, and in 1596, Beit Iba appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in nahiya (subdistrict) of Jabal Qubal under the liwa' (district) of Nablus. It had a population of 20 households, all Muslims. They paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, goats and/or beehives, in addition to occasional revenues and a tax on people in the Nablus district; a total of 9,000 akçe. Half to the revenue went to a Waqf.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 132
In 1838, in the Biblical Researches in Palestine, Beit Iba was located in the District of Jurat 'Amra, south of Nablus.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 127Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, p. 137
In 1870/1871 (1288 AH), an Ottoman census listed the village with a population of 64 households in the nahiya (sub-district) of Jamma'in al-Awwal, subordinate to Nablus.
In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Beit Iba as: "A village of moderate size in low ground, with olives; it is of mud and stone, with a good spring ('Aines Subian); to the north. The olive groves in the valley are very fine and ancient; here and there is a small mill, and in spring a stream of water.Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 162
British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Beit Iba had a population of 456; all Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Nablus, p. 24 increasing slightly in the 1931 census to 470 Muslims, in a total of 121 houses.Mills, 1923, p. 60.
In the 1945 statistics, the population was 630, all Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 18. with 5,063 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. 59. Of this, 762 dunams were for plantations or irrigated land, 3,368 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 105. while 41 dunams were built-up land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 155.
Jordanian era In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Beit Iba came under Jordanian rule.
The Jordanian census of 1961 found 1,069 inhabitants in Beit Iba.Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 25
1967 and aftermath Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Beit Iba has been under Israeli occupation.
After the 1995 accords, 45% of the village land is defined as being in Area A, 34% is Area B, while the remaining 21% Area C.Beit Iba Village Profile, ARIJ, p. 15
References
Bibliography
External links Welcome To Bayt Iba Survey of Western Palestine, Map 11: IAA, Wikimedia commons Beit Iba Village profile, Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem, ARIJ Beit Iba, aerial photo, ARIJ Development Priorities and Needs in Beit Iba, ARIJ