Al-Janiya () is a Palestinian village in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate located 8 kilometers northwest of Ramallah in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the village had a population of 1,296 inhabitants by 2017.
Location Al Janiya is located 8.5 km west of Ramallah. It is bordered by Al-Zaytouneh and Ein Qiniya to the east, Ras Karkar and Kafr Ni'ma to the west, Al-Zaytouneh and Al-Itihad to the north, and Deir Ibzi to the south. Al Janiya Village Profile, ARIJ, p. 4
Etymology Originally called Dajānah /[id-]Dəjāniyi, الدجانية/ in 16th century Ottoman documents, the surname Dajāni الدجاني is derived from it. Roy Marom and Ran Zadok have shown that the initial /d/ was lost for assimilation of the silent /d/ with the /j/ [dj/ like in jāj < dəjāj < dajāj “chicken”.
History and archaeology Iron Age to Mamluk period Sherds from the Iron Age II,Finkelstein et al., 1997, p. 314 Hellenistic, Roman and ByzantineDauphin, 1998, p. 833 periods have been found here.de Roziére, 1849, pp. 223-224, No. 120; cited in Röhricht, 1893, RRH, p. 50, No 200; cited in Finkelstein et al., 1997, p. 314 Sherds have also been found here from the Crusader/Ayyubid and Mamluk periods. There are Arabic and Greek inscriptions in the village mosque, which has been dated to 731 A.H., that is, 1330-31 C.E.Wright, 1903, pp. 180–181Peters, 1903, pp. 30-31Peters, 1904, pp. 384–385Sharon, 2016, pp. 167-171
Ottoman period Sherds from the Early Ottoman period have been found there. In the Ottoman census of 1500s, Dajjaniyya was located in the nahiya of Quds.Toledano, 1984, p. 292, has Dajjaniyya at location 31°57′20″N 35°05′55″E
In 1838 el-Janieh was noted as partly a Greek Christian and partly a Muslim village, part of Beni Harith area, located north of Jerusalem.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 2, p. 133Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, p. 66, Appendix 2, p. 124
Al-Janiya, together with er-Ras, were the chief towns for the ruling family of Simhan. The chief Sheikh of the Simhan family was Isma'il, who was killed by Ibrahim Pasha in the 1834 uprising. After Isma'il, Hasan es-Sa'id and Mohammah ibn Isma'il became the rulers.Macalister and Masterman, 1905, p. 354
In 1870, Victor Guérin found it to be a village of 400 inhabitants, all Muslims except a few "Greek schismatics". He also suggested that the mosque stood on the site of a previous church.Guérin, 1875, p. 83 An Ottoman village list from about same year found that the village had a population of 29 "Greeks" in 8 houses, and 268 Muslims in 58 houses, though the population survey only counted the men. It was noted that it was located NWW of Ramallah.Socin, 1879, p. 153. It was also noted that it was in the Beni Harit area.Hartmann, 1883, p. 126, noted 63 houses
In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it: "A small village on high ground, with two Mukams and a well on the east; on the north is a modern graveyard. Olives exist round."Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 294
Two different estimates were given of the population of Ed-dschanije in 1896, one gave a population of 528,Schick, 1896, p. 122 while another estimate gave the population to be 342 Muslims and 36 Christians.Schick, 1896, p. 124
British Mandate In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Al-Janiya had a population of 180; 177 Muslims and 3 Orthodox Christians.Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Ramallah, p. 16Barron, 1923, Table XIV, p. 45 This had increased by the time of the 1931 census to 250, 245 Muslims and 5 Christians, in 60 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 49.
In the 1945 statistics the population was 300, all Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 26 while the total land area was 7,565 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 64 Of this, 2,961 were plantations and irrigable land, 1,423 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 112 while 40 dunams were classified as built-up (urban) areas.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 162
Jordanian period In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Al-Janiya came under Jordanian rule.
The Jordanian census of 1961 found 451 inhabitants in Janiya.Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 24
Post-1967 Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Al-Janiya has been under Israeli occupation.
After the 1995 accords, 7.9% of village land was classified as Area B, the remaining 92.1% as Area C. 867 dunams of land was confiscated for the Israeli settlement of Dolev, in addition to 1,667 dunams for the settlement of Talmon. Al Janiya Village Profile, ARIJ, pp. 15-16
In 1989, 4,000 acres of privately owned land in Al-Janiya was confiscated and given to the Israeli settlement of Talmon.Raja Shehadeh (1 December 2008), A walk in the hills By 2010, Al-Janiya had lost 10,000 acres due to Israeli confiscations.Separate and Unequal: Israel's Discriminatory Treatment of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, HRW, 2010Seven days, five years: A week visiting my family in Israel, David Meir Grossman, July 28, 2014, Tablet
By 2012, Israeli settlers regularly came armed, taking control of a local water source.West Bank farmers frightened away from water springs by Israeli settlers , 22 March 2012, Al Arabiya The spring, Ein El Masraj, earlier used for irrigation by Al-Janiya, had been physically taken over by Israeli settlers from Talmon, who had renamed it Ein Talmon. The spring Ein El Mallah, used by Al-Janiya both for domestic use and irrigation, was in danger of being taken over. How dispossession happens. The humanitarian impact of the takeover of Palestinian springs by Israeli settlers, March 2012, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs occupied Palestinian territory, p. 23 The spring pools are being used by children for cooling down during the hot months.
By 2014, farming on local land was difficult, since Israeli authorities have declared much of it, enclosing olive groves, a 'closed military zone', which Palestinian farmers are allowed to access on average only two days a year, and many of the trees are uprooted by settlers.'Denied land access, Palestinians miss olive harvest,' Ma'an News Agency 29 October 2014.
In November 2016, Israeli settlers attacked four Palestinian farmers while they were harvesting their olives. The settlers, according to Palestinian witnesses and victims, shouted "Kill the Arabs" and "we will kill you, you sluts", and were armed with knives and clubs. After beating them up, they were filmed returning to an outpost below Neria, Mateh Binyamin.Gideon Levy and Alex Levac (Nov. 11, 2016), A pogrom shakes a Palestinian village strangled by Israeli settlements, Haaretz
Maqam of ash-Sheikh Ahmed a-Dajani In the center of the village al-Janiya, housed within a mosque, lies the maqam (holy tomb) of ash-Sheikh Ahmed a-Dajani. This Sufi sheikh, hailing from North Africa, resided in the village, then called Dajjaniyya, during the 16th century. He is considered a patriarch of the Dajani family of Jerusalem, whose members are said to be from the lineage of Husayn ibn Ali. However, the tomb bears an inscription stating it was built in 1330, a date that does not align with the time of the saint, which according to Muslim sources, was buried in the Mamilla Cemetery in Jerusalem in 1562.
Al-Dajani's occupation involved overseeing trade convoys traveling from Fez in Morocco to Medina in the Arabian Peninsula. However, after a conflict with the wealthiest family in the village, he decided to depart, despite the village mukhtar requesting him to stay. Before leaving, he agreed to change his last name to raise the prestige and renown of the village, ensuring everyone would know he had been a resident there. Angered by the behavior of the local villagers towards the sheikh, the mukhtar declared that he would change the name of Dajjaniyya to the current name, al-Janiya.
References
Bibliography
External links Welcome To al-Janiya at Palestine Remembered Survey of Western Palestine, Map 14: IAA, Wikimedia commons Al Janiya Village (Fact Sheet), Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem, ARIJ Al Janiya Village Profile, ARIJ Al Janiya, aerial photo, ARIJ Locality Development Priorities and Needs in Al Janiya Village, ARIJ