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Meithalun (, transliteration: Meithalûn; also spelled Maythalun, Maithaloun or Meithalon) is a Palestinian town in the Jenin Governorate of Palestine, in the northern West Bank, located 26 kilometers south of Jenin. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) census, the town had a population of 6,995 in 2007 and 8,321 by 2017.
Meithalun has four mosques, six schools, four pharmacies, two weather stations, two kindergartens, two clinics: maternity and general, several workshops, two multipurpose halls, two cemeteries, a police station, an office of the Ministry of Interior of the State of Palestine, three bakeries, four Internet cafes, two cultural centers, two major diwans, and a bank (Bank of Palestine). The town occupies an area of around 12,495 Dunam (historic unit translating to about 1000 square meters).
During the later Ottoman era, Meithalun was part of the Mashariq Jarrar subdistrict and in the 19th century was in the zone of influence of the Nablus-based textile merchant Hajj Isma'il Arafat, along with the villages of Sanur, Beit Lid, Silat ad-Dhahr and Jaba'.Doumani, 1995, pp. 79-80. In 1838, Biblical scholar Edward Robinson saw the village when he travelled in the region, and described it as being situated in an extremely fertile area.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, pp. 151, 153 He listed it as part of the District of Haritheh, north of Nablus.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2 appendix, p. 129.
In 1851–52, French archaeologist Louis Félicien de Saulcy noted that Meithalun was one of two villages in the southern part of the Marj Sanur valley, the other village being Sir. He describes the Marj Sanur valley as being “enclosed within a belt of mountains of a very woody and agreeable aspect.”Saulcy, 1854, vol 1, p. 87 In 1870, French explorer Victor Guérin described Meithalun as “a small village on a low hill. The Sheikh’s house is well built, and some of the rock-hewn are presumably ancient."Guérin, 1874, p. 351. In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described it as “a village of moderate size, of stones and adobe, with a Water well to the north, situated at the foot of a high hill, with a few olives in the plain”.Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 156.
Meithalun's two main clans, the Na'irat and the Ruba'iya, participated in the countrywide 1936–1939 revolt against British rule and increased Zionism settlement in Palestine. Rebels from the Na'irat clan, who had ties to the Jarrar family, fought under commander Fawzi Jarrar of Jaba', while the Ruba'iya fought under the Qassamite commander Abu Khalid of Silat ad-Dhahr and Abu Saysan of Qabatiya. The latter was a traditional ally of the Abd al-Hadi clan, who had economic and political ties to the Ruba'iya.Swedenberg, 2003, p. 132
In the 1945 statistics the population was 1,360, all Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 16. with 12,495 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 the village's lands, 3,451 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land, 7,469 dunams for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 99. while 25 dunams were built-up (urban) areas.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 149.
In 1961, the population of Meithalun was 2,243.Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 15
In the 2005 municipal elections, Fatah won the largest number of seats (five), followed by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (four) and Hamas (three). Political independents won one seat. The mayor is PFLP member Fawaz Saleh Na'irat and the deputy mayor is Hamas member Jihad Saleh Rabay'a.
The town is situated along the western edge of Marj Sanur, a valley and seasonal lake. It is the largest locality, of seven total, bordering Marj Sanur and controls the largest share of its fertile lands.Merkel, 2002, p. 150. It has an average elevation of 385 meters above sea level and is not elevated from its immediate surroundings.Zertal, 2004, p. 244 The total land area of Meithalun is 12,495 dunams. The old core of the town consists of 18 dunams.
Some residents of Meithalon have their origins in Yatta, a city in the south Hebron Hills, while others are .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
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