Product Code Database
Umm Safa/Kafr Ishwa () or Um Al-Safa is a Palestinians village in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate.
In 1838 Um Safah was noted as a Muslim village in the Beni Zaid district.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 3, 2nd Appendix, p. 125
In 1870, Victor Guérin climbed up on the hilltop which Umm Safa occupied, and found that the village had about 300 inhabitants. He further noted that: "It must go back to an ancient site as is shown by the materials used in the building of some houses and several sections scattered about the ground. A copious spring, called Ain Umm Safa, provides the villagers with water. They venerate, under a Qubba, the remains of Nabi Hanan."Guérin, 1875, p. 109 An official Ottoman village list from about the same year, 1870, listed Kefr Eschwa as having 24 houses and a population of 120, though the population count included men, only. It was noted as being located north of Dschibija.Socin, 1879, p. 156 It was also noted as part of the Beni Zeid districtHartmann, 1883, p. 106 also noted 24 houses
In 1882 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Umm Suffah (also called Kefr Ishwah) as "a village on high ground on the Roman road to Antipatris. It contains a small mosque or Moslem chapel, and has a Water well to the north."
In the 1945 statistics, the population of Umm Safa ( Kafr Ishwa) was 110 Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 26 while the total land area was 4,083 , according to an official land and population survey.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 65 Of this, 1,364 dunums were used for plantations and irrigable land, 821 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 113 while 17 dunams were classified as built-up areas.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 163
The census of 1961 found 252 inhabitants in Umm Safa.Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 24
After the 1995 accords, 16% of village land has been defined as Area B land, while the remaining 84% is Area C. Israel has confiscated a total of 227 dunams of land from the village in order to construct two Israeli settlements: Ateret and Halamish. Umm Safa Village Profile, ARIJ, p. 16
In June 2023, the village was attacked by dozens of settlers who burned houses and vehicles
The village has two tombs within it.Frantzman and Bar, 2013, p. 102
Tomb of Nabi Hanun
Located within the village is the mosque of a-Nabi Hanun, which includes an unmarked grave said to belong to a local Muslim saint of the same name. The mosque was built in 1986 following the destruction of the previous tomb housing the remains. Local tradition says that Nabi Hanun and Nabi Sair, whose grave was in the western part of the village, were both sons of Yaqub (Jacob).
British Mandate era
In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Umm Sufa had a population of 80 Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Ramallah, p. 17 increasing in the 1931 census to 89 Muslims, in 27 houses in Umm Safah (or Kafr Ishwa).Mills, 1932, p. 51.
Jordanian era
In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Umm Safa came under Jordanian rule.
1967-present
Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Umm Safa has been under Israeli occupation.
Bibliography
(1997). 9789654400077, Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University Publications Section. . ISBN 9789654400077
External links
|
|
