Nahalin

Nahalin
Other transcription(s)
– Arabic	نحالين
– Also spelled	Nahaleen (official)
Nahalin Location of Nahalin within the Palestinian territories
Coordinates: 31°41′04.84″N 35°06′57.17″E / 31.6846778°N 35.1158806°E / 31.6846778; 35.1158806Coordinates: 31°41′04.84″N 35°06′57.17″E / 31.6846778°N 35.1158806°E / 31.6846778; 35.1158806
Governorate	Bethlehem
Government
– Type	Municipality
– Head of Municipality	Muhammad Ahmad Ghayada, elected in 2005
Area
– Jurisdiction	16,144 dunams (16.1 km2 / 6.2 sq mi)
Population (2007)[1]
– Jurisdiction	6,827
Name meaning	"Honey collectors"

Nahalin, also spelled Nahhalin, Nahhaleen, or Nahaleen, (Arabic: نحالين‎) is a Palestinian village located in the Bethlehem Governorate to the southwest of Bethlehem in the West Bank. The word nahaleen is Arabic for those who collect honey from bees.

In 1596, Nahalin appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Quds of the Liwa of Quds. It had a population of 40 Muslim households and 16 Christian households. It paid taxes on wheat, barley, grape syrup or molasses, and goats or beehives.^[2]

The village is located inside an enclave in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, surrounded by the Israeli settlements of Gvaot, Rosh Tzurim, Neve Daniel and Betar Illit.^[3] After the Oslo Accords, Nahalin was classified as Area B, meaning that civil affairs have been under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and security matters under the control of the Israel Defense Forces.^[3]

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of over 6,409 in mid-year 2006,^[4] of whom 35% are under the age of 18. Approximately 150 - 200 persons are registered with UNRWA as refugees of the 1948 war. Villagers carry a West Bank ID card.^[3]

Since the beginning of the al-Aqsa Intifada, severe restrictions on movement have been placed on all residents. According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), from the intifada's beginning in September 2000 until the road's November 2003 reopening with IDF checkpoint monitoring, the cluster of villages represented by Nahalin, Husan and Battir were totally closed off and the only access was on foot via the Husan/al-Khadr junction.^[3] In 2004, all roads but one were reopened, and residents can now move more freely. In November of that year, USAID supported the paving of that road.

Some 90% of the population between the ages of 18 and 35 are unemployed.^[3] The natural growth of the village will become a problem in the future due to lack of living space.^[3] Nahalin will become entirely closed in by both the expanding settlements and the Israeli West Bank barrier, placing severe constraints on the movement of residents and their access to services outside the village.^[3]

Notable people and events

On March 28, 1954, an Israeli raid by Unit 101 on an Arab Legion base 4 kilometers outside Nahalin, where the Israeli forces missed the base and placed explosive charges and destroyed seven houses, including the mosque of the village ^[5][6] killed five national guards, three legionnaires (who were travelling from the Arab Legion base to the village) and one woman, and wounded eighteen civilians including men, women and children.^[7][5] According to David Tal, the raid was the first of Israel's reprisal raids against a military target in Jordanian controlled territory.^[6]

In 1988, journalist Helen Winternitz spent 3 years in Nahalin and published her experiences in the book A Season of Stones.^[8]

In 1989, five villagers were killed by Israel Border Police during an early morning raid. The villagers claimed the security forces opened fire without provocation as they were leaving morning prayers at the mosque. Then General Amram Mitzna claimed his forces had come under attack from about 100 stone-throwing youths. ^[9] On 30 April 1989, preliminary findings of a military inquiry into the events indicated that the border police unit involved in the raid had "lost control and fired excessively".^[10] In May 1989, the military inquiry announced that disciplinary action against four officers and seven border policemen would be taken for "misconduct".^[11]

Mustafa Safi, a graduate of the American University of Beirut, has much credit for the advancement of Nahalin. He has helped bring water and electricity to the village in the seventies, while many other villages in the area still lacked these services.

In the 2005 municipal elections in Nahalin, all ten elected candidates stood as independents. The candidate with the most votes was Qassim Yousif Mahmoud Awad, who got 1120 votes.^[12]

References

1. ^ 2007 PCBS Census Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p.117.
2. ^ Wolf-Dieter Hütteroth and Kamal Abdulfattah (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. p. 118. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "The West Bank Barrier - Profile: Nahalin Village". UNRWA. February 2006. http://www.un.org/unrwa/emergency/barrier/profiles/nahalin.html. Retrieved 2007-05-15. 
4. ^ Projected Mid -Year Population for Bethlehem Governorate by Locality 2004- 2006 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
5. ^ ^{a b} UN Document S/3251 Report dated 19 June 1954 by the Chief of Staff of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in Palestine to the Secretary-General concerning the Nahhalin incident The draft resolution was adopted, the delegation of Jordan and the Chairman voting in favour. 12. After the vote, the Chairman made the following statement: "The Chairman deeply sympathizes with the Nahhalin villagers. The terror of such a night attack with its accompanying loss of life will not be easily forgotten, especially since this is not the first time Nahhalin village has felt the sting of the night raiders. I must, however, call upon the injured party to refrain from actions that will aggravate instead of lessen the existing tension. If there is to be any reciprocal action along the Jordan-Israel border, let it be only for acts of tolerance, understanding and co-operation. The parties to this Mixed Armistice Commission should not, in the face of difficult problems, lose sight of the fact that the co-operation necessary to the establishment of a peaceful border can find its beginning here in the Mixed Armistice Commission. In this case the evidence found establishes guilt without question. There seemed to be little effort on the part of the attackers to conceal their identity. I do not believe the Israel officials will encounter much difficulty in apprehending the perpetrators of this crime and bringing them to justice."
6. ^ ^{a b} David Tal, Israel's road to the 1956 war, International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 28, No. 1. (Feb., 1996), pp. 59-81.
7. ^ UN Doc Cablegram Dated 30 March 1954 From the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Hashemite Kingdom of the Jordan Addressed to the Secretary-General
8. ^ Helen Winternitz (October 1992). A Season of Stones: Living in a Palestinian Village. Atlantic Monthly Press. ISBN 0871134861. http://www.amazon.com/Season-Stones-Living-Palestinian-Village/dp/0871134861. 
9. ^ "On this Day: Six Killed in West Bank Village Raid". BBC. 13 April 1989. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/13/newsid_2524000/2524159.stm. Retrieved 2007-05-15. 
10. ^ "Report of the Special Committee to investigate Israeli practices affecting the Human Rights of the population of the Occupied Territories". United Nations General Assembly. 12 October 1989. http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/85255db800470aa485255d8b004e349a/7dfb706ce5c2de5505256625006a23de!OpenDocument. Retrieved 2007-05-15. ^{[dead link]}
11. ^ Edward Cody (5 May 1989). "Disciplinary Action Ordered in Raid;Israeli Border Police `Lost Control' in Clash That Killed 5 Villagers". The Washington Post. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1189035.html. Retrieved 2007-05-15. 
12. ^ "Local Elections (Round two)- Successful Candidates by Local Authority, Gender and No. of Votes Obtained" (PDF). Central Elections Committee. 2005. http://www.elections.ps/pdf/Municipal_Elections_Results_EN_(2).pdf. Retrieved 2007-05-15. 

External links

• UNRWA Profile of Nahalin Village
• Nahhalin Village (Fact Sheet)
• Nahhalin Village Profile
• Nahhalin Areal Photo
• The priorities and needs for development in Nahhalin village based on the community and local authorities’ assessment