Kafr Qaddum

Infobox Palestinian Authority muni
name=Kafr Qaddum


imgsize=250
caption=General view of Kafr Qaddum
arname=كفر قدوم
meaning=
founded=
type=mund
typefrom=
altOffSp=Kafar Qaddum
altUnoSp=Kafr Kadum
governorate=ql
latd=32|latm=13|lats=19.32|latNS=N
longd=35|longm=05|longs=03.43|longEW=E
population=4,500
popyear=2006
area=18,943
areakm=18.9
mayor=

Kafr Qaddum ( _ar. كفر قدوم) is a Palestinian town in the northern West Bank, located 13 kilometers west of Nablus and 17 kilometers east of Qalqilya in the Qalqilya Governorate. Surrounding towns include Jit to the east and Hajjah to the south. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town had a population of approximately 3,500 inhabitants in mid-year 2006. [ [http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/populati/pop04.aspx Projected Mid -Year Population for Qalqiliya Governorate by Locality 2004- 2006] Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics]

Kafr Qaddum's total land area consists of nearly 19,000 dunams (about 8,000 under Palestinian civil administration and 11,000 under complete Israeli control). [ [http://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/view.php?recordID=1067 New Israeli military road on lands of Kafr Qaddum village] Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem 2007-05-11] Its built-up area consists of 529 dunams. Olive groves make-up 80% of the remaining land, 15% is used for vegetation purposes, 5% are planted crops. [http://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/view.php?recordID=997 Closing of agricultural roads in Kafr Qaddum village] Land Research Center 2007-02-07]

Prior to the Second Intifada, about 50% of the Kafr Qaddum's economy depended on work in Israel as the primary source of income, 20% depended on agriculture and animal raising, while 30% depended on jobs in private and public sectors. After 2002, over 75% of the population became jobless as business became the only other alternative for income generation. Emigration has registered a record level during the past two years ranging between 10-15 % of the total population.

Etymology

Locals believe that the Prohpet Ibrahim (Abraham) was circumsized in the village using an axe (Qaddum) hence the name would mean "town of the Axe". To this day, there is a shrine in Kafr Qaddum caled (the shrine of the Khalil), Khalil meaning friend, as the prohpet Ibrahim was named the friend of Allah.. [ [http://www.palestineremembered.com/GeoPoints/Kafr_Qaddum_1264/Article_5719.html Palestine Remembered] ]

Another theory is that the word "Qaddum" is a mispronounced "Qaddama" meaning "ahead" or "advanced".

Land confiscation

Attorneys Michael Sfard and Shlomi Zecharia of Yesh Din, who represent the Palestinian landowners from Kafr Qaddum exposed the Israeli settler method of taking over Palestinian privately owned land. In the case of Mitzpe Yishai neighborhood of the Kedumim where the West Bank Israeli settlement have expanded their jurisdictions by taking control of private Palestinian land and allocated it to Israeli settlers. The land takeover, which the Civil Administration calls "theft", occurred in an orderly manner, without any official authorization. Official records show the land as belonging to Palestinians from Kafr Qaddum. [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/964843.html Ha'aretz] 17 March 2008 "Court case reveals how settlers illegally grab West Bank lands" By Meron Rapoport "Zeev Mushinsky, the "land coordinator" at the Kedumim local council, testified as to how it works: Council employees, Mushinsky in this case, would map the "abandoned lands" around the settlements, even if they were outside the council's jurisdiction, with the aim of taking them over. The council would "allocate" the lands to settlers, who would sign an official form stating that they have no ownership claim on them, and that the council is entitled to evict them whenever it sees fit, in return for compensating them solely for their investment in cultivating the land. Kedumim's former security chief, Michael Bar-Neder, testified that the land "allocation" was followed by an effort to expand the settlement. Bar-Neder said that once the settlers seized the lands, an application would be made to the military commander to declare them state-owned, since under the law covering the West Bank, anyone who does not cultivate his land for three years forfeits ownership of it."]

References