Jib, Jerusalem
Encyclopedia
Jib is a Palestinian
village in the Jerusalem Governorate
, located ten kilometers northwest of Jerusalem, in the seam zone
of the West Bank
. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
, al-Jib had a population of approximately 4,700 in 2006. The modern village is identified with the ancient city of Gibeon.
city of Gibeon was made by Edward Robinson
in 1838. Archaeological excavations led by James Pritchard
in 1956, 1957, and 1959 confirmed this identification with the discovery of 56 jar handles inscribed with the Semitic triliteral
gb'n. The inscriptions were dated to the end of the Judean monarchy and have been cross-referenced against genealogical lists in the Book of Chronicles. While they include many Benjamin
ite names, they also include non-Israelite
names, attesting to the intermixing of local population.
In the Book of Joshua
, ancient Jib or Gibeon is described as "a large city, like one of the royal cities", and as being the place where Joshua
made the sun stand still (Joshua 10:12). The flat and fertile land with many springs which surrounds it gave rise to a flourishing economy, attested to in the large number of ancient jars and wine cellars discovered there. The jars could hold 45 liters of wine each and 66 wine cellars two meters deep and dug out of rock have been unearthed in Jib.
"El-Jib" was described by the geographer Yâkût
in 1225 as having two fortresses standing close together.
By the 1550's the agricultural revenues of Jib belonged to the endowment (waqf
) of Mamluk
Sultan Inal
(r. 1453-61) in Egypt
. However, three tribes of the Hutaym Bedouin were affiliated with the village. The taxes they paid plus levies normally earmarked for the military were in the 1550's designated for the waqf
of Hasseki Sultan Imaret
in Jerusalem.
After the 1948 termination of the British Mandate of Palestine, Jordan assumed control of al-Jib
as part of the West Bank
, which was taken over by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day war
. The large urban Israeli settlement
bloc of Giv'at Ze'ev
-Giv'on, established in 1977-1978, and Giv'on Hadashah, established in 1985, is located to the village's west.
The Oslo Accords
of the mid-1990s saw al-Jib come under the PNA's control as 'Area B'.These Accords designated al-Jib as part of Area B, giving the PNA control over civilian matters, with Israel retaining control over security matters.
Part of the construction route proposed for the Israeli West Bank barrier
during the al-Aqsa Intifada
would completely surround al-Jib and two other villages, forming an enclave. One effect is that it would prevent the Palestinian residents without Israeli citizenship or permanent residency cards from using the nearby road-system serving Jerusalem and nearby Israeli settlements.
Israel claims that it intends to build two alternate roads that will link the enclave to the rest of the West Bank to prevent its complete isolation. One will connect the enclave with Ramallah
, which lies to its north, while the other will connect al-Jib to the Bedouin
area, which lies to its west, by means of three underground passageways and two bridges. The road's construction will require complex engineering work and will cost tens of millions of shekels
, so it is likely that the project will take a long time, if ever, to complete.
B'Tselem
points out that because thousands of the enclave's residents hold Israeli identity cards, they are entitled to free access to East Jerusalem
by law, and that the barrier thus "will severely impair [their] human rights
" by cutting off direct access.
(PNA) due to the excavations of ancient Gibeon. During the second Intifada, the Palestinian Association for Cultural Exchange (PACE) brought together Palestinian youth and elders from the surrounding villages to repair and restore the ancient water pool and other sites around the village.
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...
village in the Jerusalem Governorate
Jerusalem Governorate
The Jerusalem Governorate is one of 16 Palestinian governorates situated in the central portion of the West Bank. Its claimed district capital is East Jerusalem, which is, however, under Israeli occupation and regarded by Israel as being part of its territory. The total land area of the...
, located ten kilometers northwest of Jerusalem, in the seam zone
Seam Zone
Seam Zone is a term used to refer to a land area in the West Bank located east of the Green Line and west of Israel's separation barrier, populated largely by Israelis in settlements such as Alfei Menashe, Ariel, Beit Arye, Modi'in Illit, Giv'at Ze'ev, Ma'ale Adumim, Beitar Illit and Efrat.As of...
of the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics is the statistical organization under the umbrella of the Palestinian Cabinet of the Palestinian National Authority....
, al-Jib had a population of approximately 4,700 in 2006. The modern village is identified with the ancient city of Gibeon.
History
The first scientific identification of al-Jib with the ancient CanaaniteCanaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
city of Gibeon was made by Edward Robinson
Edward Robinson (scholar)
Edward Robinson was an American biblical scholar, known as the “Father of Biblical Geography.” He has been referred to as the “founder of modern Palestinology.” -Biography:...
in 1838. Archaeological excavations led by James Pritchard
James B. Pritchard
James Bennett Pritchard was an American archeologist whose work explicated the interrelationships of the religions of ancient Israel, Canaan, Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon...
in 1956, 1957, and 1959 confirmed this identification with the discovery of 56 jar handles inscribed with the Semitic triliteral
Triliteral
The roots of verbs and most nouns in the Semitic languages are characterized as a sequence of consonants or "radicals"...
gb'n. The inscriptions were dated to the end of the Judean monarchy and have been cross-referenced against genealogical lists in the Book of Chronicles. While they include many Benjamin
Benjamin
Benjamin was the last-born of Jacob's twelve sons, and the second and last son of Rachel in Jewish, Christian and Islamic tradition. He was the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Benjamin. In the Biblical account, unlike Rachel's first son, Joseph, Benjamin was born in Canaan. He died in Egypt on...
ite names, they also include non-Israelite
Israelite
According to the Bible the Israelites were a Hebrew-speaking people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited the Land of Canaan during the monarchic period .The word "Israelite" derives from the Biblical Hebrew ישראל...
names, attesting to the intermixing of local population.
In the Book of Joshua
Book of Joshua
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament. Its 24 chapters tell of the entry of the Israelites into Canaan, their conquest and division of the land under the leadership of Joshua, and of serving God in the land....
, ancient Jib or Gibeon is described as "a large city, like one of the royal cities", and as being the place where Joshua
Joshua
Joshua , is a minor figure in the Torah, being one of the spies for Israel and in few passages as Moses's assistant. He turns to be the central character in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua...
made the sun stand still (Joshua 10:12). The flat and fertile land with many springs which surrounds it gave rise to a flourishing economy, attested to in the large number of ancient jars and wine cellars discovered there. The jars could hold 45 liters of wine each and 66 wine cellars two meters deep and dug out of rock have been unearthed in Jib.
"El-Jib" was described by the geographer Yâkût
Yaqut al-Hamawi
Yāqūt ibn-'Abdullah al-Rūmī al-Hamawī) was an Islamic biographer and geographer renowned for his encyclopedic writings on the Muslim world. "al-Rumi" refers to his Greek descent; "al-Hamawi" means that he is from Hama, Syria, and ibn-Abdullah is a reference to his father's name, Abdullah...
in 1225 as having two fortresses standing close together.
By the 1550's the agricultural revenues of Jib belonged to the endowment (waqf
Waqf
A waqf also spelled wakf formally known as wakf-alal-aulad is an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law, typically denoting a building or plot of land for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. The donated assets are held by a charitable trust...
) of Mamluk
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
Sultan Inal
Burji dynasty
The Burji dynasty المماليك البرجية ruled Egypt from 1382 until 1517. It proved especially turbulent, with short-lived sultans. Political power-plays often became important in designating a new sultan. During this time Mamluks fought Timur Lenk and conquered Cyprus. Constant bickering may have...
(r. 1453-61) in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. However, three tribes of the Hutaym Bedouin were affiliated with the village. The taxes they paid plus levies normally earmarked for the military were in the 1550's designated for the waqf
Waqf
A waqf also spelled wakf formally known as wakf-alal-aulad is an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law, typically denoting a building or plot of land for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. The donated assets are held by a charitable trust...
of Hasseki Sultan Imaret
Hasseki Sultan Imaret
Hasseki Sultan Imaret was an Ottoman public soup kitchen established in Jerusalem to feed the poor during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent...
in Jerusalem.
Political status
Rule of the West Bank and East Jerusalem by Jordan
The West Bank and East Jerusalem were occupied by Jordan for a period of nearly two decades starting from the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. In 1950, the British extended formal recognition to the union between the Hashemite Kingdom and of that part of Palestine under Jordanian occupation and control -...
as part of the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
, which was taken over by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day war
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
. The large urban Israeli settlement
Israeli settlement
An Israeli settlement is a Jewish civilian community built on land that was captured by Israel from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and is considered occupied territory by the international community. Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank...
bloc of Giv'at Ze'ev
Giv'at Ze'ev
Giv'at Ze'ev is an Israeli settlement and town governed by a local council, located in the West Bank five kilometers northwest of Jerusalem. While it lies within the borders of the Matte Binyamin Regional Council, it is a separate municipal entity...
-Giv'on, established in 1977-1978, and Giv'on Hadashah, established in 1985, is located to the village's west.
The Oslo Accords
Oslo Accords
The Oslo Accords, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or Declaration of Principles , was an attempt to resolve the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict...
of the mid-1990s saw al-Jib come under the PNA's control as 'Area B'.These Accords designated al-Jib as part of Area B, giving the PNA control over civilian matters, with Israel retaining control over security matters.
Part of the construction route proposed for the Israeli West Bank barrier
Israeli West Bank barrier
The Israeli West Bank barrier is a separation barrier being constructed by the State of Israel along and within the West Bank. Upon completion, the barrier’s total length will be approximately...
during the al-Aqsa Intifada
Al-Aqsa Intifada
The Second Intifada, also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada and the Oslo War, was the second Palestinian uprising, a period of intensified Palestinian-Israeli violence, which began in late September 2000...
would completely surround al-Jib and two other villages, forming an enclave. One effect is that it would prevent the Palestinian residents without Israeli citizenship or permanent residency cards from using the nearby road-system serving Jerusalem and nearby Israeli settlements.
Israel claims that it intends to build two alternate roads that will link the enclave to the rest of the West Bank to prevent its complete isolation. One will connect the enclave with Ramallah
Ramallah
Ramallah is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank located 10 kilometers north of Jerusalem, adjacent to al-Bireh. It currently serves as the de facto administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority...
, which lies to its north, while the other will connect al-Jib to the Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
area, which lies to its west, by means of three underground passageways and two bridges. The road's construction will require complex engineering work and will cost tens of millions of shekels
Israeli new sheqel
The Israeli New Shekel is the currency of the State of Israel. The shekel is divided into 100 agorot...
, so it is likely that the project will take a long time, if ever, to complete.
B'Tselem
B'Tselem
B'Tselem is an Israeli non-governmental organization . It calls itself "The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories"...
points out that because thousands of the enclave's residents hold Israeli identity cards, they are entitled to free access to East Jerusalem
East Jerusalem
East Jerusalem or Eastern Jerusalem refer to the parts of Jerusalem captured and annexed by Jordan in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and then captured and annexed by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War...
by law, and that the barrier thus "will severely impair [their] human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
" by cutting off direct access.
Preservation
Jib is on the list of "Endangered Cultural Heritage Sites in the West Bank Governorates" compiled by the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MOCIP) of the Palestinian National AuthorityPalestinian National Authority
The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...
(PNA) due to the excavations of ancient Gibeon. During the second Intifada, the Palestinian Association for Cultural Exchange (PACE) brought together Palestinian youth and elders from the surrounding villages to repair and restore the ancient water pool and other sites around the village.