View source for Biddya

{{About||the village in Oman|Bidiya|the language of Chad|Bidiya language}}{{Infobox settlement
| name                    = Biddya
| translit_lang1          = Arabic
| translit_lang1_type     = [[Arabic script|Arabic]]
| translit_lang1_info     = {{lang|ar|بديا}}
| translit_lang1_type1    = [[Latin script|Latin]]
| translit_lang1_info1    = Biddia (official)<br />Bedia (unofficial)
| type                    = [[Municipality (Palestinian Authority)|Municipality type C]]
| image_skyline           = Tombeau "Ali Al-Dajani".jpg
| image_caption           = Tomb of "Ali Al-Dajani"
| pushpin_map             = Palestine
| pushpin_map_caption     = Location of Biddya within [[State of Palestine|Palestine]]
| image_map               =
| map_caption             =
| coordinates             = {{coord|32|06|51|N|35|04|39|E|region:PS|display=inline,title}}
| grid_name               = [[Palestine grid|Palestine&nbsp;grid]]
| grid_position           = 157/168
| subdivision_type        = State
| subdivision_name        = [[State of Palestine]]
| subdivision_type1       = [[Governorates of the Palestinian National Authority|Governorate]]
| subdivision_name1       = [[Salfit Governorate|Salfit]]
| established_title       = Founded
| established_date        =
| government_footnotes    = <!-- for references: use <ref> tags -->
| government_type         = [[Municipality (Palestinian Authority)|Municipality]]
| leader_title            = Head of Municipality
| leader_name             = Ramadan Shatat
| unit_pref               = dunam
| area_footnotes          =
| area_total_km2          =
| area_total_dunam        =
| elevation_footnotes     =<ref name=ARIJp4>[http://vprofile.arij.org/salfit/pdfs/vprofile/Biddya_tp_en.pdf Biddya Town Profile]. ARIJ, p. 4</ref>
| elevation_m             = 359
| elevation_min_m         =
| elevation_max_m         =
| population_footnotes    =<ref name="PrelimCensus2017">{{cite report |date=February 2018 |title=Preliminary Results of the Population, Housing and Establishments Census, 2017 |url=https://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Downloads/book2364-1.pdf |department=[[Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics]] (PCBS) |publisher=[[State of Palestine]] |pages=64–82 |access-date=2023-10-24}}</ref>
| population_total        = 10451
| population_as_of        = 2017
| population_note         =
| population_density_km2  = auto
| blank_name_sec1         = Name meaning
| blank_info_sec1         = "Bidieh", from personal name<ref>Palmer, 1881, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00conduoft#page/226/mode/1up 226]</ref>
| website                 =
| footnotes               =
}}
'''Biddya''' ({{langx|ar|بديا}}) is a [[Palestinians|Palestinian]] city in the [[Salfit Governorate]], located 32 kilometers southwest of [[Nablus]] and half that distance from [[Salfit]] in the northern [[West Bank]].<ref name="IWPS"/> According to the [[Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics]] (PCBS), Biddya had a population of 10,451 in 2017.<ref name="PrelimCensus2017" /> The town is governed by a municipal council of eleven members who each represent the prominent families of Biddya and select a mayor.<ref name="IWPS"/>
Biddya is situated on the western ridge of the central mountain range that runs north-south in the [[West Bank]]. The historical [[Nablus]]-[[Jerusalem]] road is nearby. A [[maqam (shrine)]] for a local holy man, Sheikh Hamdan is located in the town.<ref>Sharon, 1999, [https://books.google.com/books?id=EPFDU8POrXIC&pg=PA235 p. 235].</ref>
==Location==
Biddya is located {{convert|10.27|km|mi|sp=us}} north-west of [[Salfit]]. It is bordered by [[Qarawat Bani Hassan]] and [[Sarta]] to the east, [[Kafr ad Dik]] to the south, [[Sanniriya]], [[Rafat, Salfit|Rafat]], [[Zawiya, West Bank|Az Zawiya]] and [[Mas-ha]] to the west, and [[Kafr Thulth]] to the north. It has an elevation of about 359 meters above sea level.<ref name=ARIJp4/>
==History==
=== Archaeology ===
[[Sherd|Potsherds]] from the [[Iron Age#Near East timeline|Iron Age II]], [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]]/[[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] and [[Crusader states|Crusader]]/[[Ayyubid dynasty|Ayyubid]] periods have been found here. Additionally found at this location is a rock-cut reservoir featuring descending steps.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Finkelstein |first=Israel |title=Highlands of Many Cultures |last2=Lederman |first2=Zvi |last3=Bunimovitz |first3=Shlomo |publisher=Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University Publications Section |year=1997 |isbn=965-440-007-3 |editor-last=Finkelstein |editor-first=Israel |location=Jerusalem |pages=270-271 |editor-last2=Lederman |editor-first2=Zvi}}</ref>
The area was examined in 1873 by the [[Palestine Exploration Fund|PEF]]'s ''[[PEF Survey of Palestine|Survey of Western Palestine]]'' (SWP), who gave the following description: <blockquote>Rock-cut tombs exist here, principally rude caves. The rock is quarried in many places. South of the village is a birkeh (pool) about 30 feet by 20 feet, with a flight of 12 steps, leading down about 10 feet.	It is made of rudely squared stones, about 1 foot to 1 1/2 feet in length, which are covered again with a well-made rubble almost resembling a [[Tessellation|tesselated]] pavement, and this again is covered with a soft
white cement, containing large pieces of pottery and small stones. There is on each side of the pool (north and south) a semicircular stone buttress, 2 feet diameter, on a base about 4 feet;	this perhaps indicates that the ''birkeh'' was roofed in. South-west of Bidieh is an ancient ruined watch-tower.<ref>Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp02conduoft#page/306/mode/1up 306]</ref></blockquote>
===Ottoman era===
In 1596, Biddya (also known as Beddia, Bedia, Bidya, Bedya, and Bidieh) appeared in [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] [[daftar|tax registers]] as being in the ''[[nahiya]]'' of Jabal Qubal in the ''[[Liwa (Arabic)|liwa]]'' of [[Sanjak of Nablus|Nablus]]. It had a population of 8 households and 1 bachelor, all [[Muslim]]. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 33.3% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues; a total of 2,700 [[akçe]]. All of the revenue went to a [[Waqf]].<ref>Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 137.</ref>
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the village formed part of the highland region known as Jūrat ‘Amra or Bilād Jammā‘īn. Situated between [[Dayr Ghassana|Dayr Ghassāna]] in the south and the present [[Highway 5 (Israel–Palestine)|Route 5]] in the north, and between [[Majdal Yaba|Majdal Yābā]] in the west and [[Jamma'in|Jammā‘īn]], [[Marda, Salfit|Mardā]] and [[Kifl Haris|Kifl Ḥāris]] in the east, this area served, according to historian [[Roy Marom]], "as a buffer zone between the political-economic-social units of the [[Jerusalem]] and the [[Nablus]] regions. On the political level, it suffered from instability due to the migration of the [[Bedouin]] tribes and the constant competition among local clans for the right to collect taxes on behalf of the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman authorities]]."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Marom |first=Roy |date=2022-11-01 |title=Jindās: A History of Lydda's Rural Hinterland in the 15th to the 20th Centuries CE |url=https://www.academia.edu/90931976/Jind%C4%81s_A_History_of_Lyddas_Rural_Hinterland_in_the_15th_to_the_20th_Centuries_CE |journal=Lod, Lydda, Diospolis |volume=1 |pages=17}}</ref>
[[File:Archéologie_et_monuments.jpg|thumb|Buildings at the historical center of Biddya]]
In 1838, [[Edward Robinson (scholar)|Edward Robinson]] noted it as a village, ''Bidia'', in the ''Jurat Merda'' district, south of Nablus.<ref>Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3,  Appendix 2, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/127/mode/1up 127]</ref>
French explorer [[Victor Guérin]] passed by Beddia in 1870, and described it as a "mountain village", apparently of "some importance".<ref>Guérin, 1875, p. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr04gugoog#page/n171/mode/1up 146]</ref>
In 1870/1871 (1288 [[Anno Hegirae|AH]]), an Ottoman census listed the village in the ''[[Nahiyah|nahiya]]'' (sub-district) of Jamma'in al-Thani, subordinate to Nablus.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grossman |first=David |title=Arab Demography and Early Jewish Settlement in Palestine |publisher=Magnes Press |year=2004 |location=Jerusalem |pages=253}}</ref>
[[File:Archéologie.jpg|thumb|An old house and [[minaret]] in Biddya]]
In the 1882 "Survey of Western Palestine", Bidieh was described as "a village of moderate size, the houses principally of stone. It is surrounded with beautiful groves of very fine old olives.	It is evidently an ancient site. The water supply is from rock-cut [[cistern]]s."<ref>Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp02conduoft#page/283/mode/1up 283]-4</ref>
===British Mandate era===
In the [[1922 census of Palestine]], conducted by the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate authorities]], Biddya (called: Bedia) had a population of 792, all [[Muslim]]s,<ref name=Census1922>Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-District of Nablus, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n27/mode/1up   25]</ref> while in the [[1931 census of Palestine|1931 census]] Biddya (including Salita) had 245 occupied houses and a population of 1,026, still all Muslim.<ref name=Census1931>Mills, 1931, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas  60]</ref>
In the [[Village Statistics, 1945|1945 statistics]] the population was 1,360, all Muslims,<ref name=DoS1945>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p18.jpg  18]</ref> while the total land area was 13,466 [[dunam]]s, according to an official land and population survey.<ref>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in  Hadawi,  1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Nablus/Page-059.jpg 59]</ref> Of this, 5,088 were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 2,319 for cereals,<ref>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi,  1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Nablus/Page-105.jpg 105]</ref> while 47 dunams were classified as built-up areas.<ref>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in  Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Nablus/Page-155.jpg 155]</ref>
<gallery>
File:Biddya 1941.jpg|Biddya 1941 1:20,000
File:Biddya 1945.jpg|Biddya 1945 1:250,000
</gallery>
===Jordanian era===
In the wake of the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]], and after the [[1949 Armistice Agreements]], Biddya came under [[Jordanian annexation of the West Bank|Jordanian rule]].
In 1961, the population of Biddya was 2,212.<ref>Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/JordanCensusPages/JordanCensus1961-p15.pdf 15]</ref>
===Post-1967===
Since the [[Six-Day War]] in 1967, Biddya has been under [[Israeli occupation of the West Bank|Israeli occupation]].
After the [[Oslo II Accord|1995 accords]], 15.2% of village land was classified as [[Palestinian enclaves|Area B]], the remaining 84.8% as [[Area C (West Bank)|Area C]].<ref name=ARIJp17>[http://vprofile.arij.org/salfit/pdfs/vprofile/Biddya_tp_en.pdf Biddya Town Profile]. ARIJ, p. 17</ref> The Israeli plans for the [[Israeli West Bank barrier]] will isolate and confiscate 1,943 dunums of the southern part of village land from Biddya.<ref name=ARIJp178>[http://vprofile.arij.org/salfit/pdfs/vprofile/Biddya_tp_en.pdf Biddya Town Profile]. ARIJ, p. 18</ref>
By mid-2012, according to Palestinian General Election Commission,<ref>[http://www.elections.ps/ar/tabid/1015/language/en-US/Default.aspx General Election Commission – Palestine]</ref> Biddya's (بديا) population was 8,951 (not including expatriates).
====Economy====
Biddya depends primarily on olive groves for [[olive oil]] and [[Nabulsi soap]] production – the town's main industries. The town mostly receives food products from subsistence farming or local grocery markets.
Before the beginning of the [[Second Intifada]] in the fall of 2000, many residents worked in neighboring towns and cities, especially in Nablus and [[Ramallah]], as well as for Israeli employers. The main road traversing the village, Road No. 505 (previously part of the [[Highway 5 (Israel)|Trans-Samaria Highway]]), was lined with many stores which served thousands of Israeli shoppers who would frequent the town each week, including residents of the [[Israeli settlements]] passing through, as well as Israelis living in the [[Tel Aviv]] area who were looking for products at low prices. Unemployment was about 20%; however, since the Intifada that figure has risen to 78–90%. Besides farming, some inhabitants live off their savings and others receive aid from relatives abroad.<ref name="IWPS">[http://www.iwps.info/en/articles/article.php?id=748 Biddya Village Profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218234031/http://iwps.info/en/articles/article.php/?id=748 |date=2012-02-18 }} International Women's Peace Service.</ref>
====Public institutions====
Biddya has five schools – two for each gender and a private school. Most high school graduates who attend college enroll in [[an-Najah National University]] in Nablus or [[Bir Zeit University]] in [[Bir Zeit]]. There are four mosques and three health clinics in the town.<ref name="IWPS"/>
===See also===
*[[Killing of Aisha al-Rabi]]
== Demography ==
=== Local origins ===
Residents of the village hail from several places, including Majdal, [[Dayr Tarif]], and [[Deir Istiya]].<ref>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. 346</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist|25em}}
==Bibliography==
{{Refbegin}}
*{{cite book | editor =Barron, J.B.  | title = Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922|url=https://archive.org/details/PalestineCensus1922  | publisher = Government of Palestine | year = 1923}}
*{{cite book|last1=Conder|first1=C.R.|author-link1=Claude Reignier Conder|last2=Kitchener|first2=H.H.|author-link2=Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|year=1882|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp02conduoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology|location=London|publisher=[[Palestine Exploration Fund|Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund]]|volume=2}}
*{{cite book|editor1=Finkelstein, I. | editor1-link= Israel Finkelstein|editor2=Lederman, Zvi|year=1997|title=Highlands of many cultures|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hA59tgAACAAJ  |location=[[Tel Aviv]]|publisher= Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University Publications Section| isbn = 965-440-007-3}}
*{{cite book | title = First Census of Population and Housing. Volume I: Final Tables; General Characteristics of the Population | author = Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics | year = 1964|url=http://cs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/JordanCensus1961bits.pdf}}
*{{cite book|title=Village Statistics, April, 1945 |url=http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nli/Hebrew/library/Pages/BookReader.aspx?pid=856390|author=Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics|year=1945}}
*{{cite book|last=Guérin|first=V.|author-link=Victor Guérin|year=1875|url=https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr04gugoog|title= Description Géographique, Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine. Vol 2:Samarie; pt. 2}}
*{{cite book|title=Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine|url=http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html |first=S.|last=Hadawi|author-link=Sami Hadawi|year=1970|publisher=Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center}}
*{{cite book | last1= Hütteroth |first1=W.-D.|author-link1=Wolf-Dieter Hütteroth |first2=K. | last2=Abdulfattah |author-link2=Kamal Abdulfattah| title = Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=wqULAAAAIAAJ  | year = 1977 | publisher = Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft|isbn= 3-920405-41-2}}
*{{cite book | editor =Mills, E.  | title = Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas |url=https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas | publisher = Government of Palestine | location = Jerusalem | year = 1932}}
*{{cite book|last=Palmer|first=E.H.|author-link=Edward Henry Palmer|year=1881|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp00conduoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer|publisher=[[Palestine Exploration Fund|Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund]]}}
*{{cite book|last1=Robinson|first1=E.|author-link1=Edward Robinson (scholar)|last2=Smith|first2=E.|author-link2=Eli Smith|year=1841|url=https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearch03robiuoft |title=Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838|  location=Boston|publisher=[[Crocker & Brewster]]|volume=3}}
*{{cite book|title=Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum Palaestinae, B-C |volume= 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EPFDU8POrXIC |first=M.|last=Sharon|author-link=Moshe Sharon|year=1999|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-11083-6}}
{{Refend}}
==External links==
*[https://www.paldf.net/forum/showthread.php?t=543279 صورة لخارطة مدن فلسطين قبل النكبة + صور لبلدة بديا (www.PALDF.net) شبكة فلسطين للحوار]
*[http://www.palestineremembered.com/GeoPoints/Biddya_905/index.html  Welcome To Biddya]
*[https://www.welcometopalestine.com/destinations/salfit/biddya/  Biddya], Welcome to Palestine
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 14: [http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8376  IAA], [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.14.jpg Wikimedia commons]
*[http://vprofile.arij.org/salfit/pdfs/factsheet/Biddya.pdf  Biddya Town (Fact Sheet)], [[Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem]] (ARIJ)
*[http://vprofile.arij.org/salfit/pdfs/vprofile/Biddya_tp_en.pdf Biddya Town Profile], ARIJ
*[http://vprofile.arij.org/salfit/images/english/Biddya_ap_en.jpg Biddya – aerial photo], ARIJ
*[http://vprofile.arij.org/salfit/pdfs/needsfordevelopment/Biddya_needs_en.pdf Development Priorities and Needs in Biddya], ARIJ
{{Salfit Governorate}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Towns in Salfit Governorate]]
[[Category:Salfit Governorate]]
[[Category:Municipalities of West Bank]]
[[Category:Municipalities of the State of Palestine]]