View source for Iskaka

{{Infobox settlement
| name                    = Iskaka
| translit_lang1          = Arabic
| translit_lang1_type     = [[Arabic script|Arabic]]
| translit_lang1_info     = إسكاكا
| type                    = [[Village council (Palestinian Authority)|Municipality type D (Village council)]]
| image_skyline           = Iskaka 002.jpg
| image_caption           = Iskaka village council building
| pushpin_map             = Palestine
| pushpin_map_caption     = Location of Iskaka within [[State of Palestine|Palestine]]
| image_map               =
| map_caption             =
| coordinates             = {{coord|32|06|13|N|35|13|31|E|region:PS|display=inline,title}}
| grid_name               = [[Palestine grid|Palestine&nbsp;grid]]
| grid_position           = 171/167
| 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         = [[Village council (Palestinian Authority)|Village council]]
| leader_title            =
| leader_name             =
| unit_pref               = dunam
| area_footnotes          =
| area_total_km2          =
| area_total_dunam        =
| elevation_footnotes     =<ref name= ARIJp4>[http://vprofile.arij.org/salfit/pdfs/vprofile/Iskaka_vp_en.pdf Iskaka Village Profile], ARIJ, p. 4</ref>
| elevation_m             = 660
| 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        = 1198
| population_as_of        = 2017
| population_note         =
| population_density_km2  = auto
| blank_name_sec1         = Name meaning
| blank_info_sec1         = Roads situated at a junction<ref>Palmer, 1881, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00conduoft#page/229/mode/1up 229]</ref>
| website                 =
| footnotes               =
}}
'''Iskaka''' ({{langx|ar|إسكاكا}}) is a [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] town in the [[Salfit Governorate]] of the [[State of Palestine]], in the northern [[West Bank]], 27 kilometers southwest of Nablus. According to the [[Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics]], it had a population of 1,198 in 2017.<ref name="PrelimCensus2017" />
==Location==
Iskaka is {{convert|4.6|km|mi|sp=us}} east of [[Salfit]]. It is bordered by [[As-Sawiya|As Sawiya]] to the east, [[Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya|Al Lubban ash Sharqiya]] to the east and south, [[Salfit]] to the south and west, and [[Marda, Salfit|Marda]], [[Yasuf]] and [[Jamma'in]] to the north.<ref name= ARIJp4/>
==History==
Ceramics from the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] era have been found here.<ref>Dauphin, 1992, p. 811</ref>
The village is identified with ''[[Casalis|Casale]] Esckas'' mentioned in a [[Crusades|Frankish]] text of the year 1244.<ref>Röhricht, 1893, RHH, p. [https://archive.org/stream/regestaregnihie00rhgoog#page/n305/mode/1up   299], No. 1122; cited in Finkelstein, 1997, p. 611</ref> [[Sherd]]s from the [[Crusader states|Crusader]]/[[Ayyubid dynasty|Ayyubid]] and the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk]] eras have been found here.<ref name=Finkelstein611>Finkelstein, 1997, p. 611</ref>
It is also suggested that this is ''Suchah'', a place mentioned in the [[Tolidah|Samaritan chronicles]].<ref>Erlich, 1983, p. 153; cited in Finkelstein, 1997, p. 611</ref>
===Ottoman era===
Iskaka was incorporated into the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1517 with all of [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], and in 1596 it appeared in the [[Defter|tax registers]] under the name of ''Skaka'', as being in the ''[[nahiya]]'' ("subdistrict") of Jabal Qubal, part of the [[Nablus Sanjak|Sanjak of Nablus]]. It had a population of 37 households; who were all [[Muslim]]s. They 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 press for olive oil or grape syrup; a total of 5,042 [[akçe]].<ref name=HA131>Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 131</ref> Sherds from the early Ottoman era has also been found here.<ref name=Finkelstein611/>
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 |journal=Lod, Lydda, Diospolis |volume=1 |pages=17}}</ref>
In 1870, [[Victor Guérin]] noted it as an ancient village, on a hill planted with olive trees.<ref>Guérin, 1875, p. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr04gugoog#page/n188/mode/1up 163]</ref>
In 1870/1871 (1288 [[Anno Hegirae|AH]]), an Ottoman census listed the village with a population of 27 [[household]]s in the ''[[Nahiyah|nahiya]]'' (sub-district) of Jamma'in al-Awwal, 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=252}}</ref>
In 1882, the [[Palestine Exploration Fund|PEF]]'s ''[[PEF Survey of Palestine|Survey of Western Palestine]]'' described ''Iskaka'' as: "a small village with ruined towers and rock-cut tombs, surrounded by olives and standing on high ground. The water supply is from a [[Water well|well]]."<ref>Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp02conduoft#page/284/mode/1up 284]</ref>
===British Mandate era===
In the [[1922 census of Palestine]] conducted by the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate authorities]], ''Sekaka'' had a population of 127 Muslims,<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> increasing in the [[1931 census of Palestine|1931 census]] to 186 Muslims in 48 occupied houses.<ref>Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas  62]</ref>
In the [[Village Statistics, 1945|1945 statistics]] the population was 260 Muslims<ref>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 5,311 [[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-060.jpg 60]</ref> Of this, 1,309 were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 1,624 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-106.jpg 106]</ref> while 12 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-156.jpg 156]</ref>
===Jordanian era===
In the wake of the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]], and after the [[1949 Armistice Agreements]], Iskaka came under [[Jordanian annexation of the West Bank|Jordanian rule]].
In 1961, the population of Iskaka was 415.<ref>Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/JordanCensusPages/JordanCensus1961-p26.pdf 26]</ref>
===Post-1967===
Since the [[Six-Day War]] in 1967, Iskaka has been under [[Israeli occupation of the West Bank|Israeli occupation]].
After the [[Oslo II Accord|1995 accords]], 25% of village land is defined as [[Palestinian enclaves|Area B]] land, while the remaining 75% is [[Area C (West Bank)|Area C]] land. According to [[Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem|ARIJ]], the Israelis have confiscated 356 dunams of land in Iskaka, including land for the [[Israeli settlement]]s of [[Ariel (city)|Ariel]], [[Nofei Nehemia]] and for the [[Israeli West Bank barrier]].<ref>[http://vprofile.arij.org/salfit/pdfs/vprofile/Iskaka_vp_en.pdf Iskaka Village Profile], ARIJ, pp. 18–20</ref>
On 14 May 2021, as part of the [[2021 Israel–Palestine crisis]], [[Israeli settler]]s reportedly killed 23-year-old Awad Ahmed Harb.<ref name="MyUser_Https:_May_14_2021c2">{{cite web|author=|date=|title=10 شهداء وعشرات الاصابات خلال مواجهات مع الاحتلال في الضفة|url=https://www.maannews.net/news/2039921.html|newspaper=وكالة معا للأنباء|accessdate=May 14, 2021}}</ref><ref>[https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-west-bank-protests-killed Palestinians killed in West Bank as Israeli crackdown intensifies], Shatha Hammad, 14 May 2021, [[Middle East Eye]]</ref>
== Demography ==
According to [[Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem|ARIJ]], most of the village residents are descendants of the Bani Atta tribe from [[Al-Hijaz]]iya, who migrated to Palestine and settled in [[Jalud]], [[Kafr Ni'ma|Bani Ni'ma]], and [[Gaza City|Gaza]].<ref>[http://vprofile.arij.org/salfit/pdfs/vprofile/Iskaka_vp_en.pdf Iskaka Village Profile], ARIJ, pp. 5</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 |last= Dauphin |first = C.|author-link= Claudine Dauphin| title = La Palestine byzantine, Peuplement et Populations |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FC1mAAAAMAAJ |volume = III : Catalogue | series = BAR International Series 726 | year = 1998 | publisher = Archeopress | location = Oxford|language =fr|isbn= 0-860549-05-4}}
*{{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=Wb4xmgEACAAJ  |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|title=Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine|url=https://archive.org/details/descriptiongogr04gugoog|volume=2: Samarie, pt. 2|year=1875|publisher= L'Imprimerie Nationale|location=Paris|language=fr}}
*{{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|last=Röhricht|first=R.|author-link=Reinhold Röhricht|title= (RRH) Regesta regni Hierosolymitani (MXCVII-MCCXCI)|url=https://archive.org/details/regestaregnihie00rhgoog|year=1893|publisher=Libraria Academica Wageriana|location=Berlin|language=la}}
{{refend}}
==External links==
*[http://www.palestineremembered.com/GeoPoints/Iskaka_1198/index.html Welcome To Iskaka]
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 14: [https://web.archive.org/web/20180928072721/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/Iskaka.pdf Iskaka Village (Fact Sheet)], [[Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem]] (ARIJ)
*[http://vprofile.arij.org/salfit/pdfs/vprofile/Iskaka_vp_en.pdf Iskaka Village Profile], ARIJ
*[http://vprofile.arij.org/salfit/images/english/Iskaka_ap_en.jpg Iskaka aerial photo], ARIJ
*[http://vprofile.arij.org/salfit/pdfs/needsfordevelopment/Iskaka_needs_en.pdf Development Priorities and Needs in Iskaka], ARIJ
{{Salfit Governorate}}
[[Category:Towns in Salfit Governorate]]
[[Category:Salfit Governorate]]
[[Category:Municipalities of the State of Palestine]]