Yatma () is a Palestinian town in the Nablus Governorate in northern West Bank, located 15 kilometers south of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town had a population of 3,363 inhabitants in 2017.

Location Yatma is located 12.4 km south of Nablus. It is bordered by Qabalan to the east and south, Beita to the north, Yasuf and As Sawiya to the west.Yatma Village Profile, ARIJ, p. 4

History Pottery sherds from the Iron Age II, Persian, Hellenistic/Roman and the Crusader/Ayyubid eras have been found here.Finkelstein et al, 1997, p. 639

It has been suggested that this was the place of origin of Dosthai of Kefar Iathma who is mentioned in the Mishnah as a disciple of the House of Shammai,Mishnah, Orlah, 2:5Neubauer, 1868, pp. 268-269 and that it was the Eincheitem of the Crusader period.

Sherds from the Mamluk era has also been found here.

Ottoman era In 1517, the village was included in the Ottoman Empire with the rest of Palestine, and in the 1596 tax-records it appeared as Yitma, located in the Nahiya of Jabal Qubal of the Liwa of Nablus. The population was 10 households and 2 bachelors, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, goats and beehives, a press for olive oil or grape syrup, in addition to occasional revenues and a fixed tax for people of Nablus area; a total of 1,800 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 136 Sherds from the early Ottoman era have also been found here.

In 1838, Edward Robinson noted it as part of Jurat Merda District, south of Nablus.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 3, Appendix 2, p. 127Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 3, p. 92

In 1850/1 de Saulcy noted Yatma on his travels in the region,Saulcy, 1854, vol 1, p. 103 as did Victor Guérin in 1870.Guérin, 1875, p. 163

In 1870/1871 (1288 AH), an Ottoman census listed the village in the nahiya (sub-district) of Jamma'in al-Thani, subordinate to Nablus.

In 1882, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine Yetma was described as "A little village, on high ground, with olives round it."Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 287

British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Yatma had a population of 242 Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table IX, p. 25 increasing in the 1931 census to 325 Muslims, in 64 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 66

In the 1945 statistics the population was 440 MuslimsGovernment of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 19 while the total land area was 3,777 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 61 Of this, 1,214 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land, 1,741 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 108 while 44 dunams were classified as built-up areas.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 158

Jordanian era In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Yatma came under Jordanian rule.

The Jordanian census of 1961 found 618 inhabitants.Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 25

Post 1967

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Yatma has been under Israeli occupation. According to the Israeli census taken that year, the village had a population of 681.

After the 1995 accords, 29% of village land is defined as Area B land, while the remaining 71% is defined as Area C land. Israel has also confiscated village land for Israeli bypass roads.Yatma Village Profile, ARIJ, pp. 15-17

In 2011, two cars were set ablaze in Yatma and the village mosque was vandalised with Hebrew graffiti, reading "price tag" and "Migron", in what was assumed to be a price tag attack by Israeli settlers.Second West Bank Mosque Vandalized, Settlers Blamed, 8 September 2011Quamar Mishirqi-Asad,'High ‘Price Tag’ in the Mosque of the Village Yatma,' in Rabbis for Human Rights, 13 September 2011.

References

Bibliography

External links Welcome to Yatma Survey of Western Palestine, Map 14: IAA, Wikimedia commons Yatma Village Profile, Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem (ARIJ) Yatma, aerial photo, ARIJ Development Priorities and Needs in Yatma, ARIJ