Jalqamus () is a Palestinian village in the West Bank, located 10 km southeast of the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 1,867 inhabitants in mid-year 2006 and 2,624 by 2017.Projected Mid -Year Population for Jenin Governorate by Locality 2004- 2006 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
History Jalaqmus is not found in 16th century records, but local describe it as an ancient site. Its original residents reportedly came from the areas of Nablus and Ramallah.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. 350
Ceramics from the Byzantine era have been found here.Dauphin, 1998, p. 788
Ottoman era In 1517 Jalqamus was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire with the rest of Palestine. During the 16th and 17th centuries, it belonged to the Turabay Emirate (1517-1683), which encompassed the Jezreel Valley, Mount Carmel, Beit She'an Valley, northern Samaria, Ramot Menashe, the northern part of the Sharon plain.
In 1838, during the Ottoman era, Jelkamus was noted as a village in the Haritheh area, north of Nablus.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 130
In 1870, Jalqamus, called Djell Kamous, situated south of Deir Abu Da'if, was one of the villages Victor Guérin noted from Faqqua.Guérin, 1874, p. 336
In 1870/1871 (1288 AH), an Ottoman census listed the village in the nahiya (sub-district) of Shafa al-Qibly.
In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Jelkamus as "a small village on a hill-top, surrounded by plough-land, with a few olives, built of stone and mud, with rain-water cisterns."Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 85
British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Jalqamus had a population of 124 Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Jenin, p. 29 increasing in the 1931 census to 150 Muslims, in a total of 31 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 68
In the 1944/5 statistics the population of Jalqamus was 220 Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 16 with 4,437 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 54 Of this, 180 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land, 2,422 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 98 while 6 dunams were built-up (urban) land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 148
Jordanian era In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Jalqamus came under Jordanian rule.
The Jordanian census of 1961 found 435 inhabitants.Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 25
Post-1967 Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Jalqamus has been under Israeli occupation. Under the Oslo Accords, the town was assigned to Area A.B'Tselem Interactive Map https://www.btselem.org/map
During the early months of the First Intifada, 17 May 1989, Omar Yusuf Bayer, aged 42, from Jalqamus, was shot dead while in Jenin. Yitzhak Rabin in a reply to a member of Knesset, August 1989, confirmed early reports that he had been shot by a civilian and therefor the Military Police Investigators were not investigating.Talmor, Ronny (translated by Ralph Mandel) (1990) The Use of Firearms - By the Security Forces in the Occupied Territories. B'Tselem. download pp.76,82
Holy sites Jalaqmus is home to a shrine dedicated to the village's saint, named Ash-Sheikh Muhammad al-Muamni (). It is located in the southern part of the village, near the village's mosque.
Demography According to local tradition, the people of Jalaqmus belong to the al-Muaminin tribe, descendants of Husayn ibn Ali. Historically, this tribe was one of the largest and strongest in northern Transjordan. Its members migrated to Palestine, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia.M. M. al-Dabbagh, Biladuna Filastin, Vol. III, pp. 217-218 (Arabic)
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External links Welcome To Jalqamus Jalqamus, Welcome to Palestine Survey of Western Palestine, Map 9: IAA, Wikimedia commons