Kafr Dan () is a Palestinian village in the Jenin Governorate, located 8 km northwest of Jenin in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) census, the town had a population of 5,148 in 2007 and 6,591 in 2017.2007 Locality Population Statistics . Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS). p. 105.
Location Kafr Dan is located north-west of Jenin; just east of Al-Yamun and north of Burqin.
History Pottery remains from the Roman, Byzantine, Early Islamic periods and the Middle Ages have been found here.Zertal, 2016, pp. 213-214
Palmer suggested to identify Kafr Dan with Capher Outheni (), a village mentioned in the Talmud.Palmer, 1881, p. 147
Ottoman era Kafr Dan, like the rest of Palestine, was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517. During the 16th and 17th centuries, it belonged to the Turabay Emirate (1517-1683), which encompassed also the Jezreel Valley, Haifa, Jenin, Beit She'an Valley, northern Jabal Nablus, Bilad al-Ruha/Ramot Menashe, and the northern part of the Sharon plain.
In the census of 1596, Kafr Dan appeared as "Kafradan”, located in the nahiya of Sha'ara in the liwa of Lajjun. It had a population of 9 households, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues; a total of 6,000 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 159 Pottery remains from the Ottoman era have also been found here.
In 1838 Edward Robinson, calling it Kefr Adan, noted it among many other villages on the plain; Lajjun, Umm al-Fahm, Ti'inik, Silat al-Harithiya, Al-Yamun and el Barid,Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, p. 161 located in the District of Jenin, also called Haritheh esh-Shemaliyeh.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd Appendix, p. 130
In 1870 Victor Guérin found at Kafr Dan “a broken column and a certain number of cut stones of ancient appearance.”Guerin, 1875, p. 225, as given by Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 54 Guérin estimated that the village had 300 inhabitants.Guerin, 1875, p. 225 In 1870/1871 (1288 AH), an Ottoman census listed the village in the nahiya of Shafa al-Gharby.
In 1882 the PEF’s Survey of Western Palestine described the area as a "village of moderate size on the slope of the hills, built of stone, with olives below, and a well on the west.” They called the village “Kefr Adan”.Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 45
British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Kufr Dan had a population of 486; all Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Jenin, p. 30 increasing in the 1931 census to 603, still all Muslim, in a total of 135 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 67
In the 1945 statistics, the population was 850, all Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 16 with 7,328 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 5 dunams were used for citrus and bananas, 2,680 for plantations and irrigable land, 3,799 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 99 while 34 dunams were built-up (urban) land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 149
Jordanian era In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Kafr Dan came under Jordanian rule.
The Jordanian census of 1961 found 1,262 inhabitants.Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 25
Post 1967 Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Kafr Dan has been under Israeli occupation.
In 2009, Kafr Dan Village Council was upgraded into a municipality. The mayor, Bilal Mer'i, joined with Prime Minister Rami Hamdullah for the ceremony.
References
Bibliography
External links Welcome to Kafr Dan Survey of Western Palestine, Map 8: IAA, Wikimedia commons