Deir Ibzi () is a Palestinian town in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate, located west of Ramallah in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 2,590 inhabitants in 2017.
Location Deir Ibzi is located (horizontally) west of Ramallah. It is bordered by Ein 'Arik to the south and east, Ein Qiniya to the east and north, Al-Janiya to the north, Kafr Ni'ma and Saffa to the west, and Beit Ur al-Tahta, Beit Ur al-Fauqa and Beitunia to the south.
History It has been suggested that this was the place mentioned in Crusader sources as Zibi,Prawer and Benvenisti, 1970, cited in Finkelstein et al, 1998, p. 312 but this is not supported by archeological evidence, as the earliest potsherds found here date back to the Ottoman period.Finkelstein et al, 1998, p. 312
Ottoman era In 1517, the village came under Ottoman rule with the rest of Palestine and in the 1596 tax-records it was in the Nahiya of Jabal Quds of the Liwa of Al-Quds. The population was 25 households, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax rate of 33.3% on agricultural products, which included wheat, barley, olive trees, vineyards, fruit trees, goats and beehives in addition to "occasional revenues"; a total of 3,290 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 118 Sherds from the early Ottoman era have been found here.
In 1838 it was noted as Deir Bezi'a, a Muslim village, located in the Beni Harith region, north of Jerusalem.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 124Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 3, p. 66
In 1870, Victor Guérin described the village, which he called Deir Ebzieh, as being: "situated on a summit of very difficult access and contains four hundred inhabitants, all Moslems; some houses are large and fairly well built. I notice with the medhafeh (guest house) a fragment of carved stone which carries the debris of a mutilated rosette."Guérin, 1875, pp. 47-48 An Ottoman village list of about the same year, 1870, showed that der bezei had 239 inhabitants with 51 houses, though the population count included only the men. It further noted that the village was north of Bethoron, that is, north of Beit Ur al-Fauqa and Beit Ur al-Tahta.Socin, 1879, p. 151 also noted it was located in the Beni Harit districtHartmann, 1883, p. 125, also noted 51 houses
In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described Deir Ibzia as: "a village of moderate size on a ridge, with a well to the west, and surrounded by olives".Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 295
In 1896 the population of Der bezei was estimated to be about 279 persons.Schick, 1896, p. 121
British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate of Palestine authorities, the village, named Dair Ibzie, had a population of 262, all Muslim,Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Ramallah, p. 16 increasing in the 1931 census to 360, still all Muslim, in 90 inhabited houses.Mills, 1932, p. 48
In the 1945 statistics, the population of Deir Ibzi was 410 Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 26 with of land under their jurisdiction, according to an official land and population survey.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 64 Of this, 6,418 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 2,670 were for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 111 while were built-up (urban) land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 161
Jordanian era In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Deir Ibzi came under Jordanian rule.
The Jordanian census of 1961 found 542 inhabitants in Deir Ibzi.Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 24
1967-present
Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Deir Ibzi has been under Israeli occupation. The population in the 1967 census conducted by the Israeli authorities was 536, 34 of whom originated from the Israeli territory.
After the 1995 accords, 27% of village land was classified as Area B, the remaining 73% as Area C. Israel has confiscated land from Deir Ibzi for bypass roads, in addition to 22 dunams taken for the Israeli settlement of Dolev.Deir Ibzi village profile, ARIJ, pp. 17-18 This included spring Ein Bubin, now used by the Israeli settlers in Dolev for their own irrigation projects.How dispossession happens. The humanitarian impact of the takeover of Palestinian springs by Israeli settlers , March 2012, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs occupied Palestinian territory, p. 25, by Gideon Levy and Alex Levac, 29 August 2019, Haaretz
References
Bibliography
External links
Welcome to Dayr Ibzi Deir Ibzi, Welcome to Palestine Survey of Western Palestine, Map 14: IAA, Wikimedia commons Deir Ibzi village (fact sheet), Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem Deir Ibzi village profile, ARIJ Deir Ibzi aerial photo, ARIJ Locality Development Priorities and Needs in Deir Ibzi Village, ARIJ Civil Administration nixes order to take land for settlement road, 14 June 2012, The Times of Israel