Zeita (), also known historically as Zeita al-Sha'rawiyya (زيتا الشعراوية), is a Palestinian town in the Tulkarm Governorate of the State of Palestine, in the western West Bank, located 11 kilometers north-east of Tulkarm. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Zeita had a population of 3,078 inhabitants in 2017. 21.5% of the population of Zeita were refugees in 1997.Palestinian Population by Locality and Refugee Status Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics The healthcare facilities for Zeita are designated as MOH level 2.Health care Facilities Tulkarm Governorate

History Zeita is an ancient village. Pottery remains have been found here from the Byzantine, early Muslim and the Middle Ages.Zertal, 2016, pp. 390-391 Marble Corinthian capitals have been reused in a local Maqam.Dauphin, 1998, p. 756

The place name ends with a long vowel -ā, typically reflecting the Aramaic absolute state, a morphological feature widely attested in Palestinian toponyms.

According to Levy-Rubin, Zeita was inhabited by Samaritans from the 4th to the 9th centuries. The place was mentioned as a Samaritan settlement in Baba Rabba's revolt during the 4th century CE. A Samaritan elder and leader named haCohen Levi lived there.

In 1265, Zeita was among the villages and estates sultan Baibars allocated to his amirs after he had expelled the Crusaders. Half of Zaita was given to emir Jamal al-Din Aidughdi al-'Azizi, a quarter to emir Shams al-Din Ildikuz al-Karaki, and a quarter to emir Saif al-Din Qilij al-Baghdadi.Ibn al-Furat, 1971, pp. 80, 210, 249 (map)

Ottoman era The village was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire with the rest of Palestine in 1517. In the 1596 Ottoman tax records, it appeared under the name of Zaita, located in the Nahiya Qaqun, in the Nablus Sanjak. It had a population of 91 Muslim and 8 Christian households.Petersen, 2005, p. 131Marom, Roy (2026). Settled Land: The Arab Countryside in Israel/Palestine (in Hebrew). Ra'anana: Lamda Scholarship, The Open University of Israel Press. p. 18. ISBN 978-965-06-1769-1. 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 and a press for olive oil or grape syrup and a jizya tax on people in the Nablus area; a total of 3,440 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 137 Pottery remains from the Ottoman era have also been found here.

Zeita appears on sheet 45 Jacotin's map drawn-up during Napoleon's invasion in 1799, though its position is not accurate.Palestine Exploration Quarterly Jan-Apr 1944. Jacotin's Map of Palestine. D.H.Kellner. p. 161Karmon, 1960, p. 170

During the 1834 Peasants' revolt in Palestine, Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt pursued rebels to Zeita. Ninety rebels were slain here, while the rest fled to nearby Deir al-Ghusun.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, pp. 135–136 At Deir al-Ghusun, many of the inhabitants and rebels heeded a call by Husayn Abd al-Hadi to flee once the Egyptian troops arrived. In response, rebel commander Qasim had several of the defectors among his ranks killed.Macalister and Masterman, 1906, p. 39 Ibrahim Pasha's troops stormed the hill and the rebels (mostly members of the Qasim, Jarrar, Jayyusi and Barqawi families) were routed, suffering 300 fatalities. In 1838 it was noted as a village, Zeita, in the western Esh-Sha'rawiyeh administrative region, north of Nablus.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd Appendix, p. 129

In 1870 Victor Guérin found here a village with 600 inhabitants.Guérin, 1875, p. 346 He further noted: "Here I found, just as at Jett, an ancient capital hollowed out to make a mortar, and used for the same purpose. A very good well, constructed of cut stone, seems ancient."Guérin, 1875, p. 346; as translated by Conder and Kitchener, 1882, p. 153

In 1870/1871 (1288 AH), an Ottoman census listed the village in the nahiya (sub-district) of al-Sha'rawiyya al-Gharbiyya.

In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it as: "a good-sized village on high ground at the edge of the plain. It is surrounded with fig-gardens, and has olives to the south. It would appear to be an ancient place, having tombs to the east. The supply is principally from wells, but there is a small spring ('Ain esh Shabutbut) on the south-west. [..] Two sacred places exist to the south side of the village."Conder and Kitchener, 1882, p. 153

British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Zeita had a population of 1,087, all Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Tulkarm, p. 27 increasing in the 1931 census to 1,165 persons, all Muslim, living in 237 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 58

In the 1945 statistics the population of Zeita was 1,780 Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 22 with 6,410 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. 77 782 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 5,120 used for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 128 while 33 dunams were built-up (urban) land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 178

Jordanian era In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Zeita came under Jordanian rule, together with the rest of the West Bank.

In 1961, the population was 1,814 persons.Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 27

Post-1967 After the Six-Day War in 1967, Zeita has been under Israeli occupation.

Demography

Local origins Residents of the village hail from several areas, such as Egypt, the area of Ashdod, 'Arura, Kafr al-Labad, and Poria.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. 345

References

Bibliography

External links Welcome To Zayta Zayta, Welcome to Palestine Survey of Western Palestine, Map 11: IAA , Wikimedia commons