Yatma

Yatma (Arabic: يتما) 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.^[1]

Yatma
Municipality type D (Village council)
Arabic transcription(s)
• Arabic	يتما
Yatma, 2012
Yatma Location of Yatma within Palestine
Coordinates: 32°06′30″N 35°16′06″E
Palestine grid	175/168
State	State of Palestine
Governorate	Nablus
Government
• Type	Village council
Population  (2017)[1]
• Total	3,363
Name meaning	from Yetma, personal name[2]

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.^[3]

History

Pottery sherds from the Iron Age II, Persian, Hellenistic/Roman and the Crusader/Ayyubid eras have been found here.^[4]

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,^[5][6] and that it was the Eincheitem of the Crusader period.^[4]

Sherds from the Mamluk era has also been found here.^[4]

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.^[7] Sherds from the early Ottoman era have also been found here.^[4]

In 1838, Edward Robinson noted it as part of Jurat Merda District, south of Nablus.^[8][9]

In 1850/1 de Saulcy noted Yatma on his travels in the region,^[10] as did Victor Guérin in 1870.^[11]

In 1870/1871 (1288 AH), an Ottoman census listed the village in the nahiya (sub-district) of Jamma'in al-Thani, subordinate to Nablus.^[12]

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."^[13]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Yatma had a population of 242 Muslims,^[14] increasing in the 1931 census to 325 Muslims, in 64 houses.^[15]

In the 1945 statistics the population was 440 Muslims^[16] while the total land area was 3,777 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.^[17] Of this, 1,214 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land, 1,741 for cereals,^[18] while 44 dunams were classified as built-up areas.^[19]

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.^[20]

Post 1967

See also: Mount Sabih and Evyatar

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.^[21]

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.^[22]

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.^[23][24]