Al-Attara () is a Palestinian village in the Jenin Governorate of Palestine, in the northwestern area of the West Bank, located 15 kilometers southwest of Jenin. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the village had a population of 1,072 inhabitants in mid-year 2006 and 1,244 by 2017.Projected Mid -Year Population for Jenin Governorate by Locality 2004- 2006 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
History Pottery sherds from the late Roman, Byzantine and early Islamic periods have been found here.Zertal, 2004, pp. 271-2
According to SWP: "This place is mentioned in the Onomasticon (s. v. Atharoth) as a city of Ephraim, north of Sebaste, and 4 miles from it. The distance is exact."Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 154
In Crusader sources it was called Lathara.
In 1140, Ussama, a Moslem traveller, mentioned Al-Attara together with nearby Silat ad-Dhahr.
In 1178, it was attacked by Bedouin, but withstood the attack.
Ottoman era Al-Attara, like all of Palestine, was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517. About 10% of the pottery sherds found in the village date back to this period. In the 1596 Ottoman tax registers, Al-Attara was listed as an entirely Muslim village called 'Attara, and had a population of 12 families and 2 bachelors. It was located in the nahiya of Jabal Sami in the liwa of Nablus. The inhabitants paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, and goats and/or beehives, in addition to occasional revenues and a tax on people from the Nablus area, a total of 5,000 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 129
A fortress, dating from the 16th—17th century, is visible in the centre of the village.
In 1870, Victor Guérin noted it as a poor village, but one which had succeeded an ancient place.Guérin, 1875, pp. 214-215
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 Al-Attara as "A small stone village on a spur of mountain, with a few olives and a well on the west."
British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Al-Attara had a population of 164 Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Tulkarm, p. 27 increasing in the 1931 census to 193 Muslims, in 51 houses.Mills, 1932, p.53
In the 1945 statistics, the population of Al-Attara was 250 Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 20 with 3,844 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. 74 Of this, 88 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 1,784 were used for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 124 while 5 dunams were built-up (urban) land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 174
Jordanian era After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Al-Attara came under Jordanian rule.
The Jordanian census of 1961 found 388 inhabitants in Al-Attara.Government of Jordan, 1964, p. 25
Post-1967 Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Al-Attara has been under Israeli occupation. Under the Oslo Accords, most of this town was assigned to Area A, with political control and security assigned to the Palestinian National Authority.B'Tselem Interactive Map https://www.btselem.org/map
References
Bibliography
External links Welcome To al-'Attara Survey of Western Palestine, Map 11: IAA, Wikimedia commons