Mas-ha () is a Palestinian village in the Salfit Governorate in the northern West Bank, 24 kilometers southwest of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, it had a population of 2,370 in 2017.
Location Mas-ha is north-west of Salfit. It is bordered by Biddya to the east, Az Zawiya to the south, Azzun Atma to the west, and Sanniriya and Beit Amin to the north.
History Potsherds from the Byzantine, Byzantine/Umayyad, Crusader/Ayyubid and Mamluk era have been found here. In the northwest of the village, a few reused bossed stones were found by the survey team.Finkelstein, 1997, p. 264
Ottoman era Potsherds from the early Ottoman era have also been found. Masha appeared in 1596 Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Jabal Qubal, part of the Sanjak of Nablus. It had a population of five households, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax rate of 33.3% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, goats and beehives, a press for olives or grapes, and occasional revenues and a fixed tax for people of Nablus area; a total of 2,300 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 131
In the 18th and 19th centuries, Mas-ha formed part of the highland region known as Jūrat ‘Amra or Bilād Jammā‘īn. Situated between Dayr Ghassāna in the south and the present Route 5 in the north, and between Majdal Yābā in the west and Jammā‘īn, Mardā and Kifl Ḥāris in the east, this area served, according to historian Roy Marom, "as a buffer zone between the political-economic-social units of the Jerusalem and the Nablus regions. On the political level, it suffered from instability due to the migration of the Bedouin tribes and the constant competition among local clans for the right to collect taxes on behalf of the Ottoman authorities."
In 1838, Edward Robinson noted it as a village, Mes-ha, in the Jurat Merda district, south of Nablus.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 126
French explorer Victor Guérin passed by the village in 1870, and estimated it as having about 300–350 inhabitants, and fig-tree lined borders.Guérin, 1875, p. 145 ff
In 1870/1871 (1288 AH), an Ottoman census listed the village in the nahiya (sub-district) of Jamma'in al-Thani, subordinate to Nablus.
In 1882 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Mes-ha as "a good-sized village, with a high central house, but partly ruinous. It is supplied by cisterns, and the houses are of stone."Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 286
British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Mas-ha (called: Masha) had a population of 80, all Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Nablus, p. 26 increasing slightly in the 1931 census to 87 Muslims in a total of 20 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 63
In the 1945 statistics the population was 110, all Muslims,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 19 while the total land area was 8,263 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 60 Of this, 1,612 were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 2,482 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 107 while 18 dunams were classified as built-up (urban) areas.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 157
Jordanian era In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Mas-ha came under Jordanian rule.
In 1961, the population was 478.Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 26
Post-1967 Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Mas-ha has been under Israeli occupation.
In the early 2000s, there were several protest against the plans of the building of the Israeli West Bank barrier, which would cut off Mas-ha villagers from much of their land. The protest, which resulted in the shooting of one Israeli citizen in 2003,Police Question Israeli Shot by IDF Troops During Fence Protest, Amos Harel, Dec 28, 2003, Haaretz were ultimately unsuccessful.
Loss of land Mas-ha has been subjected to numerous Israeli confiscations for the benefit of various Israeli objectives. ARIJ lists the losses as follows: + Israeli Settlements bordering Mas-ha village and land loss Settlement Date of establishment Pop 2013 Area confiscated from Mas-ha Elkana 1977 3,719 1,626 Etz Efraim 1985 731 546 Sha'arei Tikva 1982 4,493 8 Bnot Orot Yisrael 1989 – 176 Total 8,943 2,356 Source: ARIJ 2013Mas-ha Village Profile, ARIJ, 2013, p. 17
See also The Color of Olives, documentary film about the Amer family, in Mas-ha
References
Bibliography
External links Welcome To Mas-ha Mas'ha, IWPS Mas’ha, Welcome to Palestine Survey of Western Palestine, Map 14: IAA, Wikimedia commons Mas-ha Village (Fact Sheet), Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem (ARIJ) Mas-ha Village Profile, ARIJ Mas-ha, aerial photo, ARIJ Development Priorities and Needs in Mas-ha, ARIJ The people of Mas'ha protest against the wall 27/07/03, Gush Shalom Mas-ha: A village robbed by the Segregation Wall 24 March 2004, POICA Difficult olive harvest season in Mas-ha Village 27 November 2006, POICA Israeli Occupation Forces prevent Mas-ha villagers from reaching their lands behind the Isolation Wall, 24 January 2010, POICA Confiscation until further Notice Az Zawiya and Mas-ha- Salfit Governorate 10 January 2012, POICA Mas-ha map