Al-Fasayil

Infobox Palestinian Authority muni
name=al-Fasayil


imgsize=250
caption=
arname=فصايل
meaning=
founded=1980s
type=mund
typefrom=
altOffSp=al-Fasa'il
altUnoSp=Khirbet al-Fasayil
governorate=jr
population=900
popyear=2006
area=47,951
areakm=48.0
mayor=

al-Fasayil or al-Fasa'il ( _ar. فصايل) is a Palestinian village in the northeastern West Bank, a part of the Jericho Governorate, located 14 kilometers northwest of Jericho and about 40 kilometers southeast of Nablus. The closest Palestinian locality is Duma to the west. The village's total land area is 47,951 dunams. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/GeoPoints/al_Fasa_il_2183/index.html Welcome to al-Fasa'il] PalestineRemembered.]

History

Al-Fasayil was known as "Phasaelis". The village's ancient name derived from a tower that Herod the Great built in the Jordan Valley north of Jericho in dedication to his elder brother Phasael. [Josephus, Jewish War" 1.21.9;] This has lead to the belief that Herod founded "Phasaelis". [http://www.vkrp.org/studies/historical/herodian-estates/info/southern-jordan-river.asp The Estate of the Southern Jordan River] Virtual Karak Resources Project and Appalachian College Association.] It was mentioned by Roman historian Josephus as being south of "Archelais". It is also found on the Map of Madaba surrounded by date palms. The tomb of an anchorite named Peter was found in the village in 1949. [http://198.62.75.1/www1/ofm/mad/discussion/008discuss.html Phasaelis - (Kh. Fasayil)] Studium Biblicum Franciscanum - Jerusalem. 2000-12-19.]

The ruins of a monastery dedicated to Saint Cyriacus, a commemorated monk who died 556 CE, is also located in al-Fasayil. Among the ruins on the site is a large square building, of which now only the outline is visible, because it is almost completely buried. At the mouth of the nearby Wadi al-Fasayil, in a little mound, there is a "birkeh" ("pool") and many unexcavated remains of walls. The site is called Tell Sheikh ad-Diab because of a tomb of this personage, still in good condition.

It was mentioned by a monk named Brocardus in the 13th century as being a small village called Pheselch and in the 14th century by Marino Sanuto the Elder as being a small village by the name of Fasaelis. [Sharon, Moshe. (1997). [http://books.google.com/books?id=01ogNhTNz54C&pg=PA201&dq=Fasa%27il&lr=&sig=ACfU3U21FQ2DhV8St1dntUQ1z_ylBHjr3w#PPA201,M1 Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum Palaestinae, (CIAP)] BRILL, pp.201-205.]

The current village of al-Fasayil was established by Bedouins, mostly Palestinian refugees from the Naqab desert in the 1980s. Many of the inhabitants are registered as residents of the Bethlehem Governorate and not Jericho. Al-Fasayil was part of the Nablus Governorate until 1995 when it became a part of the Jericho Governorate. [ [http://www.un.org/unrwa/access/BedouinReport_May06.pdf Report on the Situation of Bedouin Refugees in the West Bank] United Nations UNRWA. May 2006.]

In 2006, Israeli authorities demolished 15 shelters in the village, and in 2008 an additional 6 were demolished. [ [http://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/view.php?recordID=1290 Jordan Valley Residents] Land Research Center. 2008-03-01.] Al-Fasayil gained international attention when in 2007 the Israel Defense Forces planned on demolishing the village's primary school. Since al-Fasayil is located in Area C of the West Bank, Israel has complete control over the village, and granting building permits are authorized by them; the school was built without a permit. Residents often complain about the rarity of Israel permitting construction in the village. [ [http://asiapacific.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGACT600222007?open&of=ENG-2MD The fight to build a West Bank village school] Amnesty International. 2007-11-01.]

Demographics

Its population was 318 in 1961, decreasing dramatically to about 150 in 1983. According to a census taken by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, al-Fasayil had a population of 648 in 1997, of which 31% were refugees fleeing other parts of the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day War. [ [http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/phc_97/jer_t6.aspx Palestinian Population by Locality and Refugee Status] Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.] The gender make-up was approximately 50% male and 50% female. [ [http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/phc_97/jer_t1.aspx Palestinian Population by Locality, Sex and Age Groups in Years] Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.] There were 900 inhabitants in mid-year 2006. [ [http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/populati/pop09.aspx Projected Mid -Year Population for Jericho Governorate by Locality 2004- 2006] Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.]

References