Majdal Bani Fadil

Location

Majdal Bani Fadil is located east of Qusra, north of Duma, west of al-Jiftlik and south of Jurish.

History

Sherds from Iron Age II, Hellenistic/Roman, Byzantine, Crusader/Ayyubid and Mamluk periods have been found in the village.

Ottoman period

In 1517, the village became part of the Ottoman Empire with the rest of Palestine, and potsherds from the early Ottoman period have been found there.

In 1838 Edward Robinson noted Majdel Bani Fadil was located in the Beitawy district, east of Nablus, while in 1852 C.W.M. van de Velde noted "large old hewn stones prove sufficiently that here was once an ancient site". The inhabitants had a few tobacco−gardens and olive−trees, and the view of the Jordan Valley from the village was "truly magnificent", according to van de Velde.

In 1870 the Victor Guérin noted: "I found here two small and ancient columns. Numerous cisterns, caverns, and rock-cut tombs prove the antiquity of the site, the ancient name of which was doubtless Migdal. I also examined a very curious excavation here, called el Kaf. It is of square form, and measures 26 feet 2 inches on each side. It is three-quarters fallen in, and offers this peculiarity-that those portions of wall still visible are provided on the inside with small niches, some triangular and some vaulted, cut at equal distances and in rows." He further remarked that in the little mosque called Nabi Yahia, there were two antique reused columns. In 1882, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it as "a small village on the top of a hill, with olives on the south and west, and a small sacred place on the south-east. On the east are caves, and there are tombs and rock-cut cisterns near the village."

British Mandate period

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Majdal had a population of 199 Muslims, increasing in the 1931 census to 310, still all Muslims, in a total of 70 houses. In the 1945 statistics Majdal Bani Fadil had a population of 430 Muslims and a total of 28,022 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 1,131 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 6,994 used for cereals, while 36 dunams were built-up land.

Jordanian period

In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Majdal Bani Fadil came under Jordanian rule.

The Jordanian census of 1961 found 628 inhabitants in Majdal Bani Fadil.

Post-Israeli occupation

After the Six-Day War in 1967, Majdal Bani Fadil has been under Israeli occupation. The population of Majdal Bani Fadil in the 1967 census conducted by Israel was 629, of whom 1 originated from the Israeli territory.

After the 1995 accords, 18% of village land is classified as Area B (partial Palestinian control), while the remaining 82% is Area C (full Israeli control)

In November 2025, the village came under attack by Israeli settlers during the Gaza war.

Demography

Most of the village's residents belong to the Othman and Zayn ad-Din clans. The inhabitants originate from nearby as-Sawiya, purportedly having relocated there due to a feud. The tribe that settled in the village was called the Bani Fadil, hence the village's name.

References

Bibliography

References

1. (February 2018). "Preliminary Results of the Population, Housing and Establishments Census, 2017". [[State of Palestine]].
2. Palmer, 1881, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00conduoft#page/257/mode/1up 257]
3. [http://www.majdal-bfadil.org.ps/eabout2.htm Council Members]{{dead link. (January 2018)
4. [http://poica.org/2010/07/16-stop-work-orders-in-majdal-bani-fadil-village/ Majdal Bani Fadil Village]. POICA, 2010-07-02.
5. [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304115935/http://vprofile.arij.org/nablus/pdfs/vprofile/Majdal%20Bani%20Fadil_vp_en.pdf Majdal Bani Fadil Village Profile], ARIJ, p. 4
6. Finkelstein et al, 1997, p. 787
7. Dauphin, 1998, p. 850
8. It appeared in the 1596 [[Defter. tax-records]] as, Majdal, located in the ''[[Nahiya]]'' of Jabal Qubal of the ''[[Liwa (Arabic). Liwa]]'' of [[Nablus Sanjak. Nablus]]. The population was 18 households, 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, in addition to occasional revenues and a fixed tax for people of Nablus area; a total of 1,450 [[akçe]].Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 133
9. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/128/mode/1up 128]
10. van de Velde, 1854, vol. 2 p. [https://archive.org/details/narrativeajourn01veldgoog/page/n325/mode/1up 307], partly quoted in Zertal, 2019, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=bTGbDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA8 8]
11. Guérin, 1875, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr04gugoog#page/n30/mode/1up 9]-10, as given in Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SWPp.402.png 402]
12. Guérin, 1875, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr04gugoog#page/n30/mode/1up 9]-10
13. Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp02conduoft#page/386/mode/1up 386]-387
14. Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Nablus, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n27/mode/1up 25]
15. Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 63]
16. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [http://cs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p19.jpg 19]
17. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Nablus/Page-060.jpg 60]
18. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Nablus/Page-107.jpg 107]
19. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Nablus/Page-157.jpg 157]
20. Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/JordanCensusPages/JordanCensus1961-p26.pdf 26]
21. Perlmann, Joel. (November 2011 – February 2012). "The 1967 Census of the West Bank and Gaza Strip: A Digitized Version".
22. [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304115935/http://vprofile.arij.org/nablus/pdfs/vprofile/Majdal%20Bani%20Fadil_vp_en.pdf Majdal Bani Fadil Village Profile], ARIJ, p. 14
23. (2025-11-09). "Settlers allegedly torch dozens of olive trees in West Bank village". The Times of Israel.
24. 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. 356