Immatain

Population

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Immatain had a population of approximately 2,450 inhabitants in mid-year 2006. Almost double the amount live abroad for political and economical reasons. Each year, on average two family units immigrate from Immatain. Immatain has four families. They are Sawan, Ghanim, Albaree, and Matanee.

Geography

The village's lands are mostly filled with olive trees, forests, and blooming vegetation and is a prime farming location. Immatain relies on agriculture and support from descendants who reside abroad. The nearest locality is the village of Fara'ata, which is about one kilometer away. Immatain and the surrounding villages make Amra Area. These villages are Fara'ata, Jit, Kafr Qaddum, Baqat al-Hatab, Hajja, Jinsafut and al-Fanduq.

Land ownership

The following is a breakdown of land ownership.

Land usage

The following is a breakdown of the land usage during 1945 in the dunams.

History

Byzantine ceramics have been found in the village.

Ottoman era

Immatain and Fara'ata were incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 with all of Palestine, and in 1596 Immatain appeared in the tax registers as Matin, being in the Nahiya of Jabal Qubal of the Liwa of Nablus. It had a population of 20 households and 1 bachelor, all Muslim. The villagers paid taxes on wheat, barley, summer crops, olives, goats and beehives.

In 1870 the French explorer Victor Guérin visited Fara'ata (now included in Immatain), which he described having "a very small number" of people, with some cisterns and remains of a stone sarcophagus as remnants of former history.

In Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine (1882), Immatain was described as "a village of moderates size on the slope of the hill, with a few olives." Fara'ata was described as a "small village of ancient appearance, standing on a [..] mound, with a rock-cut tomb to the south, and a sacred Mukam to the east." Fara'ata was noted in the Samaritan Chronicle (from the 12th century) under the name of Ophrah, while it has been known under its present name since the 14th century.

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Immatain (called "Ammatain") had a population of 234, while Far'ata had a population of 36, both places all Muslim. In the 1931 census Immatin had 67 occupied houses and a population of 334, while Far'ata had a population of 47, in a total of 11 houses. Again, both places were all Muslim.

In 1945 the population of Immatin was 440, all Muslims, while the total land area was 7,155 dunams, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 967 were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 3,067 for cereals, while 32 dunams were classified as built-up areas. At the same time the population of Far'ata was 70 Muslims, while the total land area was 1,664 dunams, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 56 were allocated for plantations and irrigable land, 961 for cereals, while 10 dunams were classified as built-up areas.

1948-1967

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

Post-1967

After the Six-Day War in 1967, Immatain has been under Israeli occupation.

Immatain has more than 20 mostly small businesses. Most of the residents work in agriculture, while others work as retailers or laborers. Its main source of revenue is olive oil production.

In 2010, Far'ata was described by Gideon Levy as one of the Palestinian villages where the people "live in terror of the settlers and their accursed 'Price tag,' and nobody came to their defense".