Bardala

Bardala
Other transcription(s)
• Arabic	بردلة
Bardala Bardala
Bardala Location of Bardala within the Palestinian Territories
Coordinates:
Governorate	Tubas
Founded	1500 BC
Government
• Type	Village council (from 1996)
Area
• Jurisdiction	20,000 dunams (20.0 km2 or 7.7 sq mi)
Population (2007)
• Jurisdiction	1,637
Name meaning	"Berdeleh", a personal name

Bardala (Arabic: بردلة‎‎) is a Palestinian village in the northern Jordan Valley of the West Bank, consisting of 1,637 inhabitants. The town lies in the Tubas Governorate, located thirteen kilometers northeast of Tubas and 28 kilometers northeast of Nablus. The Israeli settlement of Mehola lies nearby.

History

Bardala's history dates back to 1500 BCE. The word Bardala derives from Bardaweel — the name of a prince who ruled the area in ancient times. In the town lies a palace named after him. Archaeologists discovered that Bardala's wells are the oldest in the Jordan Valley. Other archaeological sites include graves and coffins from various civilizations and al-Khader shrine. The residents of Bardala originally came from nearby Tubas to exploit its cultivable and grazing land, and in 1882, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described the village as "though ruined, is inhabited in spring by peasants from the hill villages, who descend to find pasture and to cultivate melons and other vegetables round the springs."

In 1945, the population of Bardala was counted with that of Tubas and Kashda, according to an official land and population survey. The population surged after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, which left many Palestinians homeless in the wake of the destruction of nearby villages.

Prior to Israel conquering the area in the 1967 Six-Day War, the village was rich in ground water resources, which were supplied by a local spring, which dried up after Israel dug a deeper well nearby. Arrangements were made to obtain alternative supplies, and after the Oslo Accords, fresh agreements were made. During the Second Intifada, the residents of Bardala stopped paying both water and electricity bills to the Palestinian National Authority, and, as a consequence the Palestinian authorities have delayed implementing infrastructural works, such as a dam and a water network for the village. Israel placed restrictions on villagers' movements at the same time, rendering access to their lands to cultivate or harvest crops impossible. Since 2000, 200 dunams of vegetable crops have been bulldozed and many trees uprooted, and 4,000 dunams have been confiscated.

In March 2012, a UN report listed the spring Ein El Azut, belonging to Bardala, among a number of springs which had been illegally taken over by Israeli settlers. Local Palestinians had formerly used the spring for irrigation and livestock.

Geography and climate

Bardala is located on the eastern foothill of the Jordan Valley to the west of the town, just south of the Jezreel Valley and the border with Israel. Its elevation is 71 meters below sea level. Nearby towns and villages include Tubas to the northeast and Ein al-Beida to the east. Bardala's jurisdiction was over 20,000 dunams, making up 4% of the Tubas Governorate's land. The built-up area of the town is 480 dunams, while 10,000 dunams are classified as agricultural land and 400 dunams have been confiscated by Israeli authorities.

Warm climate is characteristic of the town, with hot and dry summers and cold and dry winters. The average rainfall is 293 millimeters and the average annual temperature was 21 to 22 degrees Celsius. The average humidity rate is 55%.

Demographics

In 1961, Bardala had a population of 367 inhabitants which decreased to 271 in 1982 due to emigration. The population nearly doubled to 457 five years later. The entire population of Bardala comprises 3.3% of the governorate's population.

According to a 1997 census by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town's residents numbered 1,148, of which 566 were males and 582 were females. The age distribution was 49.3% between infancy and 14, 30.4% between the ages of 15 and 29, 22.8% between the ages of 30-64 and 2.8% were above the age of 65.

In the 2007 census by the PCBS, Bardala had a population of 1,637.

Over 90% of its inhabitants belong to the town's original inhabitants, the Swafta family. The remaining 10% are refugees from towns near Beit She'an in present-day Israel and Bedouins.

Bibliography

• (p. 790)

External links

• Welcome To Bardala
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 12: IAA, Wikimedia commons
• Bardala (Fact Sheet), The Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem. February, 2006
• Bardala village profile, The Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem