al-Ubeidiya

The area, like the rest of Palestine, was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517. In 1596 Al-Ubeidiya appeared in Ottoman tax registers, called Dayr Bani 'Ubayd, being in the nahiya of Al-Quds in the liwa of Al-Quds. It had a population of 42 households and 6 bachelors, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 33,3 % on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, occasional revenues, goats and/or beehives; a total of 4,900 akçe.[6] According to local tradition, the modern town of al-Ubeidiya was founded when members of the Shammar tribe from the Arabian Peninsula settled there, and it was not named after St. Theodosius, but after tribal leader, al-Ubeidi Faris.[4]

Around 1740 Richard Pococke noted "We soon came to a ruin called Der Benalbede, which from the name seems to have been an old convent."[7]

In 1838, Edward Robinson noted Deir ibn Obeid, not far from Mar Saba, on his travels in the region.[8][9] He also met some of the fellahin from the village by the Dead Sea, where they collected salt for cooking.[10]

In 1863, the French explorer Victor Guérin visited the place, which he called Deir Dosi, and described the remains of the monastery.[1] In 1883, the PEF's "Survey of Western Palestine" described there Kh. Deir Ibn Obeid as "Ruins of a modern village",[11] but in 1899 Conrad Schick noted that "This [] designation is not sufficient -the ruins are not those of a village, but of a former convent, and only in the modern times used as a storehouse for grain for the wandering tribe Ubedieh."[12]

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, the tribal area of Ibaidiyeh had an all Muslim population of 2,000, 880 males and 1,120 females.[13] In the 1931 census the El Ubeidiya consisted of 1,187 persons, still all Muslim, 610 males and 577 females.[14]

In the 1945 statistics the population was counted under the name of tribal unit Arab Ibn Ubeid, together with Arab et Ta'amira, Arab et Rashayida and Arab et Sawahira; together they had a population of 7,070 Muslims,[15], where Arab Ibn Ubeid had a total of 92,026 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey.[16] Of this, 3,732 dunams were used for cereals,[17] while 88,294 dunams were classified as non-cultitivable land.[18]

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

In 1961, the population of 'Ubeidiya was 838.[19]

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, al-Ubeidiya has been under Israeli occupation. The population in the 1967 census conducted by the Israeli authorities was 1,377.[20]

After 1995, 9.1% of village land is defined as Area A land, 0.4% as Area B, and the remainder 82% as Area C.[21] Israel has confiscated land from Al-Ubeidiya in order to construct Israeli settlements; 124 dunams were taken for the construction Avenat, while 97 dunams were taken for ‘Ayn Fashkhah.[22]

Since 1997, al-Ubeidiya has been governed by an 11-member municipal council appointed by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). The municipality has jurisdiction over 97,232 dunams of land—much larger than the built-up and residential areas of the town which constitute 979 of those dunams. Other localities located within the municipal borders include Wadi al-Arayis.[4]

The residents are mostly descendants of the Shammar with the main families being al-'Asa, al-Radayda, al-Rabai'a, al-Hasasna, and Abu Sirhan. The population is Muslim (although the monasteries are populated by Greek Orthodox monks) and there are ten mosques in the town.[4]