Madama, Nablus

In 1517, the village was included in the Ottoman empire with the rest of Palestine, and in the 1596 tax-records it was noted as Madama, located in the Nahiya of Jabal Qubal, part of Nablus Sanjak. The population was 36 households, all Muslim. They paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on agricultural products, including 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 6,250 akçe.[3]

In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Madama as: "a small hamlet in a valley."[4]

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Madama had a population of 170, all Muslims,[5] increasing in the 1931 census to 211, still all Muslims, in a total of 67 houses.[6]

In the 1945 statistics Madama had a population of 290 Muslims[7] and a total of 3,361 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[8] Of this, 162 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 1,943 used for cereals,[9] while 30 dunams were built-up land.[10]

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

The Jordanian census of 1961 found 456 inhabitants in Madama.[11]

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Madama has been under Israeli occupation.

After the 1995 accords, 62 % of Madama land was defined as Area B, while the remaining 32% was defined as Area C. Israel has confiscated 139 dunams of land from Madama in order to construct the Israeli settlement of Yitzhar.[12]

In May, 2017, Israeli settlers, apparently from Yitzhar, attacked a Palestinian shepherd from Madama. The Palestinian was "bleeding profusely", and was sent to a hospital in Nablus. The Israeli soldiers "fired in the air, dispersing the assailants", but none of the attackers were arrested.[13]

In April 2018, Israeli soldiers were filmed "cheering after shooting unarmed Palestinian with rubber bullets" by a roadblock by Madama.[14]

In May, 2019, it was reported that Israeli settlers from Yitzhar had started razing and levelling Palestinian-owned agricultural lands in Madama, in order to make a settler-only road.[15]

In September, 2019, settlers from Yitzhar stormed the southern part of Madama and set fire to olive trees.[16]