NABLUS

نابلس, romanized: Nābulus [ˈnæːblʊs] (listen); Hebrew: שכם, romanized: Šəḵem, ISO 259-3 Škem; Greek: Νεάπολις, romanized: Νeápolis) is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately 49 kilometers (30 mi) north of Jerusalem^[2] (approximately 63 kilometers (39 mi) by road), with a population of 126,132.^[3] Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center, home to An-Najah National University, one of the largest Palestinian institutions of higher learning, and the Palestinian Stock Exchange.^[4]

The city was named by the Roman emperor Vespasian in 72 CE as Flavia Neapolis. During the Byzantine period, conflict between the city’s Christian and Samaritan inhabitants peaked in a series of Samaritan revolts before their suppression in 529 dwindled that community’s numbers in the city. Many Samaritans converted to Islam following the Muslim conquest in the 7th century, and the city was given its present Arabic name Nablus. The Crusaders drafted the laws of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the Council of Nablus and its Muslim, Christian and Samaritan inhabitants prospered. The city then came under the control of the Ayyubids and Mamluk Sultanate. Under the Ottomans, who conquered the city in 1517, Nablus served as the administrative and commercial center for the surrounding area, corresponding to the present-day northern West Bank.

After the city was captured by British forces during World War I, Nablus was incorporated into the British Mandate of Palestine in 1922. After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, it came under Jordanian rule together with the rest of the West Bank. Israel has occupied Nablus since the 1967 Six-Day War and since 1995, it has been governed by the Palestinian National Authority. Today, the population is predominantly Muslim, with small Christian and Samaritan minorities.

MY name is Yehya Soblabun