Nabi Salih (Arabic: النبي صالح al-Nabī ṣālḥ; alternatively spelled Nabi Saleh) is a small Palestinian village in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate in the central West Bank, located 20 kilometers northwest of Ramallah. It had a population of 522 in 2017.^[2] It is noted for the weekly marches to protest the occupation undertaken since 2010, a practice suspended in 2016, after 350 villagers were estimated to have suffered injuries in clashes with Israeli troops over that period.^[4]

Quick Facts Arabic transcription(s), • Arabic ...

Nabi Salih
Local Development Committee
Arabic transcription(s)
• Arabic	النبي صالح
• Latin	an-Nabi Salih (official) Nabi Saleh (unofficial)
Nabi Salih Location of Nabi Salih within Palestine
Coordinates: 32°01′0″N 35°7′29″E
Palestine grid	161/158
State	State of Palestine
Governorate	Ramallah and al-Bireh
Government
• Type	Local Development Committee
Area
• Total	2,797 (in 1,945[1]) dunams (2.8 km2 or 1.1 sq mi)
Population  (2017)[2]
• Total	522
• Density	190/km2 (480/sq mi)
Name meaning	"The Prophet Salih"[3]

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Sherds from the Roman and Byzantine era have been found here.^[5]

In 1929, Alt suggested to identify the site with Aenan, a place mentioned in Eusebius' Onomasticon.^[6][7]

Local tradition identifies the blue-color-domed building complex in the village with the shrine of the prophet Salih (Biblical Shelah). The modern structure was built in the 19th century during Ottoman rule.^[21] The building included a zawiya, a Sufi lodging space and was guarded by a watchman.^[22] It was situated on the remains of a Crusader structure, which was presumably built atop the ruins of a Byzantine-era church. The remains of the Crusader-Byzantine structure, include apses of a three-aisle chapel located behind the shrine complex.^[21]

The Maqam (shrine) Nabi Salih was the most important religious structure, out of 16 different edifices, in the Bani Zeid region. It served as a gathering place for families during two rites of passage for their young sons: collective circumcisions and first hair cuts. These events were followed by celebratory picnics and games. Coinciding with Easter Week celebrated by the local Christians, Muslims from the area would visit the Nabi Salih shrine and from there would depart for the annual procession to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound and the Nabi Musa ("Prophet Moses") shrine south of Jericho. The inhabitants of the al-Salihiyah neighborhood of Damascus, who claimed descent from the Abbasids, regarded Nabi Salih as the site of their eponym and would travel there to commemorate the site. It was at Nabi Salih that hundreds of men from Deir Ghassaneh and other villages of the Bani Zeid sheikhdom would interact with the wider Arabic-speaking Muslim community from Palestine and the Levant.^[22]

In 2003, under the supervision of architect Yara al-Sharif,^[23] the complex was restored. It cost $63,000, primarily funded by Sweden. The prayer hall and tomb room are owned by the Islamic waqf authority, but is rented by the Nabi Salih Cultural Centre. Currently, the complex is composed of three floors (including an underground floor) containing the tomb, a large prayer room, an olive press, a water well, a classroom, a multipurpose hall, a double-vaulted lecture room, a courtyard and two front and back terraces. All entrances are semi-circular pointed arches. The An Nabi Salih Cultural Centre serves as the most significant structure in the village.^[21]

Nabi Salih's residents have hosted weekly demonstrations since 2009 protesting what they describe as confiscation of the village's lands and the takeover of their spring by the nearby Israeli settlement, Halamish.^[24] According to an IDF officer who had served in the area, the protests started in 2009 over a plot of citrus trees, and beehives, which was set alight by settlers in a price tag attack. IDF soldiers also used to bathe in 3 pools. Settlers put up a sign naming it "Meir's Spring", after Meir Segal, one of the founders of Halamish, weeded the area, put up benches, a pergola and picnic tables, and planted it out with pomegranates, figs and olives. In response to complaints, a staff officer in 2012 ordered the demolition of what the settlers had built. The order has not been carried out. The demonstrations also protest against the expansion of the Halamish settlement over what they claim is private Palestinian land.^[25][26]

During the protests, there are regular clashes with the Israeli Army who attempt to disperse crowds by using live ammunition,^[27] teargas, skunk water, rubber bullets, sound grenades, and other dispersal methods while Palestinian youth respond by hurling stones. The Israeli authorities have attempted to suppress the demonstrations the residents using tactics such as night incursions targeting homes and arrests of alleged stone throwers, including children.^[28] On December 11, 2011, Mustafa Tamimi was shot in the face by a teargas canister at close range and later died from his injury, becoming the first resident of Nabi Salih to be killed during a demonstration.^[29][30] The following day, a large group of protesters marched to the entrance of Halamish to commemorate Tamimi, but were stopped by the Israeli Army which arrested 15 demonstrators including Palestinians, Israelis and internationals.^[28] Israel later closed the investigation without any repercussion against the soldier who had fired the shots.^[31]

Bassem al-Tamimi, one of the leaders of the protests, has been arrested twelve times by Israeli forces,^[32] at one point spending more than three years in administrative detention without trial.^[33] His most recent arrest took place in March 2011, when he was charged with sending youths to throw stones, holding a march without a permit, incitement, and perverting the course of justice; an Israeli military court found him guilty of the former two charges and not guilty of the latter.^[34] His arrest drew international attention, with the European Union describing him as a "human rights defender", and Amnesty International designating him a prisoner of conscience.^[35]

The village is located in the Raya Valley,^[25]: 15 at an elevation of 570 meters above sea level along the mountainous chain running down the West Bank. Nabi Salih is located 20 kilometers northwest the cities of Ramallah and al-Bireh.^[20] It is adjacent of the Beit Rima part of Bani Zeid in the northwest. Other nearby localities include Kafr Ein in the north, Deir as-Sudan to the northeast, 'Abud to the west, and Deir Nidham to the southwest.^[55]

In a 1945 land and population survey by Sami Hadawi, Nabi Salih had a total land area of 2,846 dunams, of which 2,797 was Arab-owned, the remainder public-owned. The built-up area of the village only constituted 11 dunams, while 735 dunams were planted with olive groves.^[1]

There is a series of five natural springs in the Raya Valley that extends between Nabi Salih and the nearby village of Dir Nizam. Ein al Qaws is the largest of four natural springs in the Raya valley. The others are Ein Al Raya on the northwest of Highway 465, Ein al Qaws and Ein Khaled, side by side to the southeast of Highway 465 and Ein El Zama'a on Highway 50.^[25]: 15

In the 1997 census by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), Nabi Salih had a population of 371. Palestinian refugees constituted just 4.3% of the inhabitants.^[60] According to the PCBS, the village had a population of 524 inhabitants in mid-year 2006.^[61] The 2007 PCBS census recorded a population of 534.^[62]

• Janna Jihad, Palestinian youth activist and amateur journalist
• Ahed Tamimi, teen activist for the Palestinian cause, arrested in December 2017 for slapping an Israeli soldier^[63]
• Ahlam Tamimi, accomplice in the Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing^[64]
• Bassem Tamimi, activist for the Palestinian cause^[64]

• Nabi Samwil