Wadi Al-Sha’ir
Nisf Jubeil is part of the series of villages in the Wadi Al-Sha’ir area. Wadi Al-Sha’ir is divided into East and West, with those in East being part of Nablus governorate, and those in West part of Tulkarem governorate today. Wadi Al-Sha’ir – East includes nine villages northwest of Nablus. The villages are (in geographical order from south to north): Zawata, Deir Sharaf, An-Naqoura, Sebastia, Ijnesenia, Nisf Jubeil, Beit Imreen, Burqa and Bizzarya.
Burqa was considered the second biggest village within the Nablus governorate – with an area of 173 donums. Given its significance, Burqa was the capital of Wadi Al Sha’er, otherwise known as a Kursi village. While its population was 1688 in 1922, 1890 in 1931 and 2590 people in 1945 . The distribution in 1931 was 105 christians, and 1785 Muslims, which in 1931 the christians reached 180 – most of which are originally from Nisf Jubeil.
It is known as Wadi Al-Sha’ir, as they were growing barley (Sha’ir) as a cash crop. In 1937, 2,591 tons were produced – second largest crop produced in the Nablus area, with the first being wheat (6240 tons). In 1940, the amount almost doubled to 4,763, while in 1944 it declined to 3,780 – being the third largest area producing barely in historical Palestine.
Other crops included: lentils, corporatization (الكرسنة), beans, chickpeas, corn, sesame, grapes, figs, almonds and other vegetables.