The name of Kafr Zibad is thought to be originally from Zabad, its Semite name which means generosity.[2]E. H. Palmer noted that the name meant the village of Zebed, and suggested to connect it with Zebedee, a Hebrew name.[3]
Kafr Zibad was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 with all of Palestine, and in 1596 it appeared under that name in the tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Bani Sa'b of the Liwa of Nablus. It had a population of 50 households, all Muslims. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 33.3% on various agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, summer crops, olive trees, goats and/or beehives, in addition to "occasional revenues" and a press for olive oil or grape syrup; a total of 10,280 akçe.[7]
In 1838, Robinson noted Kefr Zibad as a village in Beni Sa'ab district, west of Nablus.[8]
In the 1860s, the Ottoman authorities granted the village an agricultural plot of land called Ghabat Kafr Zibad in the former confines of the Forest of Arsur (Ar. Al-Ghaba) in the coastal plain, west of the village. This formed the nucleus for the later village of Khirbat al-Zababida, founded by Kafr Zibad's residents.[9][10]
In 1870/1871 (1288 AH), an Ottoman census listed the village in the nahiya (sub-district) of Bani Sa'b.[11]
In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine noted at Kafr Zibad: "A village of moderate size on a small plateau, overhanging the valley on the north of it. It is of stone. A steep ascent, with a cistern on the north, on the south a fig-garden, and beyond this a few olives, where the tents of the Survey party were pitched. Near them was a rock-cut tomb. The water supply is from cisterns."[12]
In the 1945 statistics the population of Kafr Zibad was 1,590 Muslims,[15] with 7,085 dunams (708.5 ha; 1,751 acres) of land according to an official land and population survey.[16] Of this, 2,266 dunams (226.6 ha; 560 acres) were plantations and irrigable land, 1,434 dunams (143.4 ha; 354 acres) were used for cereals,[17] while 22 dunams (2.2 ha; 5.4 acres) were built-up (urban) land.[18]
19% of the population of Kafr Zibad were refugees in 1991.[20] The healthcare and education facilities for the surrounding villages are based in Kafr Zibad, Kafr Zibad secondary school being one of the best schools in the region. There is a historical mosque dated to the times of CaliphOmar Ibn al-Khattab, and there are a police center and sport club. The facilities are designated as MOH level 2.[21]
Kafr Zibad had a population of approximately 1,306 inhabitants in mid-year 2006 and 1,219 and 2017.[1][2]
After Israel built the Israeli West Bank barrier, 175 acres (710 dunams; 71 ha) of irrigated land owned by Kafr Zibad villagers was isolated behind the barrier. Access to this land is dependent on Israeli cumbersome permitting process.[22][23][24]
^DAR, SHIMON (1984). "Three "Menorot" from Western Samaria". Israel Exploration Journal. 34 (2/3): 177–179. ISSN0021-2059. The third menorah was carved on a limestone block found in Kafr Zebad (map ref. 156 181) 1.2 km west of Kafr 'Abbush, lying on the ground near a disused house.
^Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 127
^Marom, Roy, "The Contribution of Conder's Tent Work in Palestine for the Understanding of Shifting Geographical, Social and Legal Realities in the Sharon during the Late Ottoman Period", in Gurevich D. and Kidron, A. (eds.), Exploring the Holy Land: 150 Years of the Palestine Exploration Fund, Sheffield, UK, Equinox (2019), pp. 212-231
