Beit Ummar Explained

Beit Ummar
Translit Lang1:Arabic
Translit Lang1 Type:Arabic
Translit Lang1 Info:Arabic: بيت اُمّر
Translit Lang1 Type1:Latin
Translit Lang1 Info1:Bayt Ummar (official)
Beit Omar (unofficial)
Type:Municipality type B
Pushpin Map:Palestine
Pushpin Map Caption:Location of Beit Ummar within Palestinian autonomy
Coordinates:31.6214°N 35.1022°W
Grid Name:Palestine grid
Grid Position:159/114
Subdivision Type:State
Subdivision Name:State of Palestine
Subdivision Type1:Governorate
Subdivision Name1:Hebron
Established Title:Founded
Government Type:Municipality (from 1997)
Leader Title:Head of Municipality
Leader Name:Nasri Sabarna
Unit Pref:dunam
Population Footnotes:[1]
Population Total:16977
Population As Of:2017
Population Density Km2:auto
Blank Name Sec1:Name meaning
Blank Info Sec1:"House of Ummar"[2]

Beit Ummar (Arabic: بيت اُمّر) is a Palestinian town located eleven kilometers northwest of Hebron in the Hebron Governorate of the State of Palestine.[3] According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, in 2017, the town had a population of 16,977 inhabitants. Over 4,800 residents of the town are under the age of 18. Since the Second Intifada, unemployment ranges between 60 and 80 percent due mostly to the inability of residents to work in Israel and a depression in the Palestinian economy.[4] A part of the city straddles Road 60 and due to this, several propositions of house demolition have occurred.[5]

Beit Ummar is mostly agricultural and is noted for its many grape vines. This has a major aspect on their culinary tradition of stuffed grape leaves known as waraq al-'inib and a grape syrup called dibs.[5] Beit Ummar also has cherry, plum, apple and olive orchards.[6]

History

Antiquity

Beit Ummar is believed to be the site of Biblical village of Maarath.[6] [7] [8] [9] Another early name is Beit 'Amra.[10] Locals say they trace their origins back to the era of Abraham.[11] Ben-Zvi raises the possibility that remnants of an ancient Jewish population may exist in the village.[12]

A church, tentatively dating to the 5th century CE, (but with changes probably done in the 8th century) was excavated in the 1930s at Khirbat Asida, to the east of the centre of Beit Ummar.[13]

Middle ages

According to some traditions, the town was named after the Islamic Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab because he supposedly frequented the town. Many of the town's predominantly Muslim residents are descendants of Arab Christian families who converted during the 7th century Muslim conquest. Christian ruins in the old city are a testament to this conversion over 1,000 years ago.[5]

The main mosque in Beit Ummar houses the tomb of Nabi Matta. Matta refers to Amittai, the father of Jonah. Mujir ad-Din writes that Matta was "a holy man from the people of the house of the prophecy." Nearby Halhul houses the purported tomb of Jonah with the inscription reading "Yunus ibn Matta" or "Jonah son of Amittai", confirming that Matta is indeed the Arabic name for Amittai (some suggested it referred to the apostle Matthew); the Beit Ummar tomb is dedicated to Amittai.[14] [15]

In 1226, the Ayyubid sultan al-Mu'azzam built a mosque with a minaret under the supervision of Jerusalem governor Rashid ad-Din al-Mu'azzami. The Mamluks constructed some additions to the mosque and engraved several inscriptions on its surface.[14]

Ottoman period

While Beit Ummar was mentioned in lists from the early part of the 16th century, there is no evidence of settlement in the second half of the 16th century. However, it was resettled at a later period.[16] In the latter part of the 16th century, its residents were moved to Kuffin, tasked with defending the road. Beit Ummar is also known as "Kuffin al-Fauqa" ("Upper Kuffin").

In 1838, Edward Robinson noted the village from Al-Dawayima.[17]

Victor Guérin visited the village in 1863, and found it to have about 450 inhabitants.[18] Swiss orientalist Albert Socin, noting an official Ottoman village list circa 1870, wrote that Beit Ummar had a total of 44 houses and a population of 133, though the population count included only men.[19] Hartmann found that Bet Ummar had 60 houses.[20]

In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Beit Ummar as a "small but conspicuous village standing on the watershed, and visible from some distance on the north. An ancient road passes through it. Half a mile north-east is a good spring, ‘Ain Kufin. The mosque has a small tower to it. The surrounding neighbourhood is covered with brushwood."[21]

British Mandate

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Bait Ummar had a population of 829 inhabitants, all Muslims,[22] increasing in the 1931 census to 1,135, still entirely Muslim, in 217 inhabited houses.[23]

In the 1945 statistics the population of Beit Ummar was 80 Jews and 1,600 Muslims, and the total land area was 30,129 dunams of land, according to the official land and population survey.[24] [25] 2,912 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 12,879 were for cereals,[26] while 55 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[27]

Jordanian rule

In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Beit Ummar came under Jordanian rule. It was annexed by Jordan in 1950.

In 1961, the population of Beit Ummar was 2,103.[28]

Post-1967

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Beit Ummar has been under Israeli occupation. The population in the 1967 census conducted by the Israeli authorities was 2,630.[29]

Beit Ummar became a municipality on April 17, 1997, after the dismantlement of the Israeli village council and Hussein Badr was appointed by the Palestinian National Authority.[5] The current mayor is Nasri Sabarna.[30] The town is currently located in Area B (civil affairs administered by the PNA) and Area C (civil and military affairs controlled by Israel).[5] Israel has confiscated[31] or expropriated[32] approximately 4,000 dunams of village land in order to construct Israeli bypass roads and several Israeli settlements: Karmei Zur, Migdal Oz, Kfar Etzion and Efrat.

The town is governed by a municipal council consisting of thirteen members including the mayor.

Several people in the village have been shot and killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers during Israeli occupation.

Jala

The nearby site of Jala, which belongs to Beit Ummar, was recorded as a village in 1525/6 and 1538/9 but not afterwards. Today it has a Bedouin population. In 1975, it had 228 residents.

Notable people

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. February 2018 . Preliminary Results of the Population, Housing and Establishments Census, 2017 . Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) . . 64–82 . 2023-10-24.
  2. Palmer, 1881, p. 389
  3. http://www.palestineremembered.com/GeoPoints/Bayt_Ummar_892/index.html Beit Ummar: Town Statistics and Facts
  4. https://web.archive.org/web/20071110001618/http://www.pcr.ps/pmalert/beitomar.htm Beit Omar Background
  5. http://www.cpt.org/csd/csdbubackground.php Sample Area Background: Beit Ummar
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20071107074902/http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=2296&ed=147&edid=147 Beit Ummar: Where Dreams Come True Aging with Dignity in Palestinian Villages
  7. Armstrong, 1889, p.119
  8. Book: Hastings, James. A Dictionary of the Bible: Volume III: (Part II: O -- Pleiades). University Press of the Pacific. 2004. reprint. 978-1-4102-1727-1. Honolulu, Hawaii. 648. The ninth group is in the mountains north of Hebron, including Halhu (Halhul), Bethzur (Beit Sur), Maarath (Beit Umar), Beth-anoth (Beit Ainun), and Eltekon - perhaps Tekoa (Tekua).. 1898.
  9. Book: Wilson, John. The Lands of the Bible Visited and Described, Volume 1. William Whyte. 1847. OL20556861M. Edenburgh. 386 – 387. Beit-Ummar is on a heights to the left. It is apparently a considerable village... At least four of these villages are thus given in juxtaposition in Joshua, "Halhul, Beth-Zur and Gedor and Maarath, and Beth-Anoth, and Eltekon.".
  10. Grossman, D. (1986). "Oscillations in the Rural Settlement of Samaria and Judaea in the Ottoman Period". In Shomron studies. Dar, S., Safrai, S., (eds). Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House. p. 367
  11. Book: Tal, Uri . Muslim Shrines in Eretz Israel: History, Religion, Traditions, Folklore . Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi . 2023 . 978-965-217-452-9 . Jerusalem . 286.
  12. Book: Ben-Zvi, Itzhak . Yitzhak Ben-Zvi . שאר ישוב: מאמרים ופרקים בדברי ימי הישוב העברי בא"י ובחקר המולדת . none . 1967 . תל אביב תרפ"ז . 409 . Hebrew . She'ar Yeshuv.
  13. [Dmitri Baramki |Baramki]
  14. Sharon, 1999, pp. 161- 164
  15. Clermont-Ganneau, 1899, p. 456
  16. Grossman, D. "The expansion of the settlement frontier of Hebron's western and southern fringes". Geography Research Forum, 5, 1982, p. 62.
  17. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol2, p. 401
  18. Guérin, 1869, p. 298
  19. Socin, 1879, p. 145
  20. Hartmann, 1883, p. 142
  21. Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 303
  22. Barron, 1923, Table V, Sub-district of Hebron, p. 10
  23. Mills, 1932, p. 27
  24. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 23
  25. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 50
  26. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 93
  27. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 143
  28. Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 15
  29. Web site: The 1967 Census of the West Bank and Gaza Strip: A Digitized Version . Perlmann, Joel . November 2011 – February 2012 . . 24 June 2016 .
  30. http://www.nablus.org/en/htm/guide/Municipalities.htm Municipality Guide
  31. http://vprofile.arij.org/hebron/pdfs/Beit%20Ummar.pdf Beit Ummar Town Profile
  32. Web site: Soldiers Invade Beit Ummar. Agencies. IMEMC News &. en-US. 2020-02-22.
  33. Web site: 2011-01-29 . Palestinian killed in clashes with settlers near Hebron . 2023-11-26 . The Jerusalem Post JPost.com . en-US.
  34. Web site: 2011-02-03 . Court releases hikers suspected of killing Palestinian teen . 2023-11-26 . The Jerusalem Post . en-US.
  35. News: A Bullet Through the Heart of a Palestinian Man - and an Entire Community . en . Haaretz . 2023-11-26.
  36. Web site: Fresh West Bank clashes . 2023-11-26 . Al Jazeera . en.
  37. Web site: 27-year-old Palestinian killed near Hebron after funeral of his cousin . 2023-11-26 . Middle East Eye . en.
  38. Web site: 2015-04-10 . Palestinian killed in clashes with Israeli forces . 2023-11-26 . AP News . en.
  39. News: Palestinians: One Killed, Six Wounded in Clashes With Israeli Forces . en . Haaretz . 2023-11-26.
  40. https://archive.today/20230611185802/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/24/world/middleeast/west-bank-israel-palestinian-violence.html Israeli Forces Shoot and Kill Palestinian During West Bank Raid
  41. Web site: Israeli troops shoot dead 12-year-old Palestinian boy: Ministry . 2023-11-26 . Al Jazeera . en.
  42. Web site: Beit Ommar: They killed his child and immediately took his working permit . 2023-11-26 . Machsomwatch . en.
  43. Web site: Israeli forces kill young Palestinian man during funeral of 12-year-old boy . 2023-11-26 . Middle East Eye . en.
  44. https://www.btselem.org/human_shields/20210914_border_police_officers_use_palestinian_woman_in_beit_omar_as_human_shield Border Police raid home of Beit Ummar resident, order her to stand by them on roof while stones were thrown at them, and force her to carry military equipment

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Beit Ummar".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.