Beit Hanina

Beit Hanina
Other transcription(s)
• Arabic	بيت حنينا
Beit Hanina al-Balad (center) Beit Hanina al-Jadid (top)
Beit Hanina Location of Beit Hanina within the Palestinian territories
Coordinates: 31°49′50″N 35°12′58″E / 31.83056°N 35.21611°E / 31.83056; 35.21611Coordinates: 31°49′50″N 35°12′58″E / 31.83056°N 35.21611°E / 31.83056; 35.21611
Governorate	Jerusalem
Government
• Type	Village Council
Area
• Jurisdiction	16,284 dunams (16.3 km2 or 6.3 sq mi)
Population (2007)
• Jurisdiction	1,071 (al-Balad) 26,762 (al-Jadid)
Name meaning	"House of Hanina"[1]

Jerusalem Light Rail Red Line
Legend 'Heil Ha-Avir (Air Force Street) Sayeret Duchifat Pisgat Ze'ev Center Yekuti'el Adam Beit Hanina Shuafat Es-Sahl To depot Giv'at HaMivtar Ammunition Hill Shimon HaTzadik Shivtei Israel Damascus Gate Safra Square (City Hall) Jaffa – Center Ha-Davidka Mahane Yehuda Ha-Turim Central Station Kiryat Moshe He-'Haluts Denia Square Yefeh Nof Mount Herzl

Beit Hanina (Arabic: بيت حنينا‎, Hebrew: בית חנינא‎) is a Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem. It is on the road to Ramallah, eight kilometers north of central Jerusalem, at an elevation of 780 meters above sea level.^[2] Beit Hanina is bordered by Hizma to the east, Shuafat to the south, Beit Iksa and Nabi Samwil to the west, and Bir Nabala, al-Jib, Kafr Aqab and ar-Ram to the north.

The old village, al-Balad, is part of the Jerusalem Governorate of the PNA.^[3] The new village, al-Jadid, is within the jurisdiction of the Jerusalem Municipality, although residents may vote in PNA elections. In 2007, Beit Hanina had a population of over 27,000, including 26,762 Jerusalem residents in the new village^[4] and 1,072 under PNA administration.^[5] The total area of Beit Hanina is 16.3 sq. kilometers (6.3 sq. miles) or 16,284 dunams, of which 2,775 are built up.^[6]

Etymology

Literally, Beit Hanina means "House of Hanina," suggesting that it is named after a person, possibly a woman. Some scholars say that "Hanina" is derived from the Assyrian "Han-nina" which means the one that deserves pity (hanan). It could also be derived from the word hana meaning "camped."^[1][7]

History

Beit Hanina may date back to the Canaanite period. According to the 19th century French traveler Victor Guérin, Beit Hanina is the biblical Ananiah of the Tribe of Benjamin. Edward Robinson concurred, but W.F. Albright maintained that Ananiah is the village of al-Eizariya in East Jerusalem.^[8] Guerin also proclaimed that it was sometimes called Bayt Anina.^[9][10]

In 636, Beit Hanina was annexed by the Islamic Caliphate led by Umar Ibn al-Khattab as a result of a decisive Muslim victory over the Byzantines at the Battle of Yarmouk. In the early centuries of Islamic rule over Palestine, Yemenite and Qaisi Arabs migrated to Beit Hanina. The economy was agricultural, based primarily on olives, figs, barley and bulgur.^[11]

In 1099, Crusader armies captured Jerusalem, including Beit Hanina, inflicting heavy casualties on the Muslim population and causing most of the residents to flee. They later returned to cultivate their orchards and grain fields. The town was recaptured by the Ayyubid Dynasty led by Salah ad-Din. To ensure a Muslim majority and protect it from a renewed Crusader invasion, Salah ad-Din brought powerful Bedouin tribes from the Negev desert and the northern Hejaz to settle in the area.^[11]

The Friday Mosque in Beit Hanina, Sultan Ibrahim Ibn Adham Mosque, is dedicated to Ibrahim ibn Adham, Guérin had noted it was dedicated to "Sidi Ibrahim".^[9] In 1927 Tawfiq Canaan published the inscription above the gate of the mosque, which commemorated its building in 637/1239-1240 CE.^[12]

The village was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 with all of Palestine, and in 1596 Beit Hanina appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Quds of the Liwa of Quds. It had a population of 28 Muslim households.^[13]

Guérin, who visited in 1863, estimated that the village had 300 inhabitants,^[9] while an official Ottoman village list of about 1870 showed that "Bet Hanina" had 65 houses and a population of 240, though the population count included only men.^[14]

In 1883, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described it as a "village of moderate size, of stone houses, standing on very rocky ground on the ridge between two valleys. It is surrounded with olives, and has springs to the west at some little distance. Vineyards also occur near the village."^[15]

In a census conducted in 1922 by the British Mandate authorities, "Bait Hanina" had a population of 996, all Muslims,^[16] increasing in the 1931 census to a population of 1226, still all Muslims, in 317 houses.^[17] In 1945 Bein Hanina had a population of 1,590, all Arabs, with 14,948 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.^[18] Of this, 3,072 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 4,304 used for cereals,^[19] while 219 dunams were built-up land.^[20]

Jordanian rule

During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Beit Hanina was captured by Jordanian forces, along with the rest of the West Bank, and became a part of Jordan until 1967. Under Jordanian rule, new roads and schools were built, and many of the town's émigrés invested in the development of a modern suburb, then known as Ras al-Tariq, located to the east along the Jerusalem-Ramallah highway.^[11]

Israeli rule

After the 1967 Six-Day War, the Israelis occupied the West Bank, along with Beit Hanina, and the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem were expanded to include the eastern section of Beit Hanina, now known as Beit Hanina al-Jadid, and formalized that policy in 1980.^[11]

After the Second Intifada, Israel began to build the Israeli West Bank barrier, which separated the Jerusalem section of Beit Hanina from the West Bank. Due to its urban nature, the route near the town is part of the 10% which employs a concrete wall. The area has sometimes been the scene of clashes between the Israeli security forces and Palestinian militant factions.^[11][3]

On 18 April 2012, a Palestinian family, the Natshehs, was evicted from two houses in the wake of an Israeli court decision that the land was owned by Jews. The Israel Land Fund had purchased the buildings in 1977 as part of a plan for a Jewish neighborhood of 50 apartments called "Nof Shmuel."^[21] The Natsheh family stated that the documents were forged and that family members had owned part of the property since the 1940s, but the Israeli court dismissed it citing lack of evidence.^[22] The European Union condemned the eviction, and said they were very concerned by the plans to build a new settlement "in the midst of this traditional Palestinian neighborhood.^[21][23] On 27 April 2012 about 150 Palestinian, Israeli and foreign activists staged a protest that led to clashes with Israeli police.^[24]

In 2012, a street in Beit Hanina was named for Umm Khulthum. Nasreen Kadari, winner of the TV reality show “Eyal Golan is Calling You,” sang one of the Egyptian singer's famous songs, Enta Omri, at the ceremony.^[25]

Education

The College of Daawa and Religious Principles was established in Beit Hanina in 1978.^[26] A branch of al-Quds University is also located there.^[26] There are four mosques in Beit Hanina: Sultan Ibrahim Ibn Adham Mosque, Bader Mosque, Mosque of Religion College, and Mosque of Teacher's Suburb. Christian schools include the Rosary Sisters and De La Salle. College des Freres built a new school in Beit Hanina in 2000.^[27] The Catholic Church runs a community center and St. Jacob's Church. In 2012, the Beit Hanina Girls School, serving grades 5-12, was renovated with funding from the Japanese government.^[28]

Transportation

The neighbourhood’s Main Street, Beit Hanina Road, was previously part of route 60. In the 1990s a new route was built to the east of the neighbourhood, a dual carriageway with 3 lanes in each direction, relieving traffic congestion along the road. The Jerusalem Light Rail has a stop in Beit Hanina.^[29]

References

Bibliography

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Beit Hanina.

External links

• Palestine Remembered: Welcome To Bayt Hanina
• Ethnic Cleansing in Beit Hanina 12, September, 2006, ARIJ
• Beit Hanina Town, Israeli Settlements' occupying its land … A wall dissecting its people and a new Bypass Road increases the suffering of its people. 09, April, 2009, ARIJ
• Two residential Complexes in Beit Hanina city are notified with demolition 08, March, 2011, ARIJ

v t e Jerusalem Governorate Cities Abu Dis al-Eizariya al-Ram Municipalities Hizma Biddu Bir Nabala Kafr 'Aqab Qatanna Villages 'Anata Arab al-Jahalin Beit 'Anan Beit Duqqu Beit Hanina Beit Ijza Beit Iksa Beit Safafa Beit Surik Jaba al-Jib al-Judeira Kalandia Mikhmas Nabi Samwil al-Qubeiba Rafat as-Sawahira ash-Sharqiya Sharafat ash-Sheikh Sa'd az-Za'ayyem Refugee camps Kalandia Shuafat

v t e Neighborhoods of Jerusalem Jerusalem neighborhoods east of the 1949 armistice line are depicted in green, those west of the line in blue (see Green Line). Old City Armenian Quarter Christian Quarter Muristan Jewish Quarter Muslim Quarter Bab Al Huta Central Neighborhoods Arzei HaBira Batei Ungarin Beit David Beit Ya'akov Beit Yisrael Bukharim Downtown Triangle Geula Givat HaVradim Givat Ram Katamon Kerem Avraham Kiryat HaLeom Kiryat HaMemshala Kiryat Shmuel Kiryat Wolfson Ma'alot Dafna Mahane Israel Mahane Yehuda Mazkeret Moshe Mea Shearim Mekor Baruch Mishkenot Sha'ananim Mount Zion Musrara Nahalat Shiv'a Nachlaot Nayot Neve Granot Neve Sha'anan Rehavia Romema Rova Mevo Ha'ir Russian Compound Sha'arei Hesed Shmuel HaNavi Talbiya Yemin Moshe Zikhron Moshe Zikhron Yosef Northern Neighborhoods Al-Ram Beit Hanina Ezrat Torah French Hill Givat HaMivtar Har Hotzvim Kafr 'Aqab Kiryat Belz Kiryat Mattersdorf Kiryat Sanz Mount Scopus Neve Yaakov Pisgat Ze'ev Ramat Eshkol Ramat Shlomo Ramot Ramot Polin Sanhedria Sanhedria Murhevet Shuafat Tel Arza Unsdorf Eastern Neighborhoods American Colony Al Bustan Al-Issawiya At-Tur Bab a-Zahara Ir David Jabel Mukaber Kiryat Menachem Begin Ma'ale ha-Zeitim Nachalat Shimon Nof Zion Ras al-Amud Sheikh Jarrah Shimon HaTzadik Silwan Wadi al-Joz Southern Neighborhoods Abu Tor Arnona Baka Beit Safafa East Talpiot German Colony Gilo Givat HaMatos Givat Oranim Givat Massuah Greek colony Har Homa Katamonim Malha Mekor Chaim Pat Ramat Rachel San Simon Sharafat Sur Baher Talpiot Umm Tuba Western Neighborhoods Bayit VeGan Beit HaKerem Ein Karem Givat Beit HaKerem Givat Shaul Givat Mordechai Har Nof Ir Ganim Kiryat HaYovel Kiryat Menachem Kiryat Moshe Motza Ramat Beit HaKerem Ramat Denya Ramat Sharett Yefeh Nof Historical Neighborhoods Atarot Batei Munkacs Batei Saidoff Ezrat Yisrael Lifta Moroccan Quarter Mamilla Sheikh Badr Ohel Shlomo Sha'arei Yerushalayim See also: Ring Neighborhoods