Beit Hanina

Jerusalem Light Rail Red Line
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Beit Hanina (Arabic: بيت حنينا, Hebrew: בית חנינא) is a Palestinian neighborhood in Jerusalem. It 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. 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 and 1,072 under PNA administration. 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.

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."

History

Beit Hanina may date back to the Canaanite period. According to the 19th century French traveler V. Guerin, author of Description de La Jude'e, Beit Hanina is the biblical Ananya of the Tribe of Benjamin. Edward Robinson concurred, but W.F. Albright maintained that Anania is the village of al-Eizariya in East Jerusalem. Guerin also proclaimed that it was sometimes called Bayt Anina.

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.

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.

Under Ottoman control, the town declined, suffering from generations of illiteracy, poverty and high taxes. 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.

Modern era

During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War Beit Hanina was captured by Jordanian forces, along with the rest of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and became a part of the Hashemite Kingdom 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.

After the 1967 Six-Day War, the Israelis occupied the West Bank, along with Beit Hanina, and thousands of Beit Hanina residents migrated to the United States. Immediately after the war, Israel unilaterally expanded the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem to include the eastern section of Beit Hanina, now known as Beit Hanina al-Jadid, and formalized that policy in 1980.

In the wake of the Second Intifada, Israel began to build the Israeli West Bank barrier, which separated the Jerusalem section of Beit Hanina from the West Bank for alleged security reasons. 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.

On 18 April, 2012, Israeli authorities evicted the Natsheh family, a Palestinian family, from two houses after an Israeli court found that the land belongs to Jews and awarded them to the Israel Land Fund which claimed to have purchased the building in 1977. ILF founder Aryeh King stated the decision was first part of a plan to establish a Jewish neighborhood of 50 apartments called "Nof Shmuel" in the predominantly Arab neighborhood. The Natsheh family stated the ILF's documents were forged and that members of their family had owned part of the property since the 1940s, a claim the court dismissed citing lack of evidence. 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." On 27 April about 150 Palestinian, Israeli and foreign activists protested the eviction and the takeover of the houses by Jewish settlers resulting in clashes with Israeli police.

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.

Education

The College of Daawa and Religious Principles was established in Beit Hanina in 1978. A branch of al-Quds University is also located there. 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. 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.

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.

External links

• http://www.beithanina.us/
• http://www.beithanina.org/
• http://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/view.php?recordID=874
• Welcome To Bayt Hanina