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.[1] 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
Beit Ummar is believed to be the site of Biblical village of Maarath.[6][7][8][9]
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.[10]
According to some traditions, the town was named after the IslamicCaliphUmar 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 Mosque of Nabi Matta, 2011
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.[11][12]
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.[11]
Ottoman era
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.[13]
Victor Guérin visited the village in 1863, and found it to have about 450 inhabitants.[15] 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.[16]Hartmann found that Bet Ummar had 60 houses.[17]
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."[18]
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.[21][22] 2,912 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 12,879 were for cereals,[23] while 55 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[24]
In 1961, the population of Beit Ummar was 2,103.[25]
Post-1967
Demonstration against land expropriation, Beit Ummar, December 2011
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.[26]
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.[27] 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[28] or expropriated[29] 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.
In January 2011, 17-year-old Yousef Ikhlayl was shot and killed during an altercation with Israeli settlers from Bat Ayin.[30][31]
In August 2014, 3 Palestinians were killed on the same day by an IDF sharpshooter during a local protest: Abdul Hamid Bregeith, a 32-year-old father of three, Sultan Zaqiq, 29, a father of two, and Hashem Abu Maria, aged 45.[32] Abu Maria worked for Defence for Children International.[32][33]
In April 2015, Ziyad Awad, aged 27, was shot and killed in a demonstration which started after the funeral of his cousin.[34][35][36]
In July 2015, Falah Abu Maria, aged 52, was shot and killed by Israeli forces.[37]
In July 2021, Mohammed al-Alami, aged 12, was shot and killed by an Israeli soldier while he was riding in a car with his father and sister.[38][39] Shawqat 'Awad, aged 22, was shot and killed during al-Alami's funeral.[40][41]
^Hastings, James (2004) [1898]. A Dictionary of the Bible: Volume III: (Part II: O -- Pleiades) (reprint). Honolulu, Hawaii: University Press of the Pacific. p. 648. ISBN978-1-4102-1727-1. 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).
^Wilson, John (1847). The Lands of the Bible Visited and Described, Volume 1. Edenburgh: William Whyte. pp. 386 – 387. OL20556861M. 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."
