Bani Na'im
Encyclopedia
Bani Na'im is a Palestinian
town in the southern West Bank
located 8 kilometres (5 mi) east of Hebron
in the Hebron Governorate
. The town had a population of 20,084 inhabitants in 2007. It is situated on a higher elevation than most localities in the area with an altitude of 951 metres (3,120.1 ft).
Known as Brekke in the pre-Roman era, it was later referred to as "Caphar Barucha" in the 4th-century CE, while Palestine
was ruled by the Byzantine Empire
. The town is best known as the burial place of Lot
, a prophet in Islam
and a righteous person in Judaism
and Christianity
. Following the Muslim conquest
, its name was Arabicized as "Kafr al-Barik." The tomb of Lot became a Muslim
edifice during Islam
ic rule and remained so while the town was under Crusader
rule. Later, the Arab tribe of "Bani Nu'aym" settled the town and gave it its current name "Bani Na'im" which was first used by Muslim scholar Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi
in 1690. Throughout its history, the tomb of Lot served a place of visitation for Muslim and Western travelers alike.
Bani Na'im considerably grew in population at the start of the 20th-century and would come under British Mandatory authority along with the rest of Palestine after World War I
. The town became involved in the 1936-39 Arab revolt as the site of a battle between the irregular Palestinian Arab forces of Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni
and the British Army
. Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
, Bani Na'im became a part of Jordan
. It came under Israel
i occupation after the former captured the West Bank
from Jordan during the Six-Day War
of 1967. In 1997, Bani Na'im came under Palestinian administration and consequently became a municipality
. Today, it continues to serve as a commercial center for the Hebron area villages, but due to its size and lack of development, most governmental services are provided by the city of Hebron.
confirmed that the present-day Bani Na'im was the "Caphor Barucha" mentioned by Saint Jerome
as the burial place of Lot
in the 4th-century CE. The modern town was built on the spot of this Roman
village which was also known as Kfar Brosha. Jerome relates to Saint Paula
, that, departing from Hebron, she stopped upon the height of Caphar Barucha and looked upon the surrounding region, remembering Lot. Abraham
is said to have observed the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
from here.
Following the Muslim conquest of Palestine
in the mid-7th-century, the town was referred to as "Kafr Breik" or "Kafr al-Barik." Ali of Herat
passed through the village in 1173 CE, noting that it was near Hebron and the burial place of Lot. Along with the town of Dura
, Kafr al-Barik became part of the waqf
("endowment") of the Ibrahimi Mosque (Cave of the Patriarchs) in Hebron by the Ayyubid ruler of Damascus
, al-Mu'azzam Isa
on May 2, 1215. 15th-century Muslim
geographer Imam al-Suyuti also acknowledged Lot was buried there and that a cave west of the village, beneath an old mosque
, laid "sixty prophets of whom twenty were Apostles." He noted that Lot's tomb was a site of "visitation and veneration from ancient times, the men of the age succeeding those who have gone before."
The name "Bani Na'im" was first used to refer to the town by Muslim scholar Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi
in 1690. He wrote that the village had been known as "Kafr al-Barik" and "now it is known as Qaryat Bani Nu'aym in a diminutive form." It received this name from the Arab tribe
of Bani Nu'aym, also referred to as Bani Na'im, who settled there and in other areas in southern Palestine
after migrating from the vicinity of Petra
in Transjordan
. The inhabitants, at least until the end of the 19th-century, would still use the early Arabic name, particularly when Western travelers visited the towns. Robinson visited Bani Na'im in 1838, noting that it was probably the "very highest point in the hill country of Judah
." According to French
traveler Van Guerin, it was a small, nearly deserted village in the 1860s. However, the Palestine Exploration Fund
's Survey of Western Palestine described it as "a good-sized village" in 1874. Sand from Bani Na'im was an integral component for the production of Hebron glass
and the town was a major supplier for that traditional industry which was based in nearby Hebron.
and a righteous person in Judaism
and Christianity
, in the center of the town. The tomb is located within a rectangular-shaped mosque
that contains an inner court and minaret
. The lintel of the mosque's northern gate is built from stones dating to the Byzantine
era when a church had possibly stood at the site. Lot's tomb was first mentioned by Saint Jerome
, then by John of Wirtzburg in 1100, and Ali of Herat in 1173. While the Crusader
s, who ruled the area from 1148 to 1187, were aware the tomb belonged to Lot, it remained a Muslim sanctuary unlike other Muslim edifices in Palestine which were converted to Christian use. In 1322, writer Sir John Mandeville writes "two miles from Hebron, is the grave of Lot, Abraham's brother." Ibn Battuta
noted in 1326 that the tomb was covered by a "fine building" made of white stone and without columns. Muslim writers al-Suyuti and Mujir ad-Din
wrote in the 15th and 16th centuries, respectively, that Lot was buried in Bani Na'im. Tawfiq Canaan
, a researcher of Palestinian popular heritage, described the golden embroidered writing on the red silk cloth covering the tomb as reading, "This is the tomb of prophet Lut, peace be upon him."
Islam
ic-era Kufic inscriptions on the front entrance to the mosque state that the Muslim scholar Abdullah bin Muhammad declared "the hills, the plains, the buildings, the paths, the gardens, the trees and the passage that transverses it [Bani Na'im]" are an endowment "for the prophet Lot, the son of Haran brother of Ibrahim (Abraham), the friend of the Compassionate (Allah), may the blessings of Allah be upon them ..." According to Muslim tradition, Lot lived in Bani Na'im before moving to Sodom. The shrine encasing the tomb was restored in 1410 by the Mamluk
sultan Nasir al-Faraj, son of Sultan Barquq. The restoration work was entrusted by him to Shams al-Din al-Ansari, a member of the prominent Ansari family which specialized in religious endowments (waqf
).
The tomb of Lot's daughters are on an opposite hill nearby. To the southeast of Bani Na'im is a separate shrine dedicated to Lot, known as Maqam an-Nabi Yatin ("Shrine of the Truthful Prophet.") Local legend claims Lot prayed at the site and imprints of his feet in a rock there are visible. According to Muslim and Christian tradition, Bani Na'im is the place where Abraham, after the departure of the angels, saw the smoke of Sodom and Gomorrah
"rising as the smoke of a furnace."
, a British Mandatory Authority was established over Palestine, including Bani Na'im. An Arab revolt against the British authorities and Jewish immigration
to Palestine broke out in 1936 and lasted roughly three years. In December 1937, British forces ordered the demolition of a house in the town owned by two Arabs whom they accused of "bad character" and participation in an anti-British incident near the town. They fined Bani Na'im's mukhtar
s (town chiefs) 50 British pounds and had a number of town residents and the owners of the house carry 200 kilograms of explosives to the building for its demolition. They then gathered Bani Na'im's inhabitants to the edge of the town to witness the explosion as a deterrent measure.
Palestinian Arab irregulars
led by Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni
and his local commander, Abd al-Halim Jawlani, battled British Army
forces in Bani Na'im in December 1938. According to British military accounts, a resident of Bani Na'im called for intervention when the rebels entered the town. Israeli scholar Hillel Cohen
wrote that it was Fakhri Nashashibi, a political rival of al-Husayni, who told the British that three rebel units entered Bani Na'im and were forcing its inhabitants (who Cohen claimed were supporters of the Nashashibi
family) to join the revolt after being notified by the inhabitants. The British responded immediately and confronted around 100 irregulars. As a result of British Air Force
assistance, al-Husayni's troops dispersed and fled east of Bani Na'im where they were later pinned down. British forces pursued and decisively defeated the rebels, killing 60 and capturing 15. One British soldier was killed. Eyewitnesses claim al-Husayni himself was wounded and was evacuated to the government hospital in Hebron. In January 1939, British forces bombed a number of neighborhoods in the town for allegedly housing al-Husayni fighters.
Bani Na'im along with the rest of the West Bank came under Jordan
ian rule following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
. Since the occupation of the West Bank by Israel
—which began in 1967 as a result of the Jordanian defeat in the Six-Day War
—the residents of Bani Na'im have been affected by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
. In 1982, Jewish settlers from nearby Kiryat Arba
shot dead an 18-year-old resident of the town. A popular committee against the Israeli occupation was set up in Bani Na'im during the First Intifada
(1987-93) in 1987. In May 1988, two Palestinians were shot and killed by the Israeli Army
(IDF) in the center of the town. Bani Na'im later came under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian National Authority
(PNA) in 1997. On August 31, 2010, four Jewish settlers from Kiryat Arba were killed on a road outside Bani Na'im by militants from the Palestinian paramilitary group Hamas
. The attack was condemned by Israel and the PNA.
, however the two localities have virtually merged with each other. The Israeli settlement
of Kiryat Arba
is situated northwest of Bani Na'im, between it and Hebron. To its south lies the village of Hureiz
and the town of Yatta
, to the north are Sa'ir
and ash-Shuyukh
, while Halhul
and the forest of Hebron lie to the west. Bani Na'im's lands extend east to the mountains that overlook the Dead Sea
.
Bani Na'im's total land area is about 157,000 dunam
s, but the town's built-up areas amount to roughly 2,500 dunams. The town itself is mostly located in Area A (Palestinian security and civilian administration) and Area B (Palestinian civil administration and Israeli military control.) The surrounding area is split between Area A, Area B and Area C (complete Israeli control). The nearby town of ar-Rawa'in to the east is located within Bani Na'im's municipal jurisdiction and is under Area A. However, the Israeli settlement of Ma'ale Hever
, which is also located within the town's municipal borders, is under full Israeli control.
Average annual rainfall in Bani Na'im is 369 millimetres (14.5 in). The average temperature is 16 °C (61 °F) and the average annual humidity is 61%.
. By 1945, it increased to 2,160 according to a land and population survey by Sami Hadawi
. Under Jordan
ian rule, in 1952, the population surged to 5,778, partly due to large numbers of Palestinian refugee
s who settled in the town as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
. Later, the number of inhabitants declined due to the emigration of refugees from the town to other parts of the West Bank and Jordan. By 1967, there were 4,271 inhabitants in the town, gradually increasing to 6,703. In 1987, the population rose to roughly 7,600 people. In the 1997 census carried out by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
(PCBS), Bani Na'im had 13,535 inhabitants of which 604 were refugees. The gender distribution was 6,779 males and 6,756 females.
In the 2007 census, there were 20,084 people living in the town and 217 in nearby Masaferet Bani Na'im which is located within the municipal jurisdiction. The gender makeup of Bani Na'im's population was 50.2% male and 49.8% female. There were 3,490 housing units and the average household size consisted of 6.5 family members. Bani Na'im's inhabitants accounted for 3.67% of the Hebron Governorate's population and the town is officially considered an urban area. The inhabitants are Muslim
s and 16 mosque
s are present throughout the town. The main families are al-Manasrah (the largest), Zeidan, Trayrah, Humeidat, Ubeid, Harahsheh and Amr.
in 1971. After Bani Na'im was transferred to Area A
, giving the Palestinian National Authority full control of the town, it established a municipal council
on May 20, 1997. The first council was formed from the old members of the previous village council. The council was made up of seven members, while there were 18 municipal employees.
The amount of municipal seats was expanded to 13 during the Palestinian municipal elections in 2005. A local group, the Bani Na'im Martyrs list, won the most seats: five. The Al-Aqsa list won three seats, Independent lists also won three and the Hamas
-backed Reform and Change list won the remaining two seats. Gender-wise, females won two seats and males eleven. Issa Hassan al-Khdour, member of the Bani Na'im Martyrs, had the most votes (3,281), and thus became the head of the municipality. In addition, the number of municipal employees increased to 30.
The municipal borders of Bani Na'im extend beyond the town and include the following villages: Birin, ar-Rawa'in and Masaferet Bani Na'im. The latter is a grouping of the following hamlet
s: Mantiqat al-Ein, Mantiqat as-Sahel, Mantiqat Qaber K'heil, Mantiqat Hilmi, Mantiqat al-Hamra, Mantiqat al-Qurun, Mantiqat al-Mathbah, Mantiqat as-Sweidat, Mantiqat Um ar-Raqam and Khor 'Atara. Despite having a municipality, most official services are provided by the city of Hebron. However, Bani Na'im has a police station, a post office, and a local security office.
According to the 2007 census, 92.2% of the population was literate and most of the illiterate population was female. In the census, it was recorded that 3,613 students were in elementary school, 3,601 in preparatory school, and 1,862 were enrolled in high school. Approximately 958 people received college diplomas, 49 of which were higher than bachelor diplomas. The nearest universities and colleges are located in Hebron, such as Hebron University
, the Palestine Polytechnic University
, and the Hebron College of Technical Engineering.
Most of Bani Na'im's main health facilities are privately owned and include a obstetrical hospital, five clinics, three dental clinics and physiotherapy center. The Palestinian Ministry of Health
runs a childcare center and medical lab in the town while an additional health center as well as an x-ray center are run by a charitable society. In addition, there are five pharmacies in Bani Na'im. In 2009, the town had one ambulance. Residents have to travel to Hebron for emergency treatment.
. The remainder of the employed inhabitants work as civil servants or in the industrial sector. There are four stone-cutting factories, a brick factory, a textile factory, an olive press, eleven metal workshops, four carpentries, seven butcheries, 13 clothing venues, and 110 other shops and stores in Bani Na'im.
The decline in market demand combined with movement restrictions implemented by the Israeli military have led to a deterioration of the local economy, particularly in the trade and the stone-cutting industries. In 2007, unemployment reached 30%. Consequently, many unemployed persons have begun looking into agriculture to earn an income. The most cultivated crops are various grains, especially barley, followed by lentils and chick peas
. A sizable segment of the population raise livestock and roughly 10% breed their own domestic animals. In total, there are 144 cows, 7,000 goats, 14,000 sheep, and 500 beehives being raised in the town. Much of the town's agricultural products are sold in Hebron.
There are 4,244 buildings in Bani Na'im, of which 3,452 are houses and 213 are working establishments. Pipe water reaches more than 95% of the residents. The water pipe line, 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) in length, is linked to the main water supply of the Israeli settlement
of Efrat
, south of Bethlehem
. Around 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) of main and sub lines inside the town were recently maintained and repaired. The cost of this project was roughly one million NIS.
Generators previously operated for no more than five hours daily and for house use only, but in 1994, Bani Na'im was linked with electricity. Later, new factories were built and every building in the town is currently linked with electricity. The municipality installed street lights since 1994.
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
town in the southern West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
located 8 kilometres (5 mi) east of Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
in the Hebron Governorate
Hebron Governorate
The Hebron Governorate is an administrative district of the Palestinian National Authority in the southern West Bank. It extends south to, and includes most of, the Dead Sea....
. The town had a population of 20,084 inhabitants in 2007. It is situated on a higher elevation than most localities in the area with an altitude of 951 metres (3,120.1 ft).
Known as Brekke in the pre-Roman era, it was later referred to as "Caphar Barucha" in the 4th-century CE, while Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
was ruled by the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
. The town is best known as the burial place of Lot
Lot
Lot or lots may refer to:*Lot , a unit of weight used in many European countries since Middle Ages until the beginning of the 20th century*Lot, a set of goods, together for sale in an auction; or a quantity of a financial instrument...
, a prophet in Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and a righteous person in Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
and Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. Following the Muslim conquest
Muslim conquest of Syria
The Muslim conquest of Syria occurred in the first half of the 7th century, and refers to the region known as the Bilad al-Sham, the Levant, or Greater Syria...
, its name was Arabicized as "Kafr al-Barik." The tomb of Lot became a Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
edifice during Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic rule and remained so while the town was under Crusader
Crusader
- Military :* Crusader, a participant in one of the Crusades* Crusader states, states set up by the Europeans in the Middle East during The Crusades* Crusader tank, a British cruiser tank of World War II* HMS Crusader, three British naval ships...
rule. Later, the Arab tribe of "Bani Nu'aym" settled the town and gave it its current name "Bani Na'im" which was first used by Muslim scholar Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi
Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi
Shaykh Abd al-Ghani al-Nablusi , an eminent Muslim scholar and Sufi, was born in Damascus in 1641 into a family of Islamic scholarship. His father, Isma'il Abd al-Ghani, was a jurist in the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam and a contributor to Arabic literature...
in 1690. Throughout its history, the tomb of Lot served a place of visitation for Muslim and Western travelers alike.
Bani Na'im considerably grew in population at the start of the 20th-century and would come under British Mandatory authority along with the rest of Palestine after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The town became involved in the 1936-39 Arab revolt as the site of a battle between the irregular Palestinian Arab forces of Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni
Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni
Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni was a Palestinian Arab nationalist and fighter who in late 1933 founded the secret militant group known as the Organization for Holy Struggle, , which he and Hasan Salama commanded as the Army of the Holy War during the 1936-1939 Arab Revolt and during the 1948...
and the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
. Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
, Bani Na'im became a part of Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
. It came under Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i occupation after the former captured the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
from Jordan during the Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
of 1967. In 1997, Bani Na'im came under Palestinian administration and consequently became a municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
. Today, it continues to serve as a commercial center for the Hebron area villages, but due to its size and lack of development, most governmental services are provided by the city of Hebron.
History
Bani Na'im was known as "Brekke" in pre-Ancient Roman times. Biblical scholar Edward RobinsonEdward Robinson (scholar)
Edward Robinson was an American biblical scholar, known as the “Father of Biblical Geography.” He has been referred to as the “founder of modern Palestinology.” -Biography:...
confirmed that the present-day Bani Na'im was the "Caphor Barucha" mentioned by Saint Jerome
Saint Jerome
Saint Jerome is a Christian church father, best known for translating the Bible into Latin.Saint Jerome may also refer to:*Jerome of Pavia , Bishop of Pavia...
as the burial place of Lot
Lot
Lot or lots may refer to:*Lot , a unit of weight used in many European countries since Middle Ages until the beginning of the 20th century*Lot, a set of goods, together for sale in an auction; or a quantity of a financial instrument...
in the 4th-century CE. The modern town was built on the spot of this Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
village which was also known as Kfar Brosha. Jerome relates to Saint Paula
Saint Paula
Saint Paula was an ancient Roman saint and early Desert Mother. A member of one of the richest "senatorial" families which frivolously claimed descent from Agamemnon, Paula was the daughter of Blesilla and Rogatus, from the great clan of the Furii Camilli...
, that, departing from Hebron, she stopped upon the height of Caphar Barucha and looked upon the surrounding region, remembering Lot. Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
is said to have observed the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
Sodom and Gomorrah
Sodom and Gomorrah were cities mentioned in the Book of Genesis and later expounded upon throughout the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and Deuterocanonical sources....
from here.
Following the Muslim conquest of Palestine
Muslim conquest of Syria
The Muslim conquest of Syria occurred in the first half of the 7th century, and refers to the region known as the Bilad al-Sham, the Levant, or Greater Syria...
in the mid-7th-century, the town was referred to as "Kafr Breik" or "Kafr al-Barik." Ali of Herat
Ali ibn abi bakr al-Harawi
Ali ibn Abi Bakr al-Harawi was an early thirteenth century Persian traveller originally from Herat, located in Afghanistan. Born in Mosul, Iraq he travelled far and wide and died in Aleppo, Syria in a fort built for him....
passed through the village in 1173 CE, noting that it was near Hebron and the burial place of Lot. Along with the town of Dura
Dura, Hebron
Dura is a Palestinian town located eleven kilometers southwest of Hebron in the Hebron Governorate in the southern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of over 28,268 in 2007...
, Kafr al-Barik became part of the waqf
Waqf
A waqf also spelled wakf formally known as wakf-alal-aulad is an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law, typically denoting a building or plot of land for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. The donated assets are held by a charitable trust...
("endowment") of the Ibrahimi Mosque (Cave of the Patriarchs) in Hebron by the Ayyubid ruler of Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
, al-Mu'azzam Isa
Al-Mu'azzam
Al-Mu'azzam 'Isa Sharaf ad-Din was an Ayyubid Sultan who ruled Damascus from 1218 to 1227. The son of Sultan Al-Adil I and nephew of Saladin, founder of the dynasty, Al-Mu'azzam was installed by his father as governor of Damascus in 1201. After his father's death in 1218, Al-Mu'azzam ruled the...
on May 2, 1215. 15th-century Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
geographer Imam al-Suyuti also acknowledged Lot was buried there and that a cave west of the village, beneath an old mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
, laid "sixty prophets of whom twenty were Apostles." He noted that Lot's tomb was a site of "visitation and veneration from ancient times, the men of the age succeeding those who have gone before."
The name "Bani Na'im" was first used to refer to the town by Muslim scholar Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi
Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi
Shaykh Abd al-Ghani al-Nablusi , an eminent Muslim scholar and Sufi, was born in Damascus in 1641 into a family of Islamic scholarship. His father, Isma'il Abd al-Ghani, was a jurist in the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam and a contributor to Arabic literature...
in 1690. He wrote that the village had been known as "Kafr al-Barik" and "now it is known as Qaryat Bani Nu'aym in a diminutive form." It received this name from the Arab tribe
Tribes of Arabia
Tribes of Arabia refers to Arab clans hailing from the Arabian Peninsula.Much of the lineage provided before Ma'ad relies on biblical genealogy and therefore questions persist concerning the accuracy of this segment of Arab genealogy...
of Bani Nu'aym, also referred to as Bani Na'im, who settled there and in other areas in southern Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
after migrating from the vicinity of Petra
Petra
Petra is a historical and archaeological city in the Jordanian governorate of Ma'an that is famous for its rock cut architecture and water conduits system. Established sometime around the 6th century BC as the capital city of the Nabataeans, it is a symbol of Jordan as well as its most visited...
in Transjordan
Transjordan
The Emirate of Transjordan was a former Ottoman territory in the Southern Levant that was part of the British Mandate of Palestine...
. The inhabitants, at least until the end of the 19th-century, would still use the early Arabic name, particularly when Western travelers visited the towns. Robinson visited Bani Na'im in 1838, noting that it was probably the "very highest point in the hill country of Judah
Judea
Judea or Judæa was the name of the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel from the 8th century BCE to the 2nd century CE, when Roman Judea was renamed Syria Palaestina following the Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt.-Etymology:The...
." According to French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
traveler Van Guerin, it was a small, nearly deserted village in the 1860s. However, the Palestine Exploration Fund
Palestine Exploration Fund
The Palestine Exploration Fund is a British society often simply known as the PEF. It was founded in 1865 and is still functioning today. Its initial object was to carry out surveys of the topography and ethnography of Ottoman Palestine with a remit that fell somewhere between an expeditionary...
's Survey of Western Palestine described it as "a good-sized village" in 1874. Sand from Bani Na'im was an integral component for the production of Hebron glass
Hebron glass
Hebron glass refers to glass produced in Hebron as part of a flourishing art industry established in the city during Roman rule in Palestine. For centuries, Hebron has been associated with glass production in the same way as Nablus has been associated with the production of soap...
and the town was a major supplier for that traditional industry which was based in nearby Hebron.
Tomb of Lot
Bani Na'im houses the tomb of Lot, a prophet in IslamIslam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and a righteous person in Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
and Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, in the center of the town. The tomb is located within a rectangular-shaped mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
that contains an inner court and minaret
Minaret
A minaret مناره , sometimes مئذنه) is a distinctive architectural feature of Islamic mosques, generally a tall spire with an onion-shaped or conical crown, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure. The basic form of a minaret includes a base, shaft, and gallery....
. The lintel of the mosque's northern gate is built from stones dating to the Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
era when a church had possibly stood at the site. Lot's tomb was first mentioned by Saint Jerome
Saint Jerome
Saint Jerome is a Christian church father, best known for translating the Bible into Latin.Saint Jerome may also refer to:*Jerome of Pavia , Bishop of Pavia...
, then by John of Wirtzburg in 1100, and Ali of Herat in 1173. While the Crusader
Kingdom of Jerusalem
The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Catholic kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. The kingdom lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, was destroyed by the Mamluks, but its history is divided into two distinct periods....
s, who ruled the area from 1148 to 1187, were aware the tomb belonged to Lot, it remained a Muslim sanctuary unlike other Muslim edifices in Palestine which were converted to Christian use. In 1322, writer Sir John Mandeville writes "two miles from Hebron, is the grave of Lot, Abraham's brother." Ibn Battuta
Ibn Battuta
Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta , or simply Ibn Battuta, also known as Shams ad–Din , was a Muslim Moroccan Berber explorer, known for his extensive travels published in the Rihla...
noted in 1326 that the tomb was covered by a "fine building" made of white stone and without columns. Muslim writers al-Suyuti and Mujir ad-Din
Mujir al-Din al-'Ulaymi
Mujīr al-Dīn al-'Ulaymī , often simply Mujir al-Din, was a Jerusalemite qadi and Arab historian whose principal work chronicled the history of Jerusalem and Hebron in the Middle Ages. Entitled al-Uns al-Jalil bi-tarikh al-Quds wal-Khalil Mujīr al-Dīn al-'Ulaymī (Arabic: ) (1456–1522), often...
wrote in the 15th and 16th centuries, respectively, that Lot was buried in Bani Na'im. Tawfiq Canaan
Tawfiq Canaan
Tawfiq Canaan was a pioneering physician, medical researcher, ethnographer and Palestinian nationalist. Born in Beit Jala during the rule of the Ottoman Empire, he served as a medical officer in the Ottoman army during World War I...
, a researcher of Palestinian popular heritage, described the golden embroidered writing on the red silk cloth covering the tomb as reading, "This is the tomb of prophet Lut, peace be upon him."
Islam
Caliphate
The term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph " , refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah...
ic-era Kufic inscriptions on the front entrance to the mosque state that the Muslim scholar Abdullah bin Muhammad declared "the hills, the plains, the buildings, the paths, the gardens, the trees and the passage that transverses it [Bani Na'im]" are an endowment "for the prophet Lot, the son of Haran brother of Ibrahim (Abraham), the friend of the Compassionate (Allah), may the blessings of Allah be upon them ..." According to Muslim tradition, Lot lived in Bani Na'im before moving to Sodom. The shrine encasing the tomb was restored in 1410 by the Mamluk
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
sultan Nasir al-Faraj, son of Sultan Barquq. The restoration work was entrusted by him to Shams al-Din al-Ansari, a member of the prominent Ansari family which specialized in religious endowments (waqf
Waqf
A waqf also spelled wakf formally known as wakf-alal-aulad is an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law, typically denoting a building or plot of land for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. The donated assets are held by a charitable trust...
).
The tomb of Lot's daughters are on an opposite hill nearby. To the southeast of Bani Na'im is a separate shrine dedicated to Lot, known as Maqam an-Nabi Yatin ("Shrine of the Truthful Prophet.") Local legend claims Lot prayed at the site and imprints of his feet in a rock there are visible. According to Muslim and Christian tradition, Bani Na'im is the place where Abraham, after the departure of the angels, saw the smoke of Sodom and Gomorrah
Gomorrah
Gomorrah or Gomorra may refer to:* Sodom and Gomorrah, infamous biblical cities* Gomorrah , by Roberto Saviano** Gomorrah , based on the book* Operation Gomorrah, the Bombing of Hamburg in World War II in July 1943...
"rising as the smoke of a furnace."
Contemporary period
Bani Na'im grew considerably in population during the early 20th-century. Following World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, a British Mandatory Authority was established over Palestine, including Bani Na'im. An Arab revolt against the British authorities and Jewish immigration
Aliyah
Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...
to Palestine broke out in 1936 and lasted roughly three years. In December 1937, British forces ordered the demolition of a house in the town owned by two Arabs whom they accused of "bad character" and participation in an anti-British incident near the town. They fined Bani Na'im's mukhtar
Mukhtar
Mukhtar meaning "chosen" in Arabic, refers to the head of a village or mahalle in many Arab countries as well as in Turkey and Cyprus. The name refers to the fact that mukhtars are usually selected by some consensual or participatory method, often involving an election. Mukhtar is also a common...
s (town chiefs) 50 British pounds and had a number of town residents and the owners of the house carry 200 kilograms of explosives to the building for its demolition. They then gathered Bani Na'im's inhabitants to the edge of the town to witness the explosion as a deterrent measure.
Palestinian Arab irregulars
Army of the Holy War
The Army of the Holy War or Holy War Army was a force of Palestinian Arab irregulars in the 1947-48 Palestinian civil war led by Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni and Hasan Salama. The force has been described as Husayni's "personal" army...
led by Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni
Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni
Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni was a Palestinian Arab nationalist and fighter who in late 1933 founded the secret militant group known as the Organization for Holy Struggle, , which he and Hasan Salama commanded as the Army of the Holy War during the 1936-1939 Arab Revolt and during the 1948...
and his local commander, Abd al-Halim Jawlani, battled British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
forces in Bani Na'im in December 1938. According to British military accounts, a resident of Bani Na'im called for intervention when the rebels entered the town. Israeli scholar Hillel Cohen
Hillel Cohen
Hillel Cohen is an Israeli scholar who studies and writes about Jewish-Arab relations in Palestine/Israel. He is a Research Fellow at the Harry S...
wrote that it was Fakhri Nashashibi, a political rival of al-Husayni, who told the British that three rebel units entered Bani Na'im and were forcing its inhabitants (who Cohen claimed were supporters of the Nashashibi
Nashashibi
Nashashibi is the name of a prominent Palestinian family based in Jerusalem. Many of its members held senior positions in the government of Jerusalem. Raghib al-Nashashibi was Mayor of Jerusalem .- History :...
family) to join the revolt after being notified by the inhabitants. The British responded immediately and confronted around 100 irregulars. As a result of British Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
assistance, al-Husayni's troops dispersed and fled east of Bani Na'im where they were later pinned down. British forces pursued and decisively defeated the rebels, killing 60 and capturing 15. One British soldier was killed. Eyewitnesses claim al-Husayni himself was wounded and was evacuated to the government hospital in Hebron. In January 1939, British forces bombed a number of neighborhoods in the town for allegedly housing al-Husayni fighters.
Bani Na'im along with the rest of the West Bank came under Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
ian rule following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
. Since the occupation of the West Bank by Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
—which began in 1967 as a result of the Jordanian defeat in the Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
—the residents of Bani Na'im have been affected by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or...
. In 1982, Jewish settlers from nearby Kiryat Arba
Kiryat Arba
Kiryat Arba or Qiryat Arba , lit. "Town of the Four," is an Israeli settlement in the Judean Mountains region of the West Bank on the edge of Hebron. Its settlers consist of a mix of Russian immigrants, American immigrants, and native-born Israelis numbering close to 10,000...
shot dead an 18-year-old resident of the town. A popular committee against the Israeli occupation was set up in Bani Na'im during the First Intifada
First Intifada
The First Intifada was a Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories. The uprising began in the Jabalia refugee camp and quickly spread throughout Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem....
(1987-93) in 1987. In May 1988, two Palestinians were shot and killed by the Israeli Army
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
(IDF) in the center of the town. Bani Na'im later came under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian National Authority
Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...
(PNA) in 1997. On August 31, 2010, four Jewish settlers from Kiryat Arba were killed on a road outside Bani Na'im by militants from the Palestinian paramilitary group Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
. The attack was condemned by Israel and the PNA.
Geography and climate
Bani Naim forms a generally rough rectangular layout, and widens in the northwest and southwest. The town covers a mountainous area, with an average altitude of 958 metres (3,143 ft) above sea level. It is 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) to 8 kilometres (5 mi) southeast of HebronHebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
, however the two localities have virtually merged with each other. The Israeli settlement
Israeli settlement
An Israeli settlement is a Jewish civilian community built on land that was captured by Israel from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and is considered occupied territory by the international community. Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank...
of Kiryat Arba
Kiryat Arba
Kiryat Arba or Qiryat Arba , lit. "Town of the Four," is an Israeli settlement in the Judean Mountains region of the West Bank on the edge of Hebron. Its settlers consist of a mix of Russian immigrants, American immigrants, and native-born Israelis numbering close to 10,000...
is situated northwest of Bani Na'im, between it and Hebron. To its south lies the village of Hureiz
Hureiz
Hureiz is a Palestinian village located seven kilometers south-east of Hebron. The village is in the Hebron Governorate Southern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the village had a population of 997 in mid-year 2006...
and the town of Yatta
Yatta
"Yatta!" is a 2001 parody song by a fictional Japanese boy band called . The one word in the song title, yatta, is the past tense of the Japanese verb yaru and is also the familiar short form of yarimashita, an exclamation meaning "It's done!", "I did it!", "Ready!" or "All right!" The song was...
, to the north are Sa'ir
Sa'ir
Sa'ir is a Palestinian town located eight kilometers northeast of Hebron.The town is in the Hebron Governorate Southern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of over 18,045 in mid-year 2006....
and ash-Shuyukh
Ash-Shuyukh
Ash-Shuyukh or al-Shuyukh is a Palestinian town in the Hebron Governorate located 6km northeast of the city of Hebron. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Ash-Shuyukh had a population of over 8,811 in 2007....
, while Halhul
Halhul
Halhul is a Palestinian city located in the southern West Bank, north of Hebron in the Hebron Governorate. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the city had a population of 22,108 mostly Muslim inhabitants in 2007.- History :...
and the forest of Hebron lie to the west. Bani Na'im's lands extend east to the mountains that overlook the Dead Sea
Dead Sea
The Dead Sea , also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world...
.
Bani Na'im's total land area is about 157,000 dunam
Dunam
A dunam or dönüm, dunum, donum, dynym, dulum was a non-SI unit of land area used in the Ottoman Empire and representing the amount of land that can be plowed in a day; its value varied from 900–2500 m²...
s, but the town's built-up areas amount to roughly 2,500 dunams. The town itself is mostly located in Area A (Palestinian security and civilian administration) and Area B (Palestinian civil administration and Israeli military control.) The surrounding area is split between Area A, Area B and Area C (complete Israeli control). The nearby town of ar-Rawa'in to the east is located within Bani Na'im's municipal jurisdiction and is under Area A. However, the Israeli settlement of Ma'ale Hever
Ma'ale Hever
Ma'ale Hever or Pnei Hever , at an elevation of 810 metres, is a Religious Israeli settlement. The village is located in the eastern Hebron hills in the West Bank, east of Hebron and within the municipal jurisdiction of the Har Hebron Regional Council. The village, home to over fifty families, is...
, which is also located within the town's municipal borders, is under full Israeli control.
Average annual rainfall in Bani Na'im is 369 millimetres (14.5 in). The average temperature is 16 °C (61 °F) and the average annual humidity is 61%.
Demographics
In a 1922 survey conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Bani Na'im had a population of 1,179 inhabitants, rising to 1,646 in a 1931 census1931 census of Palestine
The 1931 census of Palestine was the second census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine. It was carried out on 18 November 1931 under the direction of Major E. Mills. The first census had been conducted in 1922...
. By 1945, it increased to 2,160 according to a land and population survey by Sami Hadawi
Sami Hadawi
Sami Hadawi was a Palestinian scholar and author. He is known for documenting the effects of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War on the Arab population in Palestine and published statistics for individual villages prior to Israel's establishment. Hadawi worked as a land specialist until he was exiled from...
. Under Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
ian rule, in 1952, the population surged to 5,778, partly due to large numbers of Palestinian refugee
Palestinian refugee
Palestinian refugees or Palestine refugees are the people and their descendants, predominantly Palestinian Arabic-speakers, who fled or were expelled from their homes during and after the 1948 Palestine War, within that part of the British Mandate of Palestine, that after that war became the...
s who settled in the town as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
. Later, the number of inhabitants declined due to the emigration of refugees from the town to other parts of the West Bank and Jordan. By 1967, there were 4,271 inhabitants in the town, gradually increasing to 6,703. In 1987, the population rose to roughly 7,600 people. In the 1997 census carried out by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics is the statistical organization under the umbrella of the Palestinian Cabinet of the Palestinian National Authority....
(PCBS), Bani Na'im had 13,535 inhabitants of which 604 were refugees. The gender distribution was 6,779 males and 6,756 females.
In the 2007 census, there were 20,084 people living in the town and 217 in nearby Masaferet Bani Na'im which is located within the municipal jurisdiction. The gender makeup of Bani Na'im's population was 50.2% male and 49.8% female. There were 3,490 housing units and the average household size consisted of 6.5 family members. Bani Na'im's inhabitants accounted for 3.67% of the Hebron Governorate's population and the town is officially considered an urban area. The inhabitants are Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s and 16 mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
s are present throughout the town. The main families are al-Manasrah (the largest), Zeidan, Trayrah, Humeidat, Ubeid, Harahsheh and Amr.
Government
Bani Na'im was established as a village councilVillage council (Palestinian Authority)
A Village council is a type of local government used in the Palestinian National Authority for Palestinian localities that usually number between 800-3,000+ inhabitants. The village council is also known D-level municipalities...
in 1971. After Bani Na'im was transferred to Area A
Administrative divisions of the Oslo Accords
The Oslo Accords created three temporary distinct administrative divisions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip until a final status accord would be established...
, giving the Palestinian National Authority full control of the town, it established a municipal council
Municipality (Palestinian Authority)
In the territories administrated by the Palestinian Authority, a municipality is an administrative unit of local government similar to a city. They were established and decided after the creation of the Local Government Ministry of the Palestinian National Authority in 1994. All municipalities are...
on May 20, 1997. The first council was formed from the old members of the previous village council. The council was made up of seven members, while there were 18 municipal employees.
The amount of municipal seats was expanded to 13 during the Palestinian municipal elections in 2005. A local group, the Bani Na'im Martyrs list, won the most seats: five. The Al-Aqsa list won three seats, Independent lists also won three and the Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
-backed Reform and Change list won the remaining two seats. Gender-wise, females won two seats and males eleven. Issa Hassan al-Khdour, member of the Bani Na'im Martyrs, had the most votes (3,281), and thus became the head of the municipality. In addition, the number of municipal employees increased to 30.
The municipal borders of Bani Na'im extend beyond the town and include the following villages: Birin, ar-Rawa'in and Masaferet Bani Na'im. The latter is a grouping of the following hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
s: Mantiqat al-Ein, Mantiqat as-Sahel, Mantiqat Qaber K'heil, Mantiqat Hilmi, Mantiqat al-Hamra, Mantiqat al-Qurun, Mantiqat al-Mathbah, Mantiqat as-Sweidat, Mantiqat Um ar-Raqam and Khor 'Atara. Despite having a municipality, most official services are provided by the city of Hebron. However, Bani Na'im has a police station, a post office, and a local security office.
Education and health
Fourteen schools are located in Bani Na'im: seven for males, five for females and two are co-educational. In addition, there are two kindergartens. In 2009, the municipality stated that the general school conditions were unfavorable and there exists a shortage of classrooms. The first school was established in 1929. Consisting of one classroom, the enrollment at the time did not exceed 20 female and male students and the highest grade-level was the fourth grade.According to the 2007 census, 92.2% of the population was literate and most of the illiterate population was female. In the census, it was recorded that 3,613 students were in elementary school, 3,601 in preparatory school, and 1,862 were enrolled in high school. Approximately 958 people received college diplomas, 49 of which were higher than bachelor diplomas. The nearest universities and colleges are located in Hebron, such as Hebron University
Hebron University
The Hebron University is an independent Palestinian institution of higher education, with over 7,000 students, around 73% of whom are female....
, the Palestine Polytechnic University
Palestine Polytechnic University
Palestine Polytechnic University is a university located in Hebron, West Bank, Palestine.The school was founded in 1978 by the University Graduates Union , a non-profit organization in Hebron.Enrolment in 2007 was greater than 5000 students....
, and the Hebron College of Technical Engineering.
Most of Bani Na'im's main health facilities are privately owned and include a obstetrical hospital, five clinics, three dental clinics and physiotherapy center. The Palestinian Ministry of Health
Health Minister of the Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian Ministry of Health is led by the Hamas government and works to address health concerns and humanitarian needs of the population in the Gaza Strip.-External links:* *...
runs a childcare center and medical lab in the town while an additional health center as well as an x-ray center are run by a charitable society. In addition, there are five pharmacies in Bani Na'im. In 2009, the town had one ambulance. Residents have to travel to Hebron for emergency treatment.
Economy and infrastructure
Bani Na'im a central commerce town in the Hebron area and unlike many of the surrounding towns and villages, trade and commerce plays a major role in the local economy; approximately 50% of the working residents are engaged in the industry which is mostly restricted to the West Bank. About 20% are employed in the Israeli labor market while 19% work in agricultureAgriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
. The remainder of the employed inhabitants work as civil servants or in the industrial sector. There are four stone-cutting factories, a brick factory, a textile factory, an olive press, eleven metal workshops, four carpentries, seven butcheries, 13 clothing venues, and 110 other shops and stores in Bani Na'im.
The decline in market demand combined with movement restrictions implemented by the Israeli military have led to a deterioration of the local economy, particularly in the trade and the stone-cutting industries. In 2007, unemployment reached 30%. Consequently, many unemployed persons have begun looking into agriculture to earn an income. The most cultivated crops are various grains, especially barley, followed by lentils and chick peas
Hummus
Hummus is high in iron and vitamin C and also has significant amounts of folate and vitamin B6. The chickpeas make it a good source of protein and dietary fiber; the tahini consists mostly of sesame seeds, which are an excellent source of the amino acid methionine, complementing the proteins in the...
. A sizable segment of the population raise livestock and roughly 10% breed their own domestic animals. In total, there are 144 cows, 7,000 goats, 14,000 sheep, and 500 beehives being raised in the town. Much of the town's agricultural products are sold in Hebron.
There are 4,244 buildings in Bani Na'im, of which 3,452 are houses and 213 are working establishments. Pipe water reaches more than 95% of the residents. The water pipe line, 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) in length, is linked to the main water supply of the Israeli settlement
Israeli settlement
An Israeli settlement is a Jewish civilian community built on land that was captured by Israel from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and is considered occupied territory by the international community. Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank...
of Efrat
Efrat
Efrat , or officially Efrata , is an Israeli settlement established in 1983 and a local council in the Judean Mountains of the West Bank. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this...
, south of Bethlehem
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...
. Around 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) of main and sub lines inside the town were recently maintained and repaired. The cost of this project was roughly one million NIS.
Generators previously operated for no more than five hours daily and for house use only, but in 1994, Bani Na'im was linked with electricity. Later, new factories were built and every building in the town is currently linked with electricity. The municipality installed street lights since 1994.
External links
- Bani Naim Profile
- Bani Naim Areal Photo
- The priorities and needs for development in Bani Na'im town based on the community and local authorities’ assessment
