Ramallah

Ramallah (Arabic: is a Palestinian city of approximately 57,000 residents. It is located about 15 kilometers (9 miles) north-west of Jerusalem.

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Although mentions of Ramallah can be found throughout historical texts, modern Ramallah was founded in the mid 1500s by the Hadadeens, a tribe of brothers who were descended from Yemenite Christian Arabs. The Hadadeens, lead by Rashed Haddad, arrived from east of the Jordan River near what is now the Jordanian town of Shobak. Although the reasons for the Hadadeen's migration is attributed to fighting and unrest among tribes in that area, a more common rendition is as follows: Rashed's brother Sabri Haddad was once hosting Emir Ibn Kaysoom, the head of a powerful tribe in the region, when Sabri's wife gave birth to a baby girl. According to tribal customs, the Emir congratulated Sabri and asked for the infant's betrothal to his own young son once they both came of age. Sabri believed the request to be in jest, as Christian-Muslim intermarriage was not customary, and agreed to the request in what he likewise considered a joke. Many years later, the Emir came to the Hadadeens and demanded they fulfill their promise, which they refused to do. Many clashes ensued during the following months, with assassinations occurring on both sides. To avoid further bloodshed at the hands of the more powerful Kaysoom tribe, the Hadadeens fled west, and settled on the hilltops of Ramallah, which was only very sparsely populated at the time by a handful of Muslim families. Subsequently, the Hadadeen family elders (along with heads of a few other Christian tribes that arrived in Ramallah afterwards) each became the head of eight clans to whom modern-day Ramallah natives can still trace their ancestry.

Palestinian: : The term "Palestinian" has other usages, for which see definitions of Palestinian....

Jerusalem: Jerusalem (; Hebrew: ; Yerushalayim; Arabic: al-Quds; see also names of Jerusalem) is an ancient Middle Eastern city of key importance to the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It is the capital of the State of Israel....

Yemenite: Yemenite may refer to:...

Ramallah related Images and Photos (experimental)

Israel Palestinians Holy Week Ramallah Palestine

A Painting on the Israeli Separartion Wall in East Jerusalem Near the Border with Ramallah