al-Bireh

Al- Bireh (Arabic البيرة, DMG al - Bira, Palestinian- Arab - il BIRE, also el- Bira; Hebrew אָל בִּירֶה ) is a grown together with Ramallah city in the Palestinian territories in the West Bank. The city is located 15 km north of Jerusalem at an altitude of 860 m and is equipped with almost 40,000 inhabitants, the largest city in the governorate of Ramallah and al - Bireh.

In the West, the city adjacent to Ramallah, located in the north, the Jewish settlement of Beit El. To the east are on a hill, the Jewish settlement Psagot and to the south the Amari refugee camp and the place Qalandia, where there is now the border crossing to Jerusalem.

Al- Bireh was once on the main road from Jerusalem to Nablus ( National Road 60). In the Second Intifada, the north exit was locked at Beit El and the road 60 moved east of Psagot. The border crossing Qalandia in the south was closed to trucks, making it the through traffic away.

Many institutions of government, five ministries and the Office of the President, the Muqataa, lying on the territory of the municipality. Nevertheless, the city name in favor of Ramallah almost always remains unmentioned, even though al - Bireh is the larger city.

In the town, there are representative offices in Austria and Switzerland.

Name

The name al - Bireh comes from the Arabic word Bir / بئر / bi ʾ r /, fountains ' and corresponds to " Brunn " or " Brno ". A water fountain can also be seen in the coat of arms.

History

The city developed as a Muslim sister to the once Christian Ramallah, until it came to a complete coalescence. The main shopping streets are the connecting roads between the two cities. Although there are two town halls, other institutions, however, are present only once, eg the vegetable market or the Islamic court.

On June 6, 1967, the city came the Six Day War under Israeli occupation. The military administration (DCO ) for the Ramallah district was placed in the Muqataa.

With the end of the First Intifada, the settlement Psagot got its own entrance from the east, bringing settlers no longer had to drive through the city.

In the 1990s, the city received a new town hall and post office, on its façade a verse of Mahmoud Darwish is artistically presented.

According to the Palestinian autonomy, the city experienced an enormous upswing. There were many wealthy Palestinian emigrants and members of government in the city and established companies, hotels and many built large villas. Thus, the first Palestinian shopping center was built in the Western sense in the north. The exterior, the interior, finance and the ministry of religion were settled in al - Bireh.

In the late 1990s, the numerous taxi stands have been replaced by a large car park with an integrated bus station next to the vegetable market. The use of the police against taxis, waiting for guests outside the building, removed the problem of chronically congested main road.

At the beginning of the Second Intifada were frequent gun battles between Israeli soldiers in the settlement Psagot and armed Palestinians who often entrenched themselves on Islamic cemetery. Later, the Muqataa with Yasser Arafat was besieged several times. The economic situation caused in consequence, many returnees to leave the country again.

In 2005, the congregation built a new cemetery because the old one is crowded. However, since this is at the foot of the hill with the settlement Psagot, the Israelis banned the use of the land.

On 26 October 2008, funded by the FIFA Goal program Artificial grass soccer field by FIFA President Sepp Blatter was inaugurated. It also laid the foundation for the construction of the stadium itself was placed. The construction of the stands is funded by Germany and France, the outer walls and the display board of the community al - Bireh. In October 2009, however, the Israeli civil administration in the occupied territories imposed surprisingly a construction freeze due to " lack of building permits " - three years after the project began and 10 months after start of construction of the stands. The place to be is likewise near the settlement Psagot suspects behind the building freeze but political reasons.

Sister City

DIN 31635
39540
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