Beit Ummar
The sign above the entrance reads: ‘Beit Ummar says Welcome!’ And once inside, the friendliness doesn’t stop. This welcoming, attractive and lively town is spread out over a cluster of peaks, just 11km north of Hebron. The bustling high street is always home to tractors motoring along nonchalantly, while there is a good variety of shops and businesses dotted along the road.
Away from the main road, the architecture is simple yet beautiful, with charming old houses waiting to be discovered down side streets, in varying degrees of disrepair. Grape vines and fig trees provide shelter from the sun in the height of summer, and help paint the town a tranquil green colour. But it has not been plain sailing for Beit Ummar, since the Second Intifada unemployment has tended to range between 60-80% due largely to the inability to work in Israel.
Population: 13,348 (2007)