Ottoman archives record 16th century Ramallah as a well established agricultural village of about four hundred people. With time Ramallah became a prosperous town attracting families to the area. It developed as any ordinary village, notable only for the fact it was predominately Christian. During the mid 19th century, in an attempt to make allies and create a balance of power against the Ottoman Empire, Ibrahim Pasha opened the country to European interests, including the church. Consequently the end of the 19th century saw a huge influx of church representatives and missionaries to the area, resulting in the development of church institutions such as schools and hospitals
Indirectly this church activity was responsible for the onset of emigration from Ramallah to the United States. Builders and stone masons were brought from Bethlehem to work on the new buildings required for these institutions. Bethlehem, with its proximity to Jerusalem, and religious status, had well established links to the west, and a considerable number of its inhabitants had emigrated. The Bethlehem builders told stories about America and the money sent to them by their relatives there. Inspired by tales of the land of opportunity, the beginning of this century saw the start of emigration from Ramallah to the United States.
At around the same time Ramallah began to grow and spread beyond the boundaries of the original village, or old city. New two storey houses appeared with enclosed gardens and beautiful stone and masonry work. Some of the most beautiful buildings in Ramallah are those which were built during the 1920s. This was a time of social development. New money from relatives in America together with employment prospects under the British Mandate government created a new Ramallah bourgeoisie who moved from the old village to the area around it and their new villas. Ramallah grew, particularly along the main roads and in the direction of Al-Bireh, bringing the two villages yet closer. During the 1920s and 30s the empty houses in the old city were taken by families from the Hebron area who came to work for mandate officials. To this day many of the people living in the older houses in this area are originally from around Hebron.
Emigration continued, and by 1946 1,500 of Ramallah's 6000 residents had gone. However in 1948 there was an influx of refugees to Ramallah, families forced to flee from their homes in Jaffa, Lydda and Ramleh by Israeli forces. So while by 1953 the population had doubled, one third of the native population had left and were living in America. The Ramallah community is today one of the largest individual Arab communities in the US. The unhappy transition from a relatively benign Jordanian occupation to Israeli military occupation in June 1967, has left a few collectors' items (see right) littering the secondhand bookshops of the world |
