Frequently Asked Questions

Bir Zeit is a city on the West Bank of Israel/Palestine, located about 35 km northeast from Jerusalem and about 5 miles north of Ramallah. It has a population of about 6,000 with 13,000 students attending Bir Zeit University, which is located there. Bir Zeit university is one of the most widely respected universities in the Arab world, granting bachelor, master, and PhDs.

A sister city is a relationship established between two entities in different countries. They were initially established after world war II by president Eisenhower to promote international understanding between Japan, Germany and the United States.

All of us have been affected by events in Israel, Palestine, and the rest of the middle east – either as individuals personally, family members, professional colleagues, or friends. We all believe that a greater understanding of the geography, history, and local environment on the part of the American public would help foster the conditions for peace in the area.

There are eight sister cities to Ann Arbor – Tuebingen, Germany and Hikone, Japan are the longest established cities dating from 1965. There are a couple of excellent articles from the Ann Arbor Observer and the Ann Arbor District Library from the past decades describing the process, status, and outcomes of the other six cities – Peterborough, Ontario; Belize City, Belize; Juigalpa, Honduras; Dakar, Senegal; Remedios, Cuba; and Lubny, Ukraine.

There is not an exact or accurate count of sister cities. Sister Cities International lists about 1,500 sister cities in the US, but those only include cities who have become members of their organization. Wikipedia lists over 3,200 from a search in early 2026, but they write on their web site that their information is incorrect and incomplete. For example, Ann Arbor’s most recent sister city, Lubny, Ukraine which was established in 2024 is not listed.

The states that have the most number of sister cities are California (590), Florida (254), and Texas (221). Michigan has 96 sister cities, and South Dakota only has five. The US with the most sister cities is Laredo, Texas with 37, 26 of which are in Mexico.

There are five Palestinian towns linked with 9 US cities – Ramallah, Palestine is linked with Muscatine, Iowa, Paterson, New Jersey, and Millbrae, California; Bethlehem is linked with Sacramento, California, Joplin, Missouri, and Burlington, Vermont; Qaliqiliya is linked with Gainesville, Florida, Nablus with Boulder, and Salfit with Dayton, Ohio.

There are 56 Israel cities “sistered” with US cities. Most frequent are Haifa (23), Tel Aviv (22), Netanya (19), Ramat Gan (14), Ashdod (13), Eilat (13), Petah Tikva (13).

Michigan has four towns that have sister cities in Palestine – Dearborn has Qana Lebanon, Detroit has Dubai from the United Arab Emirates, Sterling Heights has Ankawa, Iraq, and Troy has Aley, Lebanon. There are no sister cities in Israel from Michigan. This is partly because many local synagogues have their own “adopted” cities. For example, the Jewish Federation of Washtenaw Country has adopted Nahalal Moshav in Israel as a sister city.

Sister cities are not limited to the US. There are many cities in Europe, Japan, and elsewhere that have adopted sister cities throughout the world. For example, Bethlehem is a sister city to 72 different cities, 33 of which are in Italy.

Creating and maintaining a sister city relationship will have no impact on your taxes. It is the responsibility of the organization proposing the relation to support and finance any of the expenses associated with the affiliation.

Bir Zeit has a unique connection with Ann Arbor. Like Ann Arbor, it has a world-class university which dominates the local city. Although there are 13,000 students at Bir Zeit, there are only 6,000 residents. A more complete description of the university, its history, curriculum may be found here.

The grandparents of Randa Nasir Ajlouny who is one of our advisors, founded the Bir Zeit college after converting it from a Girl’s school in the 1920s. Her father, Hana Nasir, was president of the university until he was handcuffed, blindfolded, and expelled from Bir Zeit to Lebanon in 1975 when Randa was just one year old. He finally returned to Bir Zeit in 1993 after the Oslo accords were signed by Israel. He currently resides there with Randa’s mother.

Another Ann Arbor resident, Rula Kort, who was a member of Zeitouna, also lives in Bir Zeit where she is in the development office of the university to raise funds for the medical school.

The formal steps to creating a sister city relationship is to obtain an agreement between the mayor and city council in Ann Arbor with the elected officials in Birzeit. Given the logistical difficulties of international travel, it is likely that some sort of Zoom call would be made between the parties after agreement has been made.

Bringing peace between peoples means creating situations of economic growth, institutional relationship-building, cultural and economic exchange. This sister city project is an exercise in citizen diplomacy, dissolving boundaries, and bridging the future. The process of creating coalitions, reaching out to potential allies, honing the messages and communications, having difficult conversations, creating contacts with elected officials, the media, and with other locals, and educating the public is reward in and of itself.

Ann Arbor has eight sister cities, only two of which are active (Tuebingen, Germany and Hikone, Japan). There are over 3,000 US cities that have sister cities. The most number is Laredo, Texas with 37, most of whom are in Mexico.

Ann Arbor has a long tradition of being involved in international issues. In the 1980s, then mayor Ed Pierce led a delegation to Honduras to promote their sister city. That year also saw the passage of a ballot resolution supporting the Sandanista government. Ann Arbor has been involved in anti-war protests in the 1960s and 1970s, a petition drive to support Palestinians on the west bank in the 1980s, and the passage in 2024 in city council for a resolution on a cease fire in Gaza.