Al-Walaja
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Al-Walaja () is a
Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...
village in the
West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
, in the Bethlehem Governorate of the
State of Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
, four kilometers northwest of
Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...
. It is an
enclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is so ...
in the Seam Zone, near the Green Line. Al-Walaja is partly under the jurisdiction of the Bethlehem Governorate and partly of the
Jerusalem Municipality The Jerusalem Municipality (), the seat of the Israeli municipal administration, consists of a number of buildings located on Jaffa Road in the city of Jerusalem. History British Mandate town hall (1930) Jerusalem's old town hall was bui ...
. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the village had a population of 2,671 in 2017. It has been called 'the most beautiful village in Palestine'. Al-Walaja was depopulated during the
1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...
, in October 1948. It lost about 70% of its land, west of the Green Line. After the war, the displaced inhabitants resettled on the remaining land in the West Bank. After its occupation by Israel during the
Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
, Israel
annexed Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition and assertion of legal title over one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held to ...
about half of al-Walaja's remaining land, including the neighborhood Ain Jawaizeh, to the Jerusalem Municipality. Large parts of the land were confiscated for the construction of the
Israeli West Bank barrier The West Bank barrier, West Bank wall or the West Bank separation barrier, is a separation barrier built by Israel along the Green Line (Israel), Green Line and inside parts of the West Bank. Israel describes the wall as a necessary securi ...
and the
Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, also called Israeli colonies, are the civilian communities built by Israel throughout the Israeli-occupied territories. They are populated by Israeli citizens, almost exclusively of Israeli Jews, Jewish identity or ethni ...
s of Har Gilo and Gilo, one of the Ring Settlements of East Jerusalem.


History


Ottoman period

In 1596, al-Walaja appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in the ''
Nahiya A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level divisi ...
'' of Quds of the '' Liwa'' of Quds. It had a population of 100
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
households and 9 bachelors; an estimated 655 persons. They paid a fixed tax-rate of 33,3 % on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, vines or fruit trees, and goats or beehives; a total of 7,500 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 116. Note typo, see talk−pageKhalidi, 1992, p. 322 In 1838, it was noted as a Muslim village, ''el-Weleje'', in the ''Beni Hasan'' District west of
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p
123
/ref> An Ottoman village list from about 1870 counted 78 houses and a population of 379, though the population count included men only. In 1883, the PEF's " Survey of Western Palestine" described al-Walaja as a "good-sized" village built of stone. During the latter half of Ottoman rule, al-Walaja was the administrative seat of the Bani Hasan subdistrict (''nahiya''), which consisted of over ten villages, including al-Khader, Suba, Beit Jala, Ayn Karim and al-Maliha, and served as the throne village of the al-Absiyeh family. In 1896 the population of Al-Walaja was estimated to be about 810 persons.


British Mandate

In the
1922 census of Palestine The 1922 census of Palestine was the first census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine, on 23 October 1922. The reported population was 757,182, including the military and persons of foreign nationality. The divis ...
conducted by the British Mandate authorities, ''Walajeh'' had a population 910, all Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Jerusalem, p
14
/ref> increasing in the 1931 census to 1,206, still all Muslim, in 292 houses. Between 1922 and 1947 the population doubled. In the 1945 statistics the population of ''El Walaja'' was 1,650, all Muslims, and the total land area was 17,708
dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; ; ; ), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area analogous in role (but not equal) to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amo ...
s, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 17,507 dunams were owned by Arabs, 35 dunams were owned by Jews, and 166 were public property.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April, 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p
58
2,136 dunams were for plantations and irrigable land, 6,227 for cereals, while 31 dunams were built-up (urban) land.


Jordanian rule (1948–1967)

The old village, less than two kilometers northwest of the new town on the Israeli side of the Green Line, was captured by the Harel Brigade of the Palmach in the
1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...
. The village defense consisted of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and the Arab Liberation Army as well as a local
militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...
. It was reclaimed by Arab forces more than once before it capitulated to Israeli troops on October 21, 1948.Morris, 2004, p
xx
village #349. Also gives cause of depopulation.
Thousands of villagers fled. In the 1949 Armistice Agreements, the Green Line was drawn through the village with 70% of the land and 30 water springs on the Israeli side.''Palestinians on statehood: ′We want action, not votes at the UN′''
Harriet Sherwood, The Guardian, 14 September 2011
The village was completely destroyed during the 1948 war and the villagers rebuilt it east of the 1949 Armistice Line inside the West Bank territories.''Living in a Cage''
POICA, 17 January 2004
In January 1952, an IDF patrol seized two Arab villagers in a field 300 meters on the Jordanian side of the armistice line and brought them to an abandoned house in Walaja, where they were killed. Israel told UN investigators that they had been shot inside Israeli territory when they had jumped out from behind a rock. The UN and Jordanian cross-examiners were unable to obtain an Israeli admission, but the Israeli delegate on the Mixed Armistice Commission wrote privately to his superior that the allegations were true but the patrol was not acting under orders.


1967 and aftermath

After the
Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
in 1967, the whole of Al-Walaja has been under
Israeli occupation Israel has occupied the Golan Heights of Syria and the Palestinian territories since the Six-Day War of 1967. It has previously occupied the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt and southern Lebanon as well. Prior to 1967, control of the Palestinian terr ...
. Israel redrew the Jerusalem municipal boundaries, annexing half of al-Walaja's land that had remained after the 1948 war. Although the Ain Jawaizeh neighborhood of al-Walaja was included in the Jerusalem Municipality, imposing Israeli law on its inhabitants, residency rights in Jerusalem were denied. Ain Jawaizeh does not receive municipal services and homes may not be built.''The Israeli Colonization Activities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip During 2004''
section ''"Case Study 1(a): Al Walaja Village"''. ARIJ, March 2005
''OCHA Humanitarian Update Occupied Palestinian Territories Jan 2005''
ReliefWeb, 31 January 2005
The splitting of the village caused various problems. Cars of local residents of both parts were confiscated by the Israeli Border Police for trespassing illegally into Israel. After the 1995 accords, 2.6% of al-Walaja land was classified as Area B, while the remaining 97.4% was classified as Area C. 45 and 92 dunams of village land were confiscated for the construction of Gilo and Har Gilo respectively. In 2003 through January 2005, Israel demolished Palestinian houses in Ain Jawaizeh and issued demolition orders against 53 other houses.At Risk of De-Population: Home Demolitions in Ain Jawaizeh area of Al-Walaja Village, Bethlehem Governorate
. PLO-NAD, Palestinian Monitoring Group, 18 January 2005
Land confiscation orders issued by the IDF in August 2003 showed that the route of the barrier will completely surround the residents of the village, allowing them only one entry/exit point. The two main access routes for Ain Jawaizeh to Bethlehem were both closed, and the only access road to Jerusalem was restricted for access to Har Gilo by Israeli-licensed vehicles only. In April 2005, fruit orchards were cut down and homes were demolished due to the absence of building permits to make place for the construction of the barrier.''Israeli Authorities Cut Down Hundreds of Fruit-Bearing Trees''
PLO-NAD, Palestinian Monitoring Group, 14 April 2005
In April 2010,
Gush Etzion Gush Etzion (, ' Etzion Bloc) is a cluster of Israeli settlements located in the Judaean Mountains, directly south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the West Bank. The core group includes four Jewish agricultural villages that were founded in 1943 ...
settlers and residents of al-Walaja united to protest the extension of security fences around Jerusalem. The event was partially coordinated by the Kfar Etzion-based organization ארצשלום ("Land of Peace") dedicated to building contacts between Jewish settlers and West Bank Arabs. In 2012, a group of
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
students were expelled from al-Walaja when they tried to visit a house which was due to be demolished due to the West Bank wall. In September 2018, four houses built without planning permission were destroyed by Israeli border police, injuring about 40 people in the process. Lawyer Itai Peleg representing some of the villagers wrote that Israel had for years refused to approve a master plan for the village and that "there is no dispute that the State of Israel and its various authorities and the Jerusalem municipality give the residents of al-Walaja no service whatsoever other than ‘home demolition service.’" Though technically their lands are incorporated into the Jerusalem municipality, the Israeli authorities have refused to issue most residents blue cards. The area is planned as a national park for residents of Gilo. Picking olives from their lands, divided from the adjacent village by the Separation Barrier, can require a roundabout 25 kilometer trek. In October 2019, on Walaja resident was fined $US200 for picking olives from his family land.


Demography

According to a census by the British Mandate government in 1945, al-Walaja had a population of 1,650 inhabitants and a land area of 17,708
dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; ; ; ), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area analogous in role (but not equal) to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amo ...
s. The residents fled when it was captured and the Israeli village of Aminadav was built on the land. One of the few old-timers is Abed Rabbeh, who lives alone in a cave and raises chickens. When U.S. President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
was visiting Israel, Rabbeh invited him to his cave but the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem sent a brief note of regret saying this could not be arranged.


Landmarks

The village has three mosques.


Al-Badawi-Boom, the ancient olive tree

Walaja is the site of Al-Badawi-Boom, an ancient
olive tree The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...
claimed to be approximately 5,000-year-old and therefore the second oldest olive tree in the world after "The Sisters" olive trees in Bchaaleh, Northern Lebanon.


'Ain el-Haniya spring

The 'Ain el-Haniya spring (also spelled Ein Haniya or Hanniya) in the Rephaim Valley, located on village lands, but separated from it by the West Bank barrier, flows from among the ruins of a Roman nymphaeum and boasts a number of archaeological remains. It has historically been used as a source of water for people and flocks, for irrigation and for recreation. Once restoration and development work was completed in 2018, the site was reopened as part of the Refa'im Valley Park, but only Israelis were allowed access to it.The Jerusalem Municipality Opens a Spring for Israelis Only
Peace Now, 19 February 2018, accessed 4 September 2020.
The Ein Hanya Spring: A Charming, Spruced-up Jerusalem Spot Free of Palestinians
by Naama Riba, for
Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...
, 16 March 2018, accessed 4 September 2020.
A Christian tradition places here the baptism of the royal Ethiopian treasurer by the
deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...
Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...
, known as the Evangelist, and the ruins of a Byzantine church are standing next to the spring.


ʿAin Joweizeh spring

'Ain Joweizeh is another spring in the immediate vicinity of Al-Walaja. During an
archaeological survey In archaeology, survey or field survey is a type of field research by which archaeologists (often Landscape archaeology, landscape archaeologists) search for archaeological sites and collect information about the location, distribution and organi ...
in 'Ain Joweizeh, an ancient Judahite
water system A water supply network or water supply system is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components that provide water supply. A water supply system typically includes the following: # A drainage basin (see water purification – sourc ...
was found, together with a Proto-Aeolic capital.


Cultural institutions

The Al-Walaja sports club was established in 1995. A women's club and the Ansar Youth Center opened in 2000. In 2005, the Ministry of the Interior established the Agriculture Charitable Society to aid local farmers.


See also

* Bassel al-Araj *
East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the portion of Jerusalem that was Jordanian annexation of the West Bank, held by Jordan after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Captured and occupied in 1967, th ...
* Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel * List of villages depopulated during the Arab–Israeli conflict


References


Bibliography

* * * * * (visited 1863: pp
5385
''Oueledjeh'') * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links



PalestineRemembered.com (old page, archived)
Welcome To al-Walaja
PalestineRemembered.com (new page, accessed September 2020)
al-Walaja
Zochrot *Survey of Western Palestine, Map 17
IAA
Wikimedia commons Wikimedia Commons, or simply Commons, is a wiki-based Digital library, media repository of Open content, free-to-use images, sounds, videos and other media. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. Files from Wikimedia Commons can be used ...

Al Walaja Village (Fact Sheet)
Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem (ARIJ)
Al Walaja Village Profile
ARIJ
Al Walaja aerial photo
ARIJ
The priorities and needs for development in Al Walaja village based on the community and local authorities’ assessment
ARIJ

from the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
Palestinian statehood: The olive tree of al-Walaja - videoOlive Wars
2014, BBC {{DEFAULTSORT:Walaja, Al Seam Zone Municipalities of Palestine District of Jerusalem Villages in the West Bank Bethlehem Governorate Neighbourhoods of Jerusalem Throne villages Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem 1949 establishments in Palestine Populated places established in 1949 Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War