Ein Rafa ( or ; ) is an

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

village ten kilometers 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 ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. Located on the other side of Route 1 to

Abu Ghosh Abu Ghosh (; ) is an Arab-Israeli local council in Israel, located west of Jerusalem on the Tel Aviv–Jerusalem highway. It is situated 610–720 meters above sea level. It takes its current name from the dominant clan inhabiting the town, ...

, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Mateh Yehuda Regional Council Mateh Yehuda Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Azorit Mateh Yehuda'', ) is a Regional council (Israel), regional council in the Jerusalem District of Israel. In 2024 it was home to 51,125 people. The name of the regional council stems from the fact t ...

. In it had a population of .

History

Ein Rafa was founded in the 1940s when the Barhom family moved from the nearby village of Suba into the valley. It expanded after 1948 when several other families left Suba and settled there. Most of the residents of the village are descended from the Barhom family.Family Affair

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 ...

, 22 November 2007 In 2007, there was controversy when one home built without a permit was demolished in the village.

Education and culture

In a co-existence project in Ein Rafa, children and teachers from the local school meet with Jewish children for joint activities in which they share food and games and become more trusting of one another.The ripple effect

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

, 6 April 2004

Notable people

* Tawfeek Barhom (b. 1990), actor

Gallery

File:PikiWiki Israel 9555 Geography of Israel.JPG, File:Ein rafa.JPG, File:Ein Rafa.jpg, Members of kibbutz Tzova on a "courtesy visit" to Ein Rafa, 1948

References

External links