Revava ( he, רְבָבָה), is an Orthodox

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish Israeli settlement in the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. Built over land confiscated from the nearby

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

cities of

Deir Istiya Deir Istiya ( ar, دير إستيا) is a Palestinian town of 5,200 located in the Salfit Governorate in the northern West Bank, southwest of Nablus. The built-up area of Deir Istiya is 74 dunams, and its old city has about thirty families. Locat ...

and Haris, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Shomron Regional Council The Shomron Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית שומרון, ''Mo'atza Azorit Shomron'', English ''Samaria Regional Council'') is an Israeli regional council in the northern portion of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Thirty-five Is ...

. In , it had a population of . The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.

Etymology

The word "revava" in Hebrew means "ten thousand". The name was chosen based on the biblical verse: "And they blessed Rebekah, and said to her: Our sister, you will be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let your seed possess the gate of those that hate them" (Genesis 24:60). In addition, the area in question was allotted to the Israelite tribe of

Ephraim Ephraim (; he, ''ʾEp̄rayīm'', in pausa: ''ʾEp̄rāyīm'') was, according to the Book of Genesis, the second son of Joseph ben Jacob and Asenath. Asenath was an Ancient Egyptian woman whom Pharaoh gave to Joseph as wife, and the daught ...

: "And they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh" (Deuteronomy 33:17).

History

According to ARIJ, Israel confiscated land from two nearby

villages in order to construct Revava: *335 dunams were taken from

,Deir Istiya Town Profile
ARIJ, p. 18 *304 dunams were taken from Haris.Haris Village Profile
p. 17 Revava was established in the spring of 1991 in a central location, at a location about half an hour east of

Petah Tikva Petah Tikva ( he, פֶּתַח תִּקְוָה, , ), also known as ''Em HaMoshavot'' (), is a city in the Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Jews of the Old Yishuv, and became a permanent s ...

, near

Ariel Ariel may refer to: Film and television *Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award * ''Ariel'' (film), a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki * ''ARIEL Visual'' and ''ARIEL Deluxe'', 1989 and 1991 anime video series based on the novel series ...

and the

Barkan Barkan ( he, בַּרְקָן) is an Israeli settlement in the northern West Bank, about 8 km west of the Palestinian city of Salfit, under the administrative local government of the Shomron Regional Council. In its population was . The ...

industrial zone.Avihai Becker
'Because they can,'

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner ...

13 March 2002 The property was purchased in the 1980s by the Fund for Redeeming the Land. The first families settled on the site in fourteen trailers on the eve of

Israeli Independence Day Independence Day ( he, יום העצמאות ''Yom Ha'atzmaut'', lit. "Day of Independence") is the national day of Israel, commemorating the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948. The day is marked by official and unofficial ceremonies ...

. The main synagogue in Revava is Revavot Ephraim. In 2010, after a 10-month construction slowdown expired, work began on the construction of a kindergarten in Revava. At a celebration rally, residents released 2,000 blue and white balloons, the colors of the

Israeli flag The flag of Israel ( he, דגל ישראל '; ar, علم إسرائيل ') was adopted on 28 October 1948, five months after the establishment of the State of Israel. It depicts a blue hexagram on a white background, between two horizontal bl ...

, to symbolize a new wave of housing construction. The rally was also attended by hundreds of Christians from all over the world who were visiting

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

to take part in the annual

Feast of Tabernacles or ("Booths, Tabernacles") , observedby = Jews, Samaritans, a few Protestant denominations, Messianic Jews, Semitic Neopagans , type = Jewish, Samaritan , begins = 15th day of Tishrei , ends = 21st day of Tishrei ...

celebration of the International Christian Zionist Center.

Ayoub Kara Ayoob Kara ( ar, أيوب قرا, he, איוב קרא; born 12 March 1955) is an Israeli Druze politician. He has served as a member of the Knesset for Likud in four spells between 1999 and 2021, and as Minister of Communications. Biography ...

, an

Israeli Druze Israeli Druze or Druze Israelis ( ar, الدروز الإسرائيليون; he, דְּרוּזִים יִשְׂרְאֵלִים) are an ethnoreligious minority among the Arab citizens of Israel. In 2019, there were 143,000 Druze people livin ...

member of

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

and Deputy Minister for development of the Negev and Galilee, spoke at the rally. He welcomed the tourists saying: "I say to all the non-Jews who are here, I too am not a Jew, but in spirit I am most Jewish, I am most Zionist, and so are you! Good for you that you are here to support Israel. In 2011, a permanent synagogue was established. In 2012, a larger grocery was established in addition to a pizza restaurant. In 2013, a clinic of the Maccabi Health Fund was established, with three staff physicians.

Legal conflicts

According to

Zionist Organization of America The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) () is an American non-profit pro-Israel organization. Founded in 1897, as the Federation of American Zionists, it was the first official Zionist organization in the United States. Early in the 20th centu ...

, in 2008, the Israeli courts found

Peace Now Peace Now ( he, שלום עכשיו ''Shalom Achshav'', ) is a non-governmental organization, liberal advocacy and activist group in Israel with the aim of promoting a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Objectives/position ...

guilty of publishing false statements regarding ownership of the land. According to a Peace Now report, 71.15 percent of the land was "stolen from Arabs." When the organization refused to abide by the court order to apologize, the fund that purchased the property sued, charging Peace Now and the authors of the false report for slander. The judge found them guilty. They were ordered to issue an apology in

Maariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or night. It consists primarily of the evening ''Shema'' and ''Amidah''. The service will often begin with two verses from Psalms, ...

and

newspapers and pay monetary compensation to the fund.Israeli Court Orders Peace Now to Apologize & Pay Damages for Lie that Jewish Town Built on Palestinian Land
/ref> ZOA National President,

Morton Klein Morton A. "Mort" Klein (born 1947) is a German-born American economist, statistician, and pro-Israeli activist. He is the president of the Zionist Organization of America. In 2004, he was named one of the top five Jewish leaders in the United St ...

called on Jewish organizations, the Israeli government and journalists to publicly condemn Peace Now for promoting lies and falsehoods. On May 24, 2020,

Israeli settlers Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli ( ...

from the Revava settlement, located on the lands of Haris, northwest of

Salfit Governorate Salfit governorate ( ar, محافظة سلفيت) is one of 16 Governorates of the Palestinian National Authority. It is located in the northwestern West Bank, held under Israeli occupation, bordered by the governorates of Ramallah and al-Bir ...

, uprooted and stolen more than 150–200 olive trees. The

Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

began performing

Peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

ful

Sit-in A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more people occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change. The protestors gather conspicuously in a space or building, refusing to m ...

every Friday in the lands of Haris since May 29, 2020.

Education and culture

Revava has 7 preschool/kindergartens and a daycare center for children up to age 3. A middle school and high school for girls, part of the Tzvia chain of high schools, is located in Revava. Boys study at elementary schools in

Yakir Yakir ( he, יַקִּיר), is an Israeli settlement located in the West Bank's Samarian mountains, southwest of the Palestinian city of Nablus, near Revava and Nofim, on Road 5066, roughly between Barkan and Karnei Shomron. Founded in Febr ...

, Karnei Shomron and

Itamar Itamar ( he, אִיתָמָר) is an Israeli settlement located in the West Bank's Samarian mountains, five kilometers southeast of the Palestinian city of Nablus. The settlement was built on land confiscated from the Palestinian villages of A ...

. Girls usually study at the elementary school in

. A local elementary school based in Revava is being opened in the Autumn of 2012. The

Bnei Akiva Bnei Akiva ( he, בְּנֵי עֲקִיבָא, , "Children of Akiva") is the largest Religious Zionism, religious Zionist Zionist youth movement, youth movement in the world, with over 125,000 members in 42 countries. It was first established i ...

youth movement has a branch in Revava. From 2001 to 2006, Revava had a boys' baseball team.

References

External links

Revava website

{{Authority control Religious Israeli settlements Populated places established in 1991 1991 establishments in the Palestinian territories Israeli settlements in the West Bank