Shvut Rachel ( he, שבות רחל) is a former Israeli illegal 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 ...

, retroactively designated a "neighborhood" of the settlement of Shilo, in the West Bank. Shvut Rachel sits between the

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 ...

villages of Turmus Ayya,

Qaryut Qaryout ( ar, قريوت) is a Palestinian village of nearly 2,500 in the Nablus Governorate in the northern West Bank, located southeast of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), Qaryut had a population of 2,4 ...

and

Jalud Jalud ( ar, جاﻟﻭﺩ) is a Palestinian village in the Nablus Governorate in the northern West Bank. It is approximately south of Nablus and is situated just east of Qaryut, south of Qusra and northeast of Shilo, an Israeli settlement. It ...

, part of whose lands were expropriated for building Shvut Rachel. Nearby Israeli settlements include Shilo,

Giv'at Har'el Givat Harel ( he, גבעת הראל) is an Israeli settlement established in 1998. It is under the jurisdiction of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council in the northern West Bank, north of Nahal Shilo. Givat Harel is situated just off Highway 60 ...

, Esh Kodesh,

Keeda Keida ( he, קידה), also transcribed Kida, is an Israeli outpost in the West Bank named after a genus of flower that grows in the region. It is situated just off the Allon Road, a five-minute drive east of Shilo, which is the mother-town of t ...

, and

Adei Ad Adei Ad ( he, עדי עד, , For ever and ever) is an Israeli outpost in the West Bank. Located near Shvut Rachel and Qusra, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. A resident of Adei Ad says that the outpost inclu ...

. The village, administrated by the

Matte Binyamin Regional Council Mateh Binyamin Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית מטה בנימין, ''Mo'atza Azorit Mateh Binyamin,'' Lit. Council for the Region of the Tribe of Benjamin) is a regional council governing 46 Israeli settlements and outposts in th ...

, has a population of 100 families. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this. The Sasson Report in 2005 noted that the settlement extends over

land, part of which is owned by Fawzi Haj Ibrahim Mohammad from

, turned over to the settlement after the Israeli authorities declared it state land.

History

The village was founded in November 1991 in memory of the victims of a terrorist attack on a civilian bus; Rachela Druk of Shilo, a mother of 7, and Yitzhak Rofe, the bus driver - who were on their way to a demonstration in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

. On the night of the funerals, a group of students from the yeshiva in Shilo as well as two young couples, including a pregnant woman who gave birth a week later, established Shvut Rachel. The settlers moved on to the land without government permission. According to ARIJ,

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 ...

confiscated land from two

villages for the establishment of Shvut Rachel: 372 dunams of land from Turmus Ayya,Turmus’ayya Town Profile
ARIJ, p. 17 and 963 dunams from

. In February 2012 the Israeli government approved the construction of new housing units in Shvut Rachel. This action was condemned by the

High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP) is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) within the European Union (EU). The position is currently held ...

of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

Catherine Ashton Catherine Margaret Ashton, Baroness Ashton of Upholland, (born 20 March 1956), is a British Labour politician who served as the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and First Vice President of the Europe ...

Legal status

The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law. Israel, on the other hand, differentiates between "legal" and "illegal" settlements, and Shvut Rachel was illegal even by Israeli standards until February 2012. According to

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 ...

, the

Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) is a unit in the Israeli Ministry of Defense that engages in coordinating civilian issues between the Government of Israel, the Israel Defense Forces, international organizati ...

legalized the outpost by redesignating it as a neighborhood of Shilo.

Midreshet Binat

Binat is a

midrasha A ' (Hebrew: , pl. ') is an institute of Torah study for women, usually in Israel, and roughly the equivalent of a yeshiva for men. A "seminary" (Hebrew ''seminar'', sometimes ''seminaria'')

located in Shvut Rachel. Headed by

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

Ronen Tamir, it was founded in 2000 as an additional branch of the nearby yeshiva in Shilo. It includes a regular seminary program, a one-month program in September for college students, and a joint program with Bayit VeGan Teachers College. It is associated with the

Talpiot College of Education The Talpiot College of Education (המכללה האקדמית תלפיות) is a religious teacher training college in Holon, Israel. It prepares teachers “in the spirit of the '' Mamlachti dati'' (state religious) education system”. It was f ...

References

External links

Shvut Rachel

Shvut Rachel on Matte Binyamin communities page

Midrasha Homepage
{{Coord, 32, 3, 7, N, 35, 17, 42, E, source:kolossus-plwiki, display=title Religious Israeli settlements Mateh Binyamin Regional Council Populated places established in 1991 1991 establishments in Israel 1991 establishments in the Palestinian territories Community settlements Israeli outposts Unauthorized Israeli settlements

History

Legal status

Midreshet Binat

See also

References

External links