East Jerusalem
The village of al-Walajah, which is home to nearly 3,000 residents, now lies on a ridge south of Refaim Valley, near Beit Jala. It was originally located on the other side of the valley, near the current location of the Israeli moshav communities of Ora, and its lands spanned nearly 18,000 dunams (1,800 hectares). In 1949, as part of the armistice agreement between Israel and Jordan at the end of the 1948 war, al-Walajah residents left the village. Some relocated east, establishing a “new” al-Walajah on village lands spanning about 6,000 dunams (600 hectares) that remained on the other side of the Green Line. In 1967, after occupying the West Bank, Israel annexed about a third of this area to Jerusalem’s municipal boundaries. About half of the 6,000 dunams al-Walajah residents held onto after 1949 were exploited by Israel for its own purposes beginning as early as the 1970s. Some were expropriated to build Gilo – a settlement neighborhood inside Jerusalem’s city limits. Others were seized by military order to build the settlement of Har Gilo. The Jerusalem Municipality never provided local government services to the part of al-Walajah annexed to its territory, and refused to approve masterplans for it. Lacking any other choice, over the years, the residents built homes without permits. The neighborhood of 'Ein Jozah, located in the annexed part of the village, now has about 1,000 residents. Of the neighborhood’s 60 structures, 38 have pending demolition orders issued by the Ministry of Justice Land Enforcement Authority. The remaining 22 structures were also built without permits, and potentially face a similar fate. If the current demolition orders are implemented, 380 people will lose their homes. The demolition orders rely on the Kaminitz Law, which lays hefty fines for individuals who build without a permit or fail to demolish their own homes. In 2018, village residents submitted a petition to the High Court demanding the demolition orders be cancelled and a masterplan prepared for the part of the village included within the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem. The court issued an interim order pending a ruling in the petition. In a hearing in late March 2022, the court extended the interim order for another six months so the authorities could look into the possibility of preparing a masterplan. Through the years, village residents prepared their own masterplans, first with the help of Jerusalem architect Claude Rosenkovitch and later with help from NGOs Bimkom and Ir Amim. Every single plan was rejected by the municipal and district planning committees. In January 2021, the District Planning and Building Committee rejected another plan submitted by village residents, claiming the village lands hold “great scenic and environmental value, with a contiguity of open areas and ancient, extraordinary agrarian cultural values” which the plan undermines. The “scenic and environmental value” the committee mentioned refers to the unique terrace farming used by village residents. However, Israeli authorities bring up this reason only to block Palestinian construction and development. These values are never factored in when it comes to settlement development. For instance, 25 years ago, Israel built the al-Walajah bypass road on non-annexed village lands, providing Gush Etzion settlers access to Jerusalem until the Tunnel Road was built. The land for the road was seized using military orders and without any approved plans. The Gush Etzion regional council has recently submitted a plan for “regularizing” the road, which includes both legalizing and expanding it, and is a prerequisite for a 560-home expansion plan in the settlement of Har Gilo. The new structures would straddle al-Walajah from the west. The proposed road, which protrudes into Jerusalem city limits, is described in the plan as a traffic artery that would serve “both populations.” In practice, however, residents of al-Walajah would not be able to benefit from it, as they are prohibited from taking this road to enter Jerusalem. The plan was submitted to the Civil Administration Supreme Planning Council without an environmental impact report, geological surveys or hydrogeological surveys, despite the risk of landslides and rock avalanches in the area and the possible collapse of the road itself, as noted in objections to the plan filed by Bimkom on behalf of the village council. Similarly, damage to the unique ancient terraces in the area did not bother the Israeli authorities when they began construction work on the Separation Barrier northwest and south of 'Ein Jozah, and on the surrounding land, in 2011. In that case, the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) made a rare intervention and filed an expert opinion objecting to the route of the barrier in the area. The opinion described the scenic terraces, which date back to the middle of the first millennium, as a cultural asset that preserves traditional terrace farming. The SPNI advocated for preserving the area and declaring it a world heritage site. It also proposed relocating the barrier to the route of the al-Walajah bypass road, near the old train tracks leading into Jerusalem. In August 2011, the High Court dismissed the petition al-Walajah residents filed against the route of the barrier. The Separation Barrier, which in that area mostly takes the form of a nine-meter-tall concrete wall, was built on about 500 dunams (50 hectares) of al-Walajah village land. It has left residents with a single route in and out of the village, and has cut them off from farmland where they grew olive and almond trees. The residents must now coordinate access to these lands with the military in advance, and are granted access only during the olive harvest season, through a single gate located in nearby Beit Jala. The barrier has also obliterated shepherding in the village, as it has greatly reduced available pastureland and cut off access to freshwater springs in village lands that remain on the other side. In addition to all these, serious drainage issues caused by the barrier have further harmed the ancient terraces. Constructing the barrier also cleared the way for the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and for the Jerusalem Development Authority to advance the Emek Refaim National Park plan north of al-Walajah, touted as a metropolitan park intended to “benefit Jerusalem residents.” The plan was approved by the District Planning and Building Committee in July 2013, and the park was inaugurated in early 2018. It spans an area of about 5,700 dunams (570 hectares), 1,000 of which are al-Walajah village land. The park’s main attraction – the ‘Ein Khanya freshwater spring – used to be the village’s main source of water, which residents used for irrigation and leisure. Only two springs remain in al-Walajah today. Both require ongoing, costly drainage work. Unable to bear the cost, al-Walajah residents stopped using these, too, and now rely on water from a reservoir that the Palestinian Authority built near the Everest Hotel in Beit Jala to serve the communities of Beit Jala, al-Walajah and al-Khader.
17 February 2022
