Summary
Palestinian village some 20 kilometres from Tel Aviv, inside Israel, whose residents are Israeli citizens, presented in Chapter 12 of For Palestine — Essays from the Tom Hurndall Memorial Lecture Group as emblematic of forced eviction through planning: one of 176 Unrecognized villages, built from 1951 on land granted in compensation for 1948 displacement but zoned agricultural, so its seventy houses (around 600 villagers) are almost all “illegal” (For Palestine — Essays from the Tom Hurndall Memorial Lecture Group, PDF p.218-220).
Details
- The village has no sewage, rubbish collection, health services, paved roads, schools or official address; identity cards must use a fictitious address in Ramla (PDF p.219).
- Eighteen houses were issued demolition orders in 2004; five were demolished in March 2006 and thirteen orders remain contested; Ramla’s planning committees and mayor Yoel Lavi rejected re-zoning and neighbourhood status, and Human Rights Watch (2010, as cited) records the regional committee finding “no justification for the creation of a new village in central Israel” (PDF p.219-220).
Related pages
For Palestine — Essays from the Tom Hurndall Memorial Lecture Group, Unrecognized villages, Penny Green, Judaization