The Bedouin Communities East of Jerusalem – A Planning Survey

Introduction
Characteristics
    of the Bedouin Localities

General Maps


Wadi Abu Hindi

Al Muntar

Abu Nuwar

Wadi Jimel

Jabal Al-Baba

Wadi Al 'Awaj

Wadi Abu As-Suwan

Nkheila

Ghawaliya

Al-Fukara

Bir Al-Maskub

Wadi Sneysel


Khan Al-Ahmar Communities

Abu Al-Helw and Um Ad-Deif

Al-Mihtwish

Abu Falah

Al-Kurshan

Al-Kassara

Al-Hathroura

Qilt Road No 1

Wadi Qilt

Za'ataret Az Za'iem

A'nata


Summary

Recomendations

 

 

15. Abu Falah

Community: Jahalin Tribe – Abu Dahuk family

Population: 25 families, approx. 200 residents

Water: Connected to water meter of the Mekorot Company

Electricity:   none

Sewage:   none

Education: Elementary school in Abu Al-Helw 

Medical services: Mobile infirmary, twice monthly

Daily necessities: Al-E’izariya

Religious building:   none

Cemetery: Al-E’izariya

Flocks: approximately 500 sheep, 40 camels

 

Identity Card
Chronoligical Development
Planning Survey

The Abu Falah residential area is located east of Mishor Adumim, north of the industrial zone and south of Road No. 1 leading to Jericho. The locality is part of the Khan Al-Ahmar clusters and has access to the clusters north of Road No. 1 via a dirt road that passes beneath it. Residents arrived to the area in the 1950s, following evacuation and deportation from the Tel Arad area, attracted there by the availability of good grazing lands. They settled there with the agreement of private land owners in A’nata (in the northern part of the cluster) and I’sawiya (in the southern). According to residents’ testimony, these areas provided them with seasonal grazing lands in winter, even before they settled there permanently. The historical analysis indicates that there has been permanent settlement at Abu Falah since the 1980s. Today, all of the lands there have been expropriated, as part of the expropriation in 1975, for the benefit of Ma’ale Adumim, and they are included in the jurisdictional area of the city in the limits of its master plan. In the mid-1990s, a number of demolition orders were issued for buildings in Abu Falah, but according to residents’ testimonies, no demolitions have been carried out. At the same time, residents in the past received evacuation orders and representatives of the Civil Administration visit regularly and prohibit any new building or additions to existing buildings.

The grazing areas around it have been drastically reduced over the years, due to the proximity to the industrial area, army bases and closed military areas. Today, grazing is confined to the immediate vicinity of the houses, and the flocks serve only the domestic need of the residents. The residents testify that in the past, under Jordanian rule, lands for agricultural cultivation were available to them, but since the Israeli occupation, this ceased to be the case. Today, residents tend small plots home use.

The wadi that passes near the residences channels rainwater and water from the waste treatment plant located north of the road, causing putrid smells and environmental pollution harmful to the residents, particularly in the summer months. In addition, residents suffer from tremendous difficulties of access, since there is no direct access to the main road that passes nearby, and because additionally, public transportation vehicles are prohibited from stopping in the entire area.

Main planning constraints:

        Included within the limits of the development and expansion plans for Ma’ale Adumim

        Expropriated lands lacking an accepted  arrangement regarding ownership and usage rights

        Closed military areas near the locality

        Limitations on grazing lands and access to water sources