Абу-Дис: История и современность палестинской деревни

Palestinian village in the West Bank

Abu Dis or Abu Deis (أبو ديس) is a Palestinian village in the West Bank, in the Jerusalem Governorate of the State of Palestine, bordering Jerusalem. Since the 1995 Oslo II Accord, Abu Dis land has been mostly part of "Area B", under Israeli military control and Palestinian civic control. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) census, Abu Dis had a population of 12,251 in 2017. The French explorer Victor Guérin thought Abu Dis was identical with ancient Bahurim,

Abu Dis was one of the most populous villages in the Sanjak of Jerusalem during the 16th century, with a population of several hundred. Wheat and barley formed the bulk of cash crops, but were supplemented by grapes, olives, fruit trees, beans, and products from goats and bees. Descendants of Saladin lived in the village and were entrusted one third of the grain revenue by the Ottoman Empire. The adult males of the village paid a combined 6,250 akçe in annual taxes, a much lower figure than other villages of the same size in the sanjak such as Beit Jala, Ein Karim, and Deir Dibwan. This could indicate that Abu Dis was less prosperous, alternatively it could be because it had fewer non Muslims. In 1838 Abu Dis was noted as a Muslim village, part of el Wadiyeh district, located east of Jerusalem. When Guérin visited the village in 1870 he noted a house larger and higher than the others, which was that of the local sheikh. An official Ottoman village list from about the same year showed that Abu Dis had 52 houses and a population of 326, though the population count included only men. By the old village mosque, known locally as Maqam Salah ad Din, there is a grave with a slab of marble, with a poem written in "elegant naskhi script", dated to 1878. In 1883, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described it as a "village of moderate size in a conspicuous position on a bare flat ridge, with deep valleys round it. The water supply is from cisterns. Rock cut tombs exist to the west. In the late 19th century, the Sheikh of Abu Dis, Rasheed Erekat, promised to guarantee the safety of European tourists and pilgrims on the journey down to Jericho and the River Jordan. According to a 19th century traveler, the "only way of accomplishing the journey to the Jordan (is) by paying the statutory tribute money to the Sheikh of Abu Dees. This man has the privilege of extracting some sixteen shillings from each traveller who goes down to Jericho He will send a man, possibly his own son along with you arrayed in gorgeous apparel, and armed with sword and revolver." In 1896 the population of Abu Dis was estimated to be about 600.

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Abu Diz had a population of 1,029, all Muslims, increasing in the 1931 census to a population of 1,297, still all Muslims, in 272 houses. In the 1945 statistics, Abu Dis had a population of 1,940 Muslims, with 27,896 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 4,981 dunams were used for cereals, while 158 dunams were built up (urban) land. Between 1922 and 1947, the population of Abu Dis increased by 110%. The town suffered extensive damage in the 1927 Jericho earthquake. All the homes were damaged and every cistern was cracked. Since Abu Dis depended on rain water cisterns for its water supply, this caused great hardship. al Eizariya (Bethany), half a mile away, suffered little damage.

According to the UN General Assembly Resolution 194 in 1948, Abu Dis was to be the most Eastern part of the corpus separatum Jerusalem area. However, in the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Abu Dis came under Jordanian rule. It was annexed by Jordan in 1950. In 1961, the population of Abu Dis was 3,631.

Since the Six Day War in 1967, Abu Dis has been under Israeli occupation. In the 1967 census it had a population of 2,640. After the 1995 accords, 85.2% of Abu Dis’ land was classified as Area C, under full Israeli control, while the remaining 14.8% is Area B, meaning that civil affairs have been under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and security matters under the control of the Israel Defense Forces. Israel has confiscated land from Abu Dis in order to construct two Israeli settlements; 1,031 dunums for Ma'ale Adummim, while 348 dunums for Mizpe Yedude (New Kedar). Most of the Palestinian Authority's offices responsible for Jerusalem affairs are located in the town. In 2000, the construction of a Parliament Building to possibly house the Palestinian Legislative Council was started in Abu Dis, but the project was never finished. Israel has suggested to predestine the location as a substitute for East Jerusalem, the Palestinians' claimed capital. The separation barrier Israel built in Abu Dis runs just a few meters from the location.

Because there are no hospitals in Abu Dis, residents often must travel to neighboring localities to receive medical attention. The nearest available hospitals are thirty kilometers away in Jericho. The Al Maqasid Charitable Society operates Abu Dis's only health center, which lacks an ambulance or specialized healthcare professionals or services. In 2011 Abu Dis housed three factories, one producing brick, another concrete, and the third manufacturing cigarettes. Additionally, Abu Dis had 119 food/grocery stores and 40 trade/service shops. Israel has admitted to reducing Palestinian water supply but blames the Palestinian Water Authority for the shortage because the Palestinian Water Authority has refused to allow the Israeli government to upgrade the West Bank's water distribution infrastructure. The PWA argues that such infrastructure will only be used to the benefit of Israeli settlements.

The Jerusalem Electricity Company has been the primary power source in Abu Dis since 1978, though it does not reach all residencies. Telecommunication technology in Abu Dis is available in around 90% of households. Upon completion, the barrier will border Abu Dis from the north, west, and east. The northern segment of the barrier will fragment the northern and southern hemispheres of the West Bank. The eastern portion of the wall is set to separate Abu Dis's core, urban environment from its rural territories, detaching over 6,000 dunums of arable land from the city's total land area of 28,332 dunums. As a result of the western wall the Cliff Hotel owned by the Ayyad family of Abu Dis has been the focus of a legal dispute in the Israeli courts. The owners sued to halt expropriation of the hotel, built in the mid 1950s. The case involves the application of the Absentee Property Law, which allows the State of Israel to expropriate property within its territory when the owner lives in a country that Israel regards as an enemy. A High Court ruling in February 2010 was still unable to decide whether the law applies to property in East Jerusalem belonging to residents of the Palestinian territories. The government of Norway has supported the Ayyad family. A book about the struggle of the hotel owner Ali Ayyad and his Norwegian born wife was published in Norway in 2012.

The Abu Dis Waste Disposal Site is a landfill opened in 1981 when the Israeli military confiscated territory from Abu Dis for the landfill's creation. In 1998, the Ma'ale Adumim Company became responsible for site management. The company is under the jurisdiction of Ma'ale Adumim, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank. The company has been accused of mismanagement, with critics citing the site's illegal burning of wastes, insufficient barricades to entry, and insufficient, improperly maintained infrastructure.

Controversy surrounded the landfill's establishment as critics argued the expropriation of Abu Dis's land violated International humanitarian law and the Oslo Accords by constituting an unwarranted seizure of an occupied peoples' private property; however the Israeli Supreme Court has argued that because the waste disposal site benefits Palestinians, the land seizure is admissible on account of legal precedent. The Israeli response has spurred further debate, as Palestinians claim that the waste site was designed for the dual purpose of depleting Palestinian territory and disposing Israeli waste, and, therefore, the confiscation of Palestinian did not constitute a measure taken for the good of the occupied peoples. Additionally, Palestinian's accuse Israel of restricting access to the disposal site, directly during periods of escalating tensions and indirectly through the instatement of high levies to use the site. Legality concerns have also been raised with regard to the environmental damage caused by the site. Environmental externalities include a pervading stench in the surrounding areas, the emission of toxic gases when waste is burned, water pollution, the attraction of stray dogs which have been known to attack villagers' goats.

Some scenes from the film Omar were shot in Abu Dis, such as the first scene when Omar climbs the Israeli West Bank barrier to visit his lover.