Shavei Shomron
Encyclopedia
Shavei Shomron is a communal
village
and an Israeli settlement
in the northern West Bank
, founded in 1977. Located to the west of Nablus
(Shechem
) on the road to Tulkarm
, it is within the municipal jurisdiction of the Shomron Regional Council
. As of 2003, it had a population of 604, mostly religious Zionist
and Modern Orthodox Jews
. Its municipal jurisdiction is 664 dunam
s, of which 272 dunams are built up.
The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law
, but the Israeli government disputes this.
(Bloc of the Faithful) staged a takeover of the abandoned Sebastia railroad station, located outside an Arab village of the same name. The location is in proximity to the ruins of Samaria
, the capital city of the northern Kingdom of Israel, built by King Omri
. Using this as justification to secure the Israeli claim to the region, the demonstrators demanded that settlement be initiated in this region. With the support of newly elected Prime Minister
Menachem Begin
, a residential community was built the following year alongside a military base at a strategically valuable crossroads by residents of nearby Netanya
, and with the assistance of the Amana settlement organisation.
for observant newcomers, and picturesque views of the Samarian hills, which serve to attract a diverse population including many olim from English speaking countries
as well as Russian Jews from the former USSR
, Yemenite Jews
, Bnei Menashe
, and almost a dozen Incan Jewish families from Trujillo, Peru
that converted to Orthodox Judaism.
's prohibition on the transfer of an occupying power's civilian population into occupied territory. Israel disputes that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the Palestinian territories as they had not been legally held by a sovereign prior to Israel taking control of them. This view has been rejected by the International Court of Justice
and the International Committee of the Red Cross
.
, Israeli travel to Nablus was restricted, and new roads were built to bypass certain villages. Twenty-four hundred dunums were confiscated from Palestinian villages to build a bypass road from Shavei Shomron to the Mt. Ibal military installation. In 2002, the Israeli Supreme Court
approved the construction of part of the West Bank barrier
around the community. Many local residents opposed its construction, fearing that it may become a future border between Israel and a Palestinian state. Others were concerned that an incident like the one earlier in the year, when a terrorist infiltrated the community and targeted the kindergarten with grenades and firearms before being shot by a local resident, could be repeated without such measures.
In August 2005, the community hosted mass demonstrations in opposition to the Israeli government's unilateral disengagement plan
, which included the forced evacuation of four settlements to the north of Shavei Shomron, and brought a potential frontier to the settlement's backyard. Following their evacuation and demolition, the community hosted some of the former residents of Homesh
and Sa-Nur
.
Communal settlement (Israel)
A community settlement is a type of town in Israel. While in an ordinary town anyone may buy property, in a community settlement the town's residents, who are organized in a cooperative, can veto a sale of a house or a business to an undesirable buyer....
village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
and an Israeli settlement
Israeli settlement
An Israeli settlement is a Jewish civilian community built on land that was captured by Israel from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and is considered occupied territory by the international community. Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank...
in the northern West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
, founded in 1977. Located to the west of Nablus
Nablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...
(Shechem
Shechem
Shechem was a Canaanite city mentioned in the Amarna letters, and is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as an Israelite city of the tribe of Manasseh and the first capital of the Kingdom of Israel...
) on the road to Tulkarm
Tulkarm
Tulkarem or Tulkarm is a Palestinian city in the northern Samarian mountain range in the Tulkarm Governorate in the extreme northwestern West Bank adjacent to the Netanya and Haifa districts to the west, the Nablus and Jenin Districts to the east...
, it is within the municipal jurisdiction of the Shomron Regional Council
Shomron Regional Council
The Shomron Regional Council is a regional council in the northern Samarian hills, in the northern part of the West Bank. The offices of the regional council are located in the Barkan Industrial Park. This regional council provides various municipal services for the 30 Israeli settlements within...
. As of 2003, it had a population of 604, mostly religious Zionist
Religious Zionism
Religious Zionism is an ideology that combines Zionism and Jewish religious faith...
and Modern Orthodox Jews
Modern Orthodox Judaism
Modern Orthodox Judaism is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize Jewish values and the observance of Jewish law, with the secular, modern world....
. Its municipal jurisdiction is 664 dunam
Dunam
A dunam or dönüm, dunum, donum, dynym, dulum was a non-SI unit of land area used in the Ottoman Empire and representing the amount of land that can be plowed in a day; its value varied from 900–2500 m²...
s, of which 272 dunams are built up.
The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law
International law and Israeli settlements
The international community considers the establishment of Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied territories illegal under international law, but Israel maintains that they are consistent with international law because it does not agree that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the...
, but the Israeli government disputes this.
History
In late 1976, supporters of the Gush EmunimGush Emunim
Gush Emunim was an Israeli messianic and political movement committed to establishing Jewish settlements in the West Bank. While not formally established as an organization until 1974 in the wake of the Yom Kippur War, Gush Emunim sprang out of the conquests of the Six-Day War in 1967, encouraging...
(Bloc of the Faithful) staged a takeover of the abandoned Sebastia railroad station, located outside an Arab village of the same name. The location is in proximity to the ruins of Samaria
Samaria
Samaria, or the Shomron is a term used for a mountainous region roughly corresponding to the northern part of the West Bank.- Etymology :...
, the capital city of the northern Kingdom of Israel, built by King Omri
Omri
Omri was a king of Israel, successful military campaigner and first in the line of Omride kings that included Ahab, Ahaziah and Joram.He was "commander of the army" of king Elah when Zimri murdered Elah and made himself king. Instead, the troops at Gibbethon chose Omri as king, and he led them to...
. Using this as justification to secure the Israeli claim to the region, the demonstrators demanded that settlement be initiated in this region. With the support of newly elected Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Israel
The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of the Israeli government and the most powerful political figure in Israel . The prime minister is the country's chief executive. The official residence of the prime minister, Beit Rosh Hamemshala is in Jerusalem...
Menachem Begin
Menachem Begin
' was a politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of the State of Israel. Before independence, he was the leader of the Zionist militant group Irgun, the Revisionist breakaway from the larger Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah. He proclaimed a revolt, on 1 February 1944,...
, a residential community was built the following year alongside a military base at a strategically valuable crossroads by residents of nearby Netanya
Netanya
Netanya is a city in the Northern Centre District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is located north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa between the 'Poleg' stream and Wingate Institute in the south and the 'Avichail' stream in the north.Its of beaches have made the...
, and with the assistance of the Amana settlement organisation.
Population
The community boasts a swimming pool, ulpanUlpan
An ulpan is an institute or school for the intensive study of Hebrew. Ulpan is a Hebrew word meaning basically studio or teaching, instruction....
for observant newcomers, and picturesque views of the Samarian hills, which serve to attract a diverse population including many olim from English speaking countries
Anglo
Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to the Angles, England or the English people, as in the terms Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-American, Anglo-Celtic, Anglo-African and Anglo-Indian. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people of British Isles descent in The Americas, Australia and...
as well as Russian Jews from the former USSR
Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union....
, Yemenite Jews
Yemenite Jews
Yemenite Jews are those Jews who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen . Between June 1949 and September 1950, the overwhelming majority of Yemen's Jewish population was transported to Israel in Operation Magic Carpet...
, Bnei Menashe
Bnei Menashe
The Bnei Menashe are a group of more than 9,000 people from India's North-Eastern border states of Manipur and Mizoram who claim descent from one of the Lost Tribes of Israel. The claim appeared after a Pentecostalist dreamt in 1951 that his people's pre-Christian religion was Judaism and that...
, and almost a dozen Incan Jewish families from Trujillo, Peru
Trujillo, Peru
Trujillo, in northwestern Peru, is the capital of the La Libertad Region, and the third largest city in Peru. The urban area has 811,979 inhabitants and is an economic hub in northern Peru...
that converted to Orthodox Judaism.
Status under international law
The international community considers Israeli settlements to violate the Fourth Geneva ConventionFourth Geneva Convention
The Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, commonly referred to as the Fourth Geneva Convention and abbreviated as GCIV, is one of the four treaties of the Geneva Conventions. It was adopted in August 1949, and defines humanitarian protections for civilians...
's prohibition on the transfer of an occupying power's civilian population into occupied territory. Israel disputes that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the Palestinian territories as they had not been legally held by a sovereign prior to Israel taking control of them. This view has been rejected by the International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
and the International Committee of the Red Cross
International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross is a private humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. States parties to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005, have given the ICRC a mandate to protect the victims of international and...
.
Intifada & Disengagement
Like all Israeli settlers, the residents of Shavei Shomron traveled through and conducted business in Nablus and neighboring Arab villages. However, as tensions increased following the First IntifadaFirst Intifada
The First Intifada was a Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories. The uprising began in the Jabalia refugee camp and quickly spread throughout Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem....
, Israeli travel to Nablus was restricted, and new roads were built to bypass certain villages. Twenty-four hundred dunums were confiscated from Palestinian villages to build a bypass road from Shavei Shomron to the Mt. Ibal military installation. In 2002, the Israeli Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Israel
The Supreme Court is at the head of the court system and highest judicial instance in Israel. The Supreme Court sits in Jerusalem.The area of its jurisdiction is all of Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. A ruling of the Supreme Court is binding upon every court, other than the Supreme...
approved the construction of part of the West Bank barrier
Israeli West Bank barrier
The Israeli West Bank barrier is a separation barrier being constructed by the State of Israel along and within the West Bank. Upon completion, the barrier’s total length will be approximately...
around the community. Many local residents opposed its construction, fearing that it may become a future border between Israel and a Palestinian state. Others were concerned that an incident like the one earlier in the year, when a terrorist infiltrated the community and targeted the kindergarten with grenades and firearms before being shot by a local resident, could be repeated without such measures.
In August 2005, the community hosted mass demonstrations in opposition to the Israeli government's unilateral disengagement plan
Israel's unilateral disengagement plan
Israel's unilateral disengagement plan , also known as the "Disengagement plan", "Gaza expulsion plan", and "Hitnatkut", was a proposal by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, adopted by the government on June 6, 2004 and enacted in August 2005, to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from...
, which included the forced evacuation of four settlements to the north of Shavei Shomron, and brought a potential frontier to the settlement's backyard. Following their evacuation and demolition, the community hosted some of the former residents of Homesh
Homesh
Homesh was an Israeli settlement in the northern Samarian Hills of the West Bank along Tulkarm and Route 60. The village fell under the administrative jurisdiction of the Shomron Regional Council...
and Sa-Nur
Sa-Nur
Sa-Nur was an Israeli settlement in the northern West Bank under the administrative jurisdiction of Shomron Regional Council. Prior to its demolition, Sa-nur was home to 43 families. In September 2005 its 105 residents were evicted and IDF soldiers began dismantling Sanur as part of Israel's...
.