Al-Walaja

Infobox Palestinian Authority muni
name=al-Walaja


imgsize=
caption=
arname=الولجة
meaning=
founded=1949
type=mund
typefrom=
altOffSp=al-Walaje
altUnoSp=
governorate=bl
latd=31|latm=43|lats=52.47|latNS=N
longd=35 |longm=09|longs=49.00|longEW=E
population=1,700
popyear=2006
area=17,709
areakm=17.7
mayor=Saleh Hilmi Khalifa

al-Walaja ( _ar. الولجة) is a Palestinian town located in an enclave in the West Bank Seam Zone, [ [http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/c25aba03f1e079db85256cf40073bfe6/7eeb44084b3395d28525701c004c3752!OpenDocument The Ultimate Barrier: Impact of the Wall on the Palestinian Health Care System] ] four kilometers northwest of the city of Bethlehem in the Bethlehem Governorate and is also a part of Israel's Jerusalem municipality. The town's original location was the opposite side of the wadi to its current location on the armistice line in modern-day Israel. [ [http://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/view.php?recordID=400 Plans for a new Israeli "South Jerusalem" Grabbing Palestinian lands from Al Walaja, Battir, and Beit Jala] ] According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics the village had a population of approximately 1,700 mostly Muslim inhabitants in 2006.. [ [http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/populati/pop10.aspx Projected Mid -Year Population for Bethlehem Governorate by Locality 2004- 2006] Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics]

Land

Approximately half of the town's total land area has been confiscated by Israeli authorities for the building of the Har Gilo and Gilo settlements adjacent to al-Walaja, and closed off areas to the south and west of it. [ [http://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/view.php?recordID=336 Living in a Cage] ] The town's inhabitants have also experienced the cutting down of fruit orchards and house demolition due to the absence of building permits. [ [http://afsc.org/israel-palestine/news/documents/WalajaReport.pdf Israeli Authorities Cut Down Hundreds of Fruit-Bearing Treesin Ain Jawaizeh Area of Al-Walaja Village, Bethlehem Governorate] ]

Former town

Infobox Former Arab villages in Palestine
name=al-Walaja


imgsize=
caption=
arname=الولجة
meaning=
altSp=al-Walaje
district=jl
population=1,650
popyear=1945
area=17,708
areakm=17.7
cause=M
curlocl=Amminadav
date=October 21, 1948 The remains of the old village of al-Walaja is located less than two kilometers to the northwest of the new town on the Israeli side of the Green Line. The old village was captured by the Harel Brigade of Israel's Palmach during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The ranks of the village's defense consisted of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and the Arab Liberation Army as well as a number of local militiamen. It was reclaimed by the latter Arab forces more than once before it capitulated to Israeli troops on October 21, 1948. [Khalidi, Walid "All That Remains" 1992]

Population

According to a census taken by the British Mandate government, al-Walaja had a population of 1,650 inhabitants in 1945 and a total land area of 17,708 dunams. It is estimated that more than 11,000 Palestinian refugees are traced back to al-Walaja. [ [http://www.palestineremembered.com/Jerusalem/al-Walaja/index.html al-WalajaTown Statistics and Facts] ] The entire population of the village fled when it was captured and the village houses were demolished by Israel. The Israeli village of Aminadav and a park was built over the old village's land.

See also

*Bethlehem Governorate
*East Jerusalem
*List of villages depopulated during the Arab-Israeli conflict

References