Umm ar-Rihan

Infobox Palestinian Authority muni
name=Umm ar-Rihan


imgsize=250
caption=
arname=ام الريحان
meaning="Mother of Basil"
founded=
type=mund
typefrom=
altOffSp=
altUnoSp=Kh. Umm ar-Rihan
governorate=jn
latd=32|latm=29|lats=00.53|latNS=N
longd=35|longm=08|longs=31.18|longEW=E
population=330 - 360
popyear=2003
area=
areakm=
mayor=

Umm ar-Rihan ( _ar. ام الريحان, meaning "Mother of Basil"; also transliterated Umm Rihan or Um al-Rehan) is a Palestinian village of 330 - 360 inhabitants located high on the northwestern hills of the Jenin Governorate, 14 Kilometers from Jenin.cite web|title=The Impact of Israel's Separation Barrier on Affected West Bank Communities|author=Local Aid Coordination Committee|publisher=Humanitarian and Emergency Policy Group|date=30 April 2003|accessdate=2007-08-28|url=http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:2xWM_U77Oc4J:www.ldf.ps/file/download/hepg/related_documents/HEPGSeperationBarrier30thApril03.pdf] It is one of a number of Palestinian villages that are now located within enclaves in the Seam Zone

Umm ar-Rihan is one of seven villages that form part of the Barta'a enclave,cite web|title=Case Study: UNRWA's access to Barta'a enclave disrupted by IDF restrictions|author=Operations Support Officer Programme West Bank|publisher=United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)|date=14 February 2005|accessdate=2007-08-28|url=http://www.un.org/unrwa/emergency/barrier/case_studies/bartaa_feb2005.pdf] which is named for the enclave's largest town: eastern Barta'a (pop. 3,500).cite web|title=One Nurse For 4,700 People and the Doctor Faces a Roadblock|author=Amira Hass|publisher=Ha'aretz|date=3 February 2004|url=http://www.vopj.org/issues54.htm]

Overview

In Roman times, the town of Umm ar-Rihan covered an area of 36-40 hectares, consisting of approximately a hundred houses, a road system, and a Roman bathhouse.cite journal|title=The Archeology of Roman Palestine|author=Mark Alan Chancey and Adam Lowry Porter|publisher="Near Eastern Archeology"|volume=64, No. 4|date=December 2001|pages=164–203|url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=1094-2076(200112)64%3A4%3C164%3ATAORP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-0] Archaeological artifacts dating back to Byzantine times have also been uncovered there.cite journal|title=Farms and Villages in Byzantine Palestine|author=Yizhar Hirschfeld|publisher="Dumbarton Oaks Papers"|volume=51|date=1997|pages=33–71|url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0070-7546(1997)51%3C33%3AFAVIBP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-C|issn=0070-7546|year=1997|doi=10.2307/1291761|journal=Dumbarton Oaks Papers]

The wood near the village is site of a memorial to early Palestinian militant leader Izz ad-Din al-Qassam of the Black Hand, killed in a gunfight with the British Palestine Police Force. [cite news| url=http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1181813082121&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull| title=Too many trees in the forest| author=Lydia Aisenberg| publisher=The Jerusalem Post| date=June 20, 2007]

Under the 1947 United Nations partition plan for Palestine, Umm ar-Rihan was to form part of an Arab Palestinian state. After the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, Umm ar-Rihan fell under "de facto" Jordanian occupation like other towns and villages in the West Bank, and after the 1967 Six-Day War, under Israeli occupation.

On August 27 1998, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) used bulldozers to uproot thousands of fruits trees on tens of dunums of land belonging to Um ar-Rehan and Az-Zawieh villages to prepare the ground for the construction of two new settlements.cite web|title=Palestine Facts|publisher=PASSIA|accessdate=2007-08-28|url=http://www.passia.org/palestine_facts/chronology/1998.html] On 10 October 2000, more land belonging to Um ar-Rehan was bulldozed to expand the Shaked and Hinnanit settlements.cite web|title=Palestine Facts|publisher=PASSIA|accessdate=2007-08-28|url=http://www.passia.org/palestine_facts/chronology/1998.html] cite web|title=The Third Intermediary Report for the "Monitoring Israeli Colonizing Activities" Project|publisher=Applied Research Institute Jerusalem|date=12 November 2000|accessdate=2007-08-28|url=http://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/view.php?recordID=508]

In the months following the outbreak of the Second Intifada, Israeli checkpoints were erected on the eastern and southern roads to nearby Tura al-Gharbiyya and Ya'bad, limiting access to the rest of the West Bank; the checkpoints were preserved as crossings in the Israeli West Bank barrier. Umm ar-Rihan's location in area east of the Green Line and west of the Israeli West Bank barrier is often referred to as the "Seam Zone".

Present-day

Umm ar-Rihan is under the Palestinian National Authority's civil administration as per the Oslo Accords. There is one primary school run by the PNA, but no secondary school, clinic or other medical facilities. Um ar-Rehan residents can access the clinic in Barta'a Sharqiyya by way of an unpaved road. The 4,700 people who live in the Barta'a area enclave depend on this government clinic which has a pharmacy and also offers counseling on health awareness, but lacks medical specialists, laboratory testing and family planning services.

The main terminal to enter and exit the Barta'a Sharqiya-Um ar-Rehan enclave is Imreiha (Reikhan).cite web|title=OCHA Weekly Briefing Notes: Update for oPt|publisher=Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs|date=24 - 30 November 2004|accessdate=2007-08-28|url=http://aid.psgateway.org/file/download/international_governmental_organizations/united_nations/ocha_weekly_briefing_notes_update_for_opt/WBN81.pdf?version_id=40247] In November 2004, it was open between 6am and 10am to Palestinians with green permits only. In August 2006, it was open between 7am and 9am between which times Israeli goods and produce enter the enclave area.cite web|title=Protection of Civilians – Weekly Briefing Notes|date=23 – 29 August 2006|publisher=Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs|accessdate=2007-08-28|url=http://aid.psgateway.org/file/download/international_governmental_organizations/united_nations/ocha_weekly_briefing_notes_update_for_opt/WBN170.pdf?version_id=73403] Produce from the village for export to Israel is sent out only with prior coordination with the Israeli authorities.

On 30 April 2004, armed Israeli settlers entered the village and fired shots in the air before briefly taking over the primary school.cite web|title=Chronological Review of Events Relating to the Question of Palestine: Monthly media monitoring review|author=Division for Palestinian Rights|publisher=UNISPAL|date=April 2004|accessdate=2007-08-28|url=http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/e9abb7dfb6e319c90525675900535dba/d2f86a14289df2a085256ea1006e5f3a!OpenDocument] They threatened to "expel" the Palestinians, urging them to go to nearby Ya'bad on the other side of the separation barrier. An official from the Education Ministry of the Palestinian National Authority and villager Faruat Zaid said they tried to contact the IDF about the raid, but there had been no response. Both the IDF and police said they had been unaware of the incident.

References