Wadi Fukin

Infobox Palestinian Authority muni
name=Wadi Fukin


imgsize=
caption=
arname=وادي فوقين
meaning="Valley of Thorns" [http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=108&ed=22&edid=22 Stories from Palestine Wadi Fuqin] Khano, Delia. "This Week in Palestine". 2007-07-09]
founded=
type=mund
typefrom=
altOffSp=Wadi Fuqin
altUnoSp=Wadi Foukin
governorate=bl
latd=31|latm=42|lats=23.76|latNS=N
longd=35 |longm=06|longs=13.66|longEW=E
population=1,200
popyear=2006
area=4,347
areakm=4.3
mayor=

Wadi Fukin ( _ar. وادي فوقين) is a Palestinian village in the West Bank, located eight kilometers southwest of Bethlehem in the Bethlehem Governorate. The village is located in between the the Green Line and the Israeli West Bank barrier, being five kilometers east of the Green Line. [http://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/view.php?recordID=578 Settlement expansion and loss of Wadi Fukin’s land] Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem. 2005-05-23] According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Wadi Fukin had a population of over 1,200 inhabitants in mid-year 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] The town relies on agriculture as the primary source of income. [http://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/view.php?recordID=1272 “Declared as State Land” New Israeli Military Orders Targeting Palestinian Lands in Al Jaba’a & Wadi Fukin villages Southwest Bethlehem city] Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem. 2008-02-03]

Plight and return

Prior to the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Wadi Fukin was raided by the Haganah a number of times and several inhabitants fled to the Dheisheh camp established just south of Bethlehem. They returned during Jordan's occupation of the West Bank and fled once more after Jordan lost the West Bank and East Jerusalem to Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967. In 1972, the inhabitants were permitted to return to Wadi Fukin on the basis that they construct their homes within a month.

Green Line Changed

The expulsion at Wadi Fukin led to a change in the Green line where an exchange of fertile land in the Bethlehem area to Israeli control and the village of Wadi Fukin being given to Jordanian control. On 15 July 1949 when the Israeli Army expelled the population of Wadi Fukin after the village had been transferred to the Israeli-occupied area under the terms of the Armistice Agreement concluded between Israel and the Jordan Kingdom. The Mixed Armistice Commission decided on 31 August 1949, by a majority vote, that Israel had violated the Armistice Agreement by expelling villagers of Wadi Fukin across the demarcation line and decided that the villagers should be allowed to return to their homes. However, when the villagers returned to Wadi Fukin under the supervision of the United Nations observers on September 6 1949, they found most of their houses destroyed and were again compelled by the Israeli Army to return to Jordanian controlled territory. The United Nations Chairman of the Mixed Commission, Colonel Garrison B. Coverdale (US), pressed for a solution of this issue to be found in the Mixed Armistice Commission, in an amicable and UN spirit. After some hesitation, an adjustment in the Green Line was accepted and finally an agreement was reached whereby the Armistice line was changed to give back Wadi Fukin to the Jordanian authority who, in turn, agreed to transfer some uninhabited, but fertile territory south of Bethlehem to the Israeli authority in November 1949. [ [http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/9a798adbf322aff38525617b006d88d7/7b5942522358001885256a76006377eb!OpenDocument Press Release PAL/537 4 November 1949] ]

Land

Wadi Fukin has a total land area of 4,347 dunams, of which 201 dunams is built-up area. The remaining land is primarily used for orchards and vineyards, in particular olives, almonds, mulberries and grapes. Israel allotted 51 dunams to Israeli settlements near the town and an additional 885 dunams were seized in 2005. The Israeli West Bank barrier separates 1,039 dunams from the majority of the town's area. As a result of the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1995, 93.6% of Wadi Fukin's land is located in Area C (complete Israeli control) while 6.4% is located in Area B which is under the administration of the Palestinian National Authority and Israeli security.

Infrastructure

Wadi Fukin is connected to Bethlehem by the village's main road and has bus transportation services. The town contains two primary schools, a mosque, a pharmacy and clinic, and two charity associations. The area around Wadi Fukin including the towns of Battir and Beit Fajjar are known for stone masonry and Wadi Fukin has one stone-cutting factory.

References