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Coordinates: 31°44′N 35°11′E / 31.733°N 35.183°E / 31.733; 35.183
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==Shooting from Beit Jala==
==Shooting from Beit Jala==
[[File:MuralbarrierS.jpg|thumb|250px|Concrete wall decorated with landscape mural built to shield Gilo residents from Palestinian gunfire]]
[[File:MuralbarrierS.jpg|thumb|250px|Concrete wall decorated with landscape mural built to shield Gilo residents from Palestinian gunfire]]
In 2000–2002, the first two years of the [[Second Intifada]], there were over 400 shooting incidents targeting Gilo from [[Beit Jala]].<ref name=autogenerated1>[http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1196847346884 The strategic significance of Har Homa | Op-Ed Contributors | Jerusalem Post<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>Although Beit Jala is predominantly Christian, it was infiltrated by Fatah's [[Tanzim]] gunmen, who purportedly positioned themselves in or near Christian homes and churches in the knowledge that a slight deviation in Israeli return fire would harm Christian buildings.<ref>Associated Press, as reported in Yoram Ettinger, "The Islamization of Bethlehem by Arafat," Jerusalem Cloakroom #117, Ariel Center for Policy Research, December 25, 2001.</ref> [[Time Magazine]] described this tactic used in confrontations throughout the country: "The Tanzim gunmen crouched at the side of the house. They aimed their Russian-made Kalashnikov rifles at the hilltop... Minutes later, the Tanzim cleared out, leaving the residents of this small street to face Israel's retribution. <ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,998782-5,00.html Fields of Fire, Time Magazine]</ref>
In 2000–2002, the first two years of the [[Second Intifada]], there were over 400 shooting incidents targeting Gilo from [[Beit Jala]].<ref name=autogenerated1>[http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1196847346884 The strategic significance of Har Homa | Op-Ed Contributors | Jerusalem Post<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>Although Beit Jala is predominantly Christian, it was infiltrated by Fatah's [[Tanzim]] gunmen, who purportedly positioned themselves in or near Christian homes and churches in the knowledge that a slight deviation in Israeli return fire would harm Christian buildings.<ref>Associated Press, as reported in Yoram Ettinger, "The Islamization of Bethlehem by Arafat," Jerusalem Cloakroom #117, Ariel Center for Policy Research, December 25, 2001.</ref> [[Time Magazine]] described this tactic used in confrontations throughout the country: "The Tanzim gunmen crouched at the side of the house. They aimed their Russian-made Kalashnikov rifles at the hilltop... Minutes later, the Tanzim cleared out, leaving the residents of this small street to face Israel's retribution. <ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,998782-5,00.html Fields of Fire, Time Magazine]</ref> In May 2001, Beit Jala residents expressed increasing opposition to armed Fatah Tanzim taking over buildings in the town to shoot at Gilo. Israeli officials began investigating reports of food supplies distributed by UNWRA being commandeered and sold by Tanzim. <ref>[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-44447770.html Beit Jala residents speak up against Tanzim, Jerusalem Post]</ref>


Andreas Reinecke, head of the German Liaison office to the [[Palestinian National Authority|Palestinian Authority]], wrote to protest "a number of incidents which occurred at Talitakoumi school in Beit Jala...which is funded mainly by the Protestant Church in Berlin. Over the last few days the school staff noticed attempts on the part of several armed Palestinians to use the school premises and some of its gardens for their activities. If they succeed in doing this, an Israeli reaction will be inevitable. This will have a negative impact on the continuation of the functioning of the school, in which no less than 1,000 [Christian] Palestinians study....You cannot imagine the kind of upheaval which will be provoked among the supporters of this school [in Germany] should they discover that the school premises are used as a battle ground.<ref>[http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:Ekn5qtIrZ6QJ:www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/christianpal.html+andreas+reinecke+german+liaison+beit+jala&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk, David Raab, The Beleaguered Christians of the Palestinian-controlled areas, Letter from Andreas Reinecke to Colonel Jibril Rajoub, Head of the PA Preventive Security Apparatus in the West Bank, May 5, 2002, from IDF Spokesperson, May 12, 2002]</ref>
Andreas Reinecke, head of the German Liaison office to the [[Palestinian National Authority|Palestinian Authority]], wrote to protest "a number of incidents which occurred at Talitakoumi school in Beit Jala...which is funded mainly by the Protestant Church in Berlin. Over the last few days the school staff noticed attempts on the part of several armed Palestinians to use the school premises and some of its gardens for their activities. If they succeed in doing this, an Israeli reaction will be inevitable. This will have a negative impact on the continuation of the functioning of the school, in which no less than 1,000 [Christian] Palestinians study....You cannot imagine the kind of upheaval which will be provoked among the supporters of this school [in Germany] should they discover that the school premises are used as a battle ground.<ref>[http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:Ekn5qtIrZ6QJ:www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/christianpal.html+andreas+reinecke+german+liaison+beit+jala&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk, David Raab, The Beleaguered Christians of the Palestinian-controlled areas, Letter from Andreas Reinecke to Colonel Jibril Rajoub, Head of the PA Preventive Security Apparatus in the West Bank, May 5, 2002, from IDF Spokesperson, May 12, 2002]</ref>

Revision as of 08:21, 24 February 2010

This article is about the Jerusalem neighbourhood. For other uses, see Gilo (disambiguation).
Street in Gilo

Gilo (Template:Lang-he) is a disputed neighborhood located on the southwestern outskirts of Jerusalem.[1][2] The United Nations[3] and European Union[4][5] consider it an illegal settlement but Israel and the United States regard it as a neighborhood within the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem.[6] [7][8][9] Gilo has a population of 40,000, making it one of the city's largest suburbs. [10]

History

During the 1948 War, the Egyptian army positioned its artillery at Gilo, heavily shelling West Jerusalem. An attempt to advance on Jerusalem from Gilo was beaten back in a fierce battle. Kibbutz Ramat Rachel, located just north of Gilo, changed hands three times, ultimately remaining part of Israel, but Gilo remained on the other side of the Green Line, occupied by the Jordan kingdom until 1967.[11]

In 1970, the Israeli government expropriated 12,300 dunams of land to build a ring of new neighborhoods around Jerusalem on land conquered in the Six-Day War. Gilo was established in 1973 on a hill overlooking Beit Jala on land that belonged to the Palestinian villages of Sharafat, Beit Jala and Beit Safafa.[12][13] With its expansion over the years, Gilo has formed a wedge between Jerusalem and Beit Jala/Bethlehem.[12]

Geography

A view of Gilo from Beit Jala

Gilo is located on a hilltop in southwest Jerusalem, separated from Beit Jalla by a deep gorge. The Tunnels Highway to Gush Etzion runs underneath it on the east, and the settlement of Har Gilo is visible on the adjacent peak. Beit Safafa and Sharafat are located north of Gilo, while Bethlehem is to the south.[14]

Biblical Gilo

The biblical town of Gilo is mentioned in the Book of Joshua (Joshua 15:51) and the Book of Samuel (II Sam 15:12).[15] Some scholars believe that biblical Gilo was located in the central Hebron Hills, whereas the name of the modern settlement was chosen because of its proximity to Beit Jala, possibly a corruption of Gilo.[16] A city in the southwest part of the hill-country of Judah (Josh. 15:51), Gilo was the birthplace of Ahithophel "the Gilonite" (Josh. 15:51; 2 Sam. 15:12), and the place where he committed suicide (17:23). Gilo has been identified with Kurbet Jala, about 7 miles north of Hebron.[17]

Demography

From its inception, Gilo has been a multi-national neighborhood. Many of the new immigrants who spent their first months in the country at the immigrant hostel in Gilo, among them immigrants from Iran, Syria, France and South America, chose to remain in the neighborhood. Since the large influx of Soviet Jews in the 1990s, Gilo has absorbed 15% of all Russian immigrants settling in Jerusalem.[18]The immigrant hostel is now the site of an urban kibbutz, Beit Yisrael.[19] Gilo is a mixed community of religious and secular Jews, although more Haredi families are moving in. [20]

Settlement/neighborhood debate

Gilo is considered a "settlement" built on occupied land by the United Nations and the European Union because it is located over the 1967 Green Line.[21][22] On the other hand, it is considered a "neighborhood" of Jerusalem by Israel and the United States.[23][24][25][26][27][28] When asked about construction plans in Gilo, U.S. President Barack Obama refrained from specifically referencing Gilo, responding with a warning that additional settlement building is dangerous.[29]

HonestReporting (a watchdog organisation that monitors the media for bias against Israel), states that Gilo not a "settlement" in the most widespread sense of the term, which "can conjure up images of isolated enclaves in the West Bank". Gilo lies within Jerusalem's municipal boundaries and is geographically contiguous to surrounding Jewish neighborhoods that pre-date the Six Day War. A leading Israeli architect and architectural historian, David Kroyanker, describes Gilo as a "satellite neighborhood" of Jerusalem. [30]

In an interview with the Jerusalem Post, Gilo community council director Yaffa Shitrit, invited the world "to come and see the neighborhood of Gilo and to understand the geography. We're not a settlement, we're part of the city of Jerusalem, we're a neighborhood like Katamon."[31]

Some media outlets, including The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, Associated Press, Boston Globe and CBS News, have described Gilo as a "neighborhood".[32] An internal CNN memorandum stated: "We refer to Gilo as a 'Jewish neighborhood on the outskirts of Jerusalem'... We don't refer to it as a settlement."[33] Robert Fisk wrote that by "censoring the word 'settlement' for Gilo, CNN is perpetrating a lie", attempting to obfuscate the fact that Gilo is built on occupied Palestinian territory.[34]Other media outlets such as the BBC, AFP, Reuters and The Economist describe Gilo as a "settlement".[32]The Jerusalem Post, reporting on the U.S. condemnation of building plans in Gilo, wrote: "Initially, the White House statement was titled a response to "the approval of settlement expansion in Jerusalem," ... but the version of the statement the White House later posted on its Web site had different wording. It does not use the word "settlement" in reference to Jerusalem, and is instead titled a comment "on Jerusalem."[35]

Palestinians and pro-Palestinian media watch groups insist that Gilo is a settlement and make no distinction between Gilo and the West Bank settlements.[36][37]

Shooting from Beit Jala

Concrete wall decorated with landscape mural built to shield Gilo residents from Palestinian gunfire

In 2000–2002, the first two years of the Second Intifada, there were over 400 shooting incidents targeting Gilo from Beit Jala.[38]Although Beit Jala is predominantly Christian, it was infiltrated by Fatah's Tanzim gunmen, who purportedly positioned themselves in or near Christian homes and churches in the knowledge that a slight deviation in Israeli return fire would harm Christian buildings.[39] Time Magazine described this tactic used in confrontations throughout the country: "The Tanzim gunmen crouched at the side of the house. They aimed their Russian-made Kalashnikov rifles at the hilltop... Minutes later, the Tanzim cleared out, leaving the residents of this small street to face Israel's retribution. [40] In May 2001, Beit Jala residents expressed increasing opposition to armed Fatah Tanzim taking over buildings in the town to shoot at Gilo. Israeli officials began investigating reports of food supplies distributed by UNWRA being commandeered and sold by Tanzim. [41]

Andreas Reinecke, head of the German Liaison office to the Palestinian Authority, wrote to protest "a number of incidents which occurred at Talitakoumi school in Beit Jala...which is funded mainly by the Protestant Church in Berlin. Over the last few days the school staff noticed attempts on the part of several armed Palestinians to use the school premises and some of its gardens for their activities. If they succeed in doing this, an Israeli reaction will be inevitable. This will have a negative impact on the continuation of the functioning of the school, in which no less than 1,000 [Christian] Palestinians study....You cannot imagine the kind of upheaval which will be provoked among the supporters of this school [in Germany] should they discover that the school premises are used as a battle ground.[42]

The shooting included gunfire and mortar attacks.[43] Many civilians were injured and homes facing Beit Jalla suffered extensive property damage, prompting many residents to leave. The Israeli government eventually built a cement barrier and bulletproofed the outer row of homes.[38][44] The barrage of attacks on Gilo subsided after Operation Defensive Shield, with the rate slowing to three incidents of gunfire that year.[45]

Schools and institutions

Beit HaOr, a center for autistic children, opened in Gilo in March 2008.[46] The Ilan home for handicapped adults is located in Gilo.[47] Gilo has 35 synagogues.[48] In 2009, the Gilo community center, one of the largest in the country, introduced a new hybrid water heating system that saves energy and greatly reduces pollution.[49] Park Gilo has a large adventure playground for children. [50]

Urban development plans

Plans to expand Gilo have drawn criticism from the United States and United Kingdom. Israel maintains that it has the right to build freely in Gilo because the neighborhood is within Jerusalem municipal borders and not a West Bank settlement.[51][52][53][54][55]In 2009, the Jerusalem Planning Committee approved construction of 900 new housing units in Gilo, sparking a fresh round of global criticism.[56]

Archaeology

A site dating to the period of Israelite settlement known as Iron Age I (1200 – 1000 BCE) was identified and excavated at Gilo. The site revealed a small planned settlement with dwellings along the perimeter of the site, together with pottery dating to the twelfth century BCE.[57]

The southern part of the Iron Age site at Gilo is believed to be one of the earliest Israelite sites from this period.[57] The site was surrounded by a defensive wall and a few long walls divided the site into large yards, probably to hold sheep, with houses at the edges. Buildings at the site are amongst the earliest examples of the pillared four room house characteristic of Iron Age Israelite buildings, with a courtyard divided by stone pillars, a rectangular back room and rooms along the courtyard. The foundations of a structure built of large stones were also uncovered, and it is presumed that they belonged to a fortified defense tower.[57]

During the construction of Gilo, archaeologists discovered a fortress and agricultural implements from the period of the First Temple period above the shopping center in Rehov Haganenet. Between Canada Hill and Gilo Park, they unearthed the remains of a farm and graves from the Second Temple period. Roman and Byzantine remains have also been found at various sites.[58]

See also

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ [2]
    US fury as Israel approves 900 new housing units in Gilo settlement (Times, Nov. 18, 2009)
  3. ^ United Nations Security Council Resolution 465 called Israeli settlements in the West Bank, "including Jerusalem", "flagrant violations of international law", while Resolution 478 declared Israel's Jerusalem Law null and void. The United States abstained from voting on the resolution, and Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act stating that "Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel". http://www.un.org/documents/sc/res/1980/scres80.htm
  4. ^ EU rebukes Israel for Jerusalem settlement expansion (EUObserver,com, Nov. 19, 2009)
  5. ^ Israeli settlement plan denounced (BBC, Nov. 18, 2009)
  6. ^ [3]
  7. ^ [4]
  8. ^ [5]
  9. ^ [6]
  10. ^ [7] Jerusalem Post
  11. ^ A history of Jerusalem's highest neighborhood
  12. ^ a b Shaul Ephraim Cohen (1993). The politics of planting: Israeli-Palestinian competition for control of land in the Jerusalem periphery (Illustrated ed.). University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226112764, 9780226112763. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  13. ^ Ashkenasi, Abraham (1999). Abraham Ashkenasi (ed.). The future of Jerusalem. P. Lang. p. 293. ISBN 0820435058, 9780820435053. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)"Gilo It was established in 1973 on Beit Safafa, Sharafat and Beit Jala land..."
  14. ^ Arafat's media do support Jerusalem bus bombing - Likud of Holland
  15. ^ Gilo & Har Choma
  16. ^ http://www.hatzola.org.il/gilo.asp Gilo & Har Choma
  17. ^ Giloh (WebBible Encyclopedia) - ChristianAnswers.Net
  18. ^ Jerusalem neighborhoods: Gilo
  19. ^ Housing on the horizon?
  20. ^ Housing on the horizon, Jerusalem Post
  21. ^ Map of Israeli Settlements OCHA-OPT
  22. ^ EU rebukes Israel for Jerusalem settlement expansion (EUObserver,com, Nov. 19, 2009)
  23. ^ United Nations Security Council Resolution 465 called Israeli settlements in the West Bank, "including Jerusalem", "flagrant violations of international law", while Resolution 478 declared Israel's Jerusalem Law null and void. The United States abstained from voting on the resolution, and Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act stating that "Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel". http://www.un.org/documents/sc/res/1980/scres80.htm
  24. ^ EU rebukes Israel for Jerusalem settlement expansion (EUObserver,com, Nov. 19, 2009)
  25. ^ [8]
  26. ^ [9]
  27. ^ [10]
  28. ^ [11]
  29. ^ Obama Calls Israeli Settlement Building in East Jerusalem 'Dangerous' (Fox News, Nov. 18, 2009)
  30. ^ A little modesty goes a long way, Haaretz
  31. ^ Gilo residents issue invitation to the world
  32. ^ a b A stabbing in Gilo
  33. ^ [12]
  34. ^ Fisk, Robert. CNN caves in to Israel over its references to illegal settlements The Independent 3 September 2001
  35. ^ [13]
  36. ^ Euphemisms for Israeli Settlements Confuse Coverage FAIR, August 2002
  37. ^ The War Within East Jerusalem, Yossi Klein Halevi, New York Times
  38. ^ a b The strategic significance of Har Homa | Op-Ed Contributors | Jerusalem Post
  39. ^ Associated Press, as reported in Yoram Ettinger, "The Islamization of Bethlehem by Arafat," Jerusalem Cloakroom #117, Ariel Center for Policy Research, December 25, 2001.
  40. ^ Fields of Fire, Time Magazine
  41. ^ Beit Jala residents speak up against Tanzim, Jerusalem Post
  42. ^ David Raab, The Beleaguered Christians of the Palestinian-controlled areas, Letter from Andreas Reinecke to Colonel Jibril Rajoub, Head of the PA Preventive Security Apparatus in the West Bank, May 5, 2002, from IDF Spokesperson, May 12, 2002
  43. ^ Winter 2001 Vol. XI, No. 1 - CPT
  44. ^ Excerpts from Briefing by Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert on the Situation in Jerusalem Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 24 October 2000
  45. ^ Shooting and buying, Haaretz
  46. ^ Alut newsletter
  47. ^ Gilo Residence of the Ilan Foundation
  48. ^ Our Jerusalem: Pain and sorrow are not a sign of weakness
  49. ^ Hybrid water heating system to be dedicated at Gilo community center
  50. ^ Israel hot spots: Jerusalem information
  51. ^ [14]
  52. ^ [15]
  53. ^ [16]
  54. ^ Spotlight: Why is Gilo so important? BBC. 16 August, 2001.
  55. ^ Two die in Hebron clashes BBC. 3 September, 2001
  56. ^ http://www.jerusalem.com/discover/article_1240/Gilo-neighborhood-receives-approval-to-build-900-housing-units
  57. ^ a b c Mazar, Amihai, (1994) “The Iron Age I” in Ben-Tor, Amnon (Ed.), “The Archaeology of Ancient Israel”, pp. 286-295, Yale University Press, ISBN 0300059191
  58. ^ Jerusalem neighborhoods

31°44′N 35°11′E / 31.733°N 35.183°E / 31.733; 35.183

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