Ramot (Hebrew: רָמוֹת, lit. Heights), also known as Ramot Alon (Hebrew: רמות אלון, lit. Alon Heights), is a large housing development in northwestern Jerusalem.[1] Because part of Ramot lies north of the Green Line in East Jerusalem,[2] [3] the international community considers Ramot an Israeli settlement that is illegal under international law.[4][5][6] Israel disputes this and consideres Ramot a part of the Jerusalem municipality. The land was annexed after the Six-Day War. Ramot is one the Jerusalem ring neighborhoods.
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Between the 1949 Armistice Agreements and the Six-Day War in 1967, the area that is today Ramot was in the demilitarized zone between Israeli and Jordanian lines.[7] Ramot was established in 1974. [8]The name is based on the biblical city of Rama, where the Prophet Samuel lived and was brought for burial: And Samuel died, and all Israel gathered together and mourned him, and they buried him near his home in Rama (Samuel I, 25:1). According to tradition, Rama was situated on one of the highest peaks of the Judean Hills, 885 meters above sea level. [9]
Modern Ramot was built on a hill overlooking the land of the tribe of Benjamin. After the death of Yigal Allon, the neighborhood was renamed Ramot Alon.[10]
Ramot is north and west of the center of Jerusalem. [11] The neighborhood is built upon two elongated ridges about 100–200 meters above the surrounding landscape (heights of 693–876 meters above sea level). Between the ridges is the Golda Meir highway, leading to Tel Aviv. Travel time to the center of Jerusalem is about 15 minutes and Har Hotzvim industrial park is about 7 minutes .[12]
Ramot has a population of 50,000.[18] Ramot Alon is an example of the demographic change in Jerusalem. When it was established in 1974, the population was 70% secular. Since 2000, Ramot Alef, Gimel and Daled have become Haredi, and the percentage of ultra-Orthodox Jews in all of Ramot Alon has risen to 75%. [19]
One side of Ramot Gimel is mostly Chareidi, and the other side is more Modern Orthodox. Ramot Vav is primarily a Chareidi population, though there is a mix of other types of residents. [20]
Ramot is administered by Israel as being within Jerusalem. However, since part of the neighborhood has been built across the Green Line in East Jerusalem,[21] the international community considers Ramot to be an Israeli settlement. Israel unilaterally annexed East Jerusalem and maintains that developments in East Jerusalem are not settlements, but the move was condemned by the UN Security Council as "null and void" and was not recognized by the international community. The international community considers Israeli settlements to be illegal under international law, violating the Fourth Geneva Convention's prohibition on the transfer of a civilian population into territory held under military occupation, but Israel considers East Jerusalem its sovereign territory.[22] The U.S. government has traditionally refrained from calling Israeli neighborhoods in East Jerusalem "settlements."[23]
The Clinton Parameters[24] and Geneva accords[25] proposed keeping Ramot (and other Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem beyond the green line) under Israeli sovereignty, possibly in exchange for other land, though no deal has been made in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process.
Since the portion of Ramot across the Green Line was constructed in the demilitarized zone between the Jordanian and Israeli front lines, Israelis have argued that it should not be considered occupied territory.[26]
Buildings clustered around courtyards was a predominant architectural style in Ramot in the 1980s. Large, well-kept private homes were constructed in the 1970s and 1980s under the Build Your Own Home project, reflecting the rising standards of living in Israel and a change in consumer habits.[27] Ramot Polin Apartments have been named as one of the "World's Strangest Buildings" and has been described as a "housing project for honeybees". [28] The entire neighborhood is organized upon a hill in central Ramot in a shape resembling a five-fingered hand or three-branched leaf.
Ramot Forest is located in Ramot. At the edge of the forest is the Gan Kipod children's park featuring a porcupine-shaped slide.[29]
Ramot Forest Gazelle Trail, a natural Gazelle habitat is located there as well. [30]
In November 2009, 30-foot high bronze sculpture depicting a waving American flag turning into a flame was unveiled in Ramot, part of a five-acre memorial plaza for the September 11 terror attacks. The sculpture, located in Arazim Valley, was the first memorial outside New York to list the names of the 2,974 people killed in the attack. Part of the gray granite base, taken from the original Twin Towers, was donated by the New York municipality. Israeli sculptor Eliezer Weishoff said the memorial had to be moved 200 yards from the planned site to accommodate gazelle migration pathways. U.S. Ambassador James B. Cunningham and a number of congressmen attended the event.[31]
Ramot Mall, which will be Jerusalem's 2nd largest mall is scheduled to open in 2011. [32]
The Tomb of Samuel, the prophet and leader of the Israelites is located on the outskirts of Ramot. [33]
There are Crusader era remains in Ramot 2 and Ramot 6.[34] In May 2005, a salvage excavation conducted in the Ramot neighborhood on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority found a rock hewn burial cave surmounted by a massive rectangular building and a columbarium cave. Potsherds dating to the Ottoman period were discovered on the floor of the building. Fragments of jars and cooking pots dating to the Early Roman period were discovered in the columbarium, which is characteristic of the Hellenistic and Early Roman periods.[35]
Khirbet Tililiya is the site of an ancient ruined fortress on a high hill in the center of Ramot Alon. The ruins are dated to the Second Temple period (Hasmonean and Herodian).[34]
Ramot has five sections; Aleph (A), Bet (B), Gimmel (G), Daled (D), and Vav (V), also known as Ramot 06. Ramot Polin is a sub-section of Ramot Daled (D). [36]
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