Givat HaMatos
Givat HaMatos (Hebrew: גבעת המטוס) is a caravan village in southern Jerusalem established as temporary housing for Ethiopian Jewish immigrants in Israel. The village encompasses an area of 170 dunams. It is bordered by Talpiot in the north, Gilo in the south, and Beit Safafa in the west.
History
Givat HaMatos is Hebrew for "Airplane Hill." The site received its name after a small two-engine Israel Air Force plane crashed there on June 6, 1967, the second day of the Six-Day War after being hit by Jordanian anti-aircraft artillery. The pilot, Lt. Dan Givon, was killed.[1]
The caravans were built on a hill in 1991 to house a large influx of Ethiopian Jews airlifted to Israel. According to a Hebrew University political scientist, Givat Hamatos was "an empty hillside, cold and windswept in the winter, in the far south of the municipal area. It was close to...Bethlehem and Beit Jallah, and included a minefield left over from a previous war."[2]Amidar, a government housing company, also placed homeless Israeli families in Givat HaMatos until alternate housing could be found.[3]
In 2005, a 4-stage development project was unveiled for the neighborhood. The plans included a panoramic promenade, hotels, cafes, office buildings and commercial space.[4]
In 2007, dozens of immigrant families were still living there in caravans and various aid organizations were working to alleviate the financial distress of families that had not been successfully absorbed in Israeli society. In 2011, plans were approved for a new neighborhood with 800 housing units allocated to Arabs as an expansion of Beit Safafa.[5]
In December 2012, the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee met to discuss plans for the construction of 2,600 housing units in the neighborhood, half of them for Arab residents of the city.[6]
References
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Coordinates: 31°44′20.03″N 35°12′29.9″E / 31.7388972°N 35.208306°E