Nofei Prat

Nofei Prat
Nofei Prat
Coordinates: 31°49′26.4″N 35°19′12.35″E / 31.824000°N 35.3200972°ECoordinates: 31°49′26.4″N 35°19′12.35″E / 31.824000°N 35.3200972°E
Council Mateh Binyamin
Region Judean Desert
Founded 1992
Founded by Jerusalem residents

Nofei Prat (Hebrew: נוֹפֵי פְּרָת, lit. Prat Scenes) is an Israeli settlement organized as a communal settlement in the West Bank. Located near Ma'ale Adumim, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. In 2006 there were around 90 families living in the settlement. In 2009 about 140 families lived there. Both religious and secular families live in Nofei Prat.

The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.[1] According to the Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem, Nofei Prat is located on land confiscated from the Palestinian town of 'Anata.[2]


History

The village was established on part of the lands of Kfar Adumim in 1992 by a group of settlers from Jerusalem. It was named after the nearby Prat Stream. On the morning after the elections for the thirteenth Knesset and Israeli Labor Party victory and before transition of power was made, a mixed group of mostly single religious and non-religious students from the Hebrew University drove east from Jerusalem to a barren hilltop with a plan to create a mixed community. They erected a flimsy structure which would later that day be followed by twenty-seven trailers. [3]

Transportation

Nofei Prat was one of a number of settlements linked by a road secretly built by settlers in 1995. The road links Anatot to Kfar Adumim, Nofei Prat, and Alon. According to Pinhas Wallerstein, then head of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, the road was one of a number of secretly built roads under construction in the area. Wallerstein claimed that as council head, he did not need permission to construct roads, but that he would stop construction if the Israel Defense Forces told him to. He also said "What are they going to do, tell us to take the road away? If the road is illegal let them take us to court."[4]

Design

The settlement's master plan and its first 33 houses were designed by Jerusalem architect Marcy Goldwasser.[5]

Nofei Prat as viewed from Almon

References

  1. ↑ "The Geneva Convention". BBC News. 10 December 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
  2. ↑ ['Anata Town Profile 'Anata Village Profile] Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem. 21 July 2004.
  3. ↑ Hoberman, Haggai (2008). Keneged Kol HaSikuim [Against All Odds] (in Hebrew) (1st ed.). Sifriat Netzaim. p. 252.
  4. ↑ Herb Keinon (June 20, 1995). "Settlers Unveil Secretly-Built Road". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved August 22, 2012.
  5. ↑ Sybil Ehrlich (March 1, 2002). "Portrayer of things past". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved August 22, 2012.