Balata

Balata Camp
Other transcription(s)
• Arabic	مخيم بلاطة
Balata Camp Location of Balata Camp within the Palestinian Territories
Coordinates: 32°12′23.06″N 35°17′11.70″E / 32.2064056°N 35.2865833°E / 32.2064056; 35.2865833Coordinates: 32°12′23.06″N 35°17′11.70″E / 32.2064056°N 35.2865833°E / 32.2064056; 35.2865833
Governorate	Nablus
Government
• Type	Refugee Camp (from 1950)
Population (2006)
• Jurisdiction	30,000

Balata Camp (Arabic: مخيم بلاطة‎) is a Palestinian refugee camp established in the northern West Bank in 1950, adjacent to the city of Nablus. It is the largest refugee camp in the West Bank. Balata Camp is densely populated with 30,000 residents in an area of 0.25 square kilometers.

Demolished home in Balata, 2002, Second Intifada

History

In 1950, the UN gave the refugees from the Jaffa area temporary housing. These people initially refused the UN's offers, stating their eagerness to return to their homes. They desired no sense of permanence. After two years, they accepted the offer and settled at Balata.^[1] In 1956, the Jaffa refugees desired more permanent housing. After the border with the State of Israel was sealed, the refugees moved into concrete housing that replaced the original tents.^[1]

Balata Camp, early 1950s

Education and culture

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) funds a school in the Balata camp, with approximately 5,000 pupils.^[1] The Yaffa Cultural Center in Balata operates a guesthouse, children’s theater and cinema, children’s library and media center.^[2] The American NGO, Tomorrow's Youth Organization, also operates classes for children from Balata.^[3]

Political violence

In the 1980s and 1990s, Balata residents played a leading role in the uprisings known as the First Intifada and the Second Intifada. In November 2007, Palestinian National Authority police officers climbed rooftops in Balata and engaged in gun battles with militants of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades who had turned the camp into a military stronghold. Five residents and a policeman were wounded in the shooting.^[4]

Notable people

• Sakher Habash

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Balata.

External links

• Videos from Balata
• Balata, articles from UNWRA

Palestine refugee camps locations and populations as of 2015[1]  Gaza Strip 518,000 UNRWA refugees  West Bank 188,150 UNRWA refugees  Syria 319,958 UNRWA refugees  Lebanon 188,850 UNRWA refugees  Jordan 355,500 UNRWA refugees Al-Shati (Beach camp) 87,000 Bureij 34,000 Deir al-Balah 21,000 Jabalia 110,000 Khan Yunis 72,000 Maghazi 24,000 Nuseirat 66,000 Rafah 104,000 Canada Camp closed Aqabat Jaber 6,400 Ein as-Sultan 1,900 Far'a 7,600 Fawwar 8,000 Jalazone 11,000 Kalandia 11,000 Am'ari 10,500 Deir 'Ammar 2,400 Dheisheh 13,000 Aida 4,700 Al-Arroub 10,400 Askar 15,900 Balata 23,600 'Azza (Beit Jibrin) 1,000 Ein Beit al-Ma' (Camp No. 1) 6,750 Tulkarm camp 18,000 Nur Shams 9,000 Jenin camp 16,000 Shuafat camp 11,000 Silwad Sbeineh 22,600 Khan Eshieh 20,000 Neirab 20,500 Homs 22,000 Jaramana camp 18,658 Daraa camp 10,000 Hama camp 8,000 Khan Dannun 10,000 Qabr Essit 23,700 Unofficial camps Ein Al-Tal 6,000 Latakia Camp 10,000 Yarmouk 148,500 Bourj el-Barajneh 17,945 Ain al-Hilweh 54,116 El Buss 11,254 Nahr al-Bared 5,857 Shatila 9,842 Wavel 8,806 Mar Elias 662 Mieh Mieh 5,250 Beddawi 16,500 Burj el-Shemali 22,789 Dbayeh camp 4,351 Rashidieh 31,478 Zarqa camp 20,000 Jabal el-Hussein 29,000 Amman New Camp (Wihdat) 51,500 Souf 20,000 Baqa'a 104,000 Husn (Martyr Azmi el-Mufti camp) 22,000 Irbid camp 25,000 Jerash camp 24,000 Marka 53,000 Talbieh 7,000

Nablus Governorate Cities Nablus (Balata al-Balad • Juneid • Rafidia) Municipalities Aqraba (Yanun) Asira al-Shamaliya Beita Beit Furik Huwara Jamma'in Qabalan Sebastia (Nisf Jubeil) Villages al-Aqrabaniya Asira al-Qibliya Awarta Azmut al-Badhan Beit Dajan Beit Hasan Beit Iba Beit Imrin Beit Wazan Bizzariya Burin Burqa Deir al-Hatab Deir Sharaf Duma Einabus Ein Shibli Furush Beit Dajan Ijnisinya Iraq Burin Jurish Kafr Qallil al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya (Ammuriya) Madama Majdal Bani Fadil an-Naqura an-Naseriya Odala Osarin Qaryut (Jalud) Qusin Qusra Rujeib Salim Sarra as-Sawiya Talfit Talluza Tell Urif Yasid Yatma Zawata Zeita Jamma'in Refugee camps Askar Balata Ein Beit al-Ma'

32°12′N 35°17′E / 32.200°N 35.283°E / 32.200; 35.283;

1. ↑ "Camp Profiles". unrwa.org. United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. Retrieved 2 July 2015.