Isawiya

Al-Issawiya viewed from Mt. Scopus

Al-Issawiya (Arabic: العيساوية‎)^[1] is an urban, Arab neighborhood in Jerusalem. Located on Mount Scopus near Hadassah Medical Center, it formed part of an Israeli enclave between 1949-1967.^[2]

History

A burial cave, with pottery dating to the Early Roman period (first century CE), have been found at Isawiya.^[3]

Ottoman era

Isawiya, like the rest of Palestine, was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517, and in the 1560s the revenues of al-Isawiya were designated for the waqf of Hasseki Sultan Imaret in Jerusalem, established by Hasseki Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana), wife of Suleiman the Magnificent.^[4] In the 1596 tax registers it appeared as Isawiyya, in the Nahiya of Quds of the Liwa of Quds, with a population of 35 households and 3 bachelors, all Muslim. Taxes were paid for wheat, barley, olive trees, vineyards, fruit trees, goats and beehives.^[5]

In 1838 it was noted as "a small village".^[6] In 1883, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described El Aisawiyeh as a "small village on the eastern slope of the chain of Olivet, with a spring to the south and a few olives round it."^[7]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, 'Isawiyeh had a population of 333, all Muslims,^[8] increasing in the 1931 census to a population of 558, 7 Christians and the rest Muslim, occupying 117 houses.^[9]

In 1945 the population of Isawiya was 730, all Arabs, who owned 10,108 dunams of land while 235 dunams had Jewish owners, according to an official land and population survey.^[10] 3,291 dunams were used for cereals,^[11] while 47 dunams were built-up (urban) land.^[12]

Post-1948

The Mount Scopus Agreement signed on July 7, 1948 regulated the demilitarised zone and authorized the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization to settle disputes between Israel and Jordan. One area of conflict involved two Jewish-owned plots in Issawiya, known as Gan Shlomit or Salomons Garden, which were purchased by V.F. Salomons in 1934 and sold to the Gan Shlomit Company, Ltd. in 1937.^[13]

In 1964, Issawiya had a population of 1,300. It was located at this time within the Mount Scopus demilitarized zone, an unsupervised demilitarized zone between Jordan and Israel,^[14]

Issawiya is located at the foot of French Hill, northwest of the road to Ma'aleh Adumim.^[15] Under the jurisdiction of the Jerusalem Municipality, its citizens are considered permanent residents of the city, entitled to live and work in Israel without special permits. As permanent residents, they are also entitled to social benefits provided by Bituah Leumi (Israeli National Insurance Institute) and Israeli health insurance.^[16]

Land registry

Under Jordanian rule, land in Issawiya was registered under the owner's name, but registration stopped in 1967. Residents who apply for building permits are frequently turned down because ownership cannot be proven. Another problem is that land may belong to as many as ten clans. The land would need to be unified and then divided up between all residents who claim ownership.

Education

According to the local mukhtar, 800 students in al-Issawiya lacks classrooms. This has caused strikes among the students and protests among community leaders and parents. According to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel the difference in schooling-standard between East and West Jerusalem is "staggering".^[17] A girls' school in al-Issawiya is one of five elementary schools in the Jerusalem area that teach philosophy to third-graders as part of a program operating in 70 countries.^[18] A project sponsored by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem coordinates educational work with youth in Issawiya. Palestinian-Israeli students at the university undergo a training seminar that provides them with the requisite teaching and facilitation skills.^[19]

Economy

Some residents of the neighborhood work at Hadassah Medical Center, located on a hill overlooking the neighborhood.^[16]

Sports

In 2005, the Peres Center for Peace inaugurated a synthetic turf soccer field in Issawiya as part of the Twinned Peace Soccer School project.^[20] The soccer field was a priority in 1993 during Teddy Kollek's election year and had been allocated funding at the time, but was finally built with South Korean funding.^[21]

References

Bibliography

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Issawiya.

External links

• SWP map 17, IAA
• SWP map 17, Wikimedia commons
• 'Isawiya Town (Fact Sheet), ARIJ
• 'Isawiya Town Profile, ARIJ
• 'Isawiya areal photo, ARIJ
• The new Jerusalem Master Plan grabs 250 dunums of 'Issawiya village lands 01, December, 2004, ARIJ
• Israel expands an Army Military Base East of Al 'Isawiya village 05, July, 2007, ARIJ
• Transferring 660 Dunums into a "Jewish National Park" in Al 'Isawiya town 04, March, 2010, ARIJ
• More "Biblical Parks"… the confiscation of Al 'Isawiya and At Tur lands 07, December, 2011, ARIJ

Neighborhoods of Jerusalem Jerusalem neighborhoods east of the 1949 armistice line are depicted in green, those west of the line in blue (see Green Line). Old City Armenian Quarter Christian Quarter Muristan Jewish Quarter Muslim Quarter Bab al-Huta Central Neighborhoods Arzei HaBira Batei Ungarin Beit David Beit Ya'akov Beit Yisrael Bukharim Downtown Triangle Geula Givat HaVradim Givat Ram Katamon Kerem Avraham Kiryat HaLeom Kiryat HaMemshala Kiryat Shmuel Kiryat Shomrei Emunim Kiryat Wolfson Ma'alot Dafna Mahane Israel Mahane Yehuda Mazkeret Moshe Mea Shearim Mekor Baruch Mishkenot Sha'ananim Mount Zion Musrara Nahalat Shiv'a Nachlaot Nayot Neve Granot Neve Sha'anan Rehavia Romema Rova Mevo Ha'ir Russian Compound Sha'arei Hesed Shmuel HaNavi Talbiya Yemin Moshe Zikhron Moshe Zikhron Yosef Northern Neighborhoods Al-Ram Beit Hanina Ezrat Torah French Hill Givat HaMivtar Har Hotzvim Kafr 'Aqab Kiryat Belz Kiryat Itri Kiryat Mattersdorf Kiryat Sanz Mount Scopus Neve Yaakov Pisgat Ze'ev Ramat Eshkol Ramat Shlomo Ramot Ramot Polin Sanhedria Sanhedria Murhevet Shikun Chabad Shuafat Tel Arza Unsdorf Eastern Neighborhoods American Colony Al Bustan Al-Issawiya At-Tur Bab a-Zahara Ir David Jabel Mukaber Kiryat Menachem Begin Ma'ale ha-Zeitim Nachalat Shimon Nof Zion Ras al-Amud Sheikh Jarrah Shimon HaTzadik Silwan Wadi al-Joz Southern Neighborhoods Abu Tor Arnona Baka Beit Safafa East Talpiot German Colony Gilo Givat HaMatos Givat Oranim Givat Massuah Greek colony Har Homa Katamonim Malha Mekor Chaim Pat Ramat Rachel San Simon Sharafat Sur Baher Talpiot Umm Tuba Western Neighborhoods Bayit VeGan Beit HaKerem Ein Karem Givat Beit HaKerem Givat Shaul Givat Mordechai Har Nof Ir Ganim Kiryat HaYovel Kiryat Menachem Kiryat Moshe Motza Ramat Beit HaKerem Ramat Denya Ramat Sharett Yefeh Nof Historical Neighborhoods Atarot Batei Munkacs Batei Saidoff Ezrat Yisrael Kirya Ne'emana Knesset Yisrael Lifta Mamilla Moroccan Quarter Ohel Shlomo Sha'arei Yerushalayim Sheikh Badr See also: Ring Neighborhoods

Coordinates: 31°47′55″N 35°14′54″E / 31.79861°N 35.24833°E / 31.79861; 35.24833