Ma'ale Rehav'am
Ma'ale Rehav'am (Hebrew: מַעֲלֶה רְחַבְעָם), is an Israeli settlement south of Bethlehem and northeast of Hebron in the West Bank, located in the northeastern Judean Mountains on Road 3698. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.[1]
With assistance from Amana, Ma'ale Rehav'am was founded in 2001 after, and in reaction to, the assassination of Rehavam Zeevi who was an ardent supporter of settlement of Yesha. The residents of the village pride themselves on operating based on the ecovillage model which has taken shape in olive and almond groves, a muscat grape vineyard, and an orchard growing thirty-five different fruit varieties.
The small 'mixed' community stands out in that non-observant and religiously observant Jewish families live together. In general, while large Israeli towns and cities have heterogeneous populations, most small communities usually are either homogeneous non-religious or religious. Similarly, the village's mother community Nokdim, is also a 'mixed' community. Ma'ale Rehav'am was built on land belonging to Nokdim and originally zoned for that purpose.
On May 16, 2006, Ma'ariv ran an article claiming that Ma'ale Rehav'am was built on private Palestinian land. Residents filed a suit for slander, and the Jerusalem court ruled June 25 2009 that it had to publish a correction and compensate the residents with 1 000 shekels each.[2]
The population of Ma'ale Rehav'am receives its municipal services from the Gush Etzion Regional Council.
[edit] References
- ^ "The Geneva Convention". BBC News. 10 December 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1682640.stm. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
- ^ Ma'ariv To Compensate Settlers With 20,000 Shekels CAMERA, June 29, 2009.
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