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Shu'fat (Template:Lang-ar) also Shuafat is a Palestinian town within the de facto borders of Israel as part of north-eastern Jerusalem. Located on the old Jerusalem-Ramallah road about three miles north of the Old City, Shuafat has a population of 35,000 residents. The Shuafat refugee camp, established in 1966, is located on the traditional lands of the town of Shuafat.

History

Known to the Canaanites and Crusaders as Dersophath; the present-day town of Shuafat is also thought to be the site of ancient Gebim, a village in north Jerusalem whose inhabitants fled the approaching Assyrian army, according to the Book of Isaiah. Shuafat has been the site of intermittent habitation since at least 2000 BCE, and a number of ancient artifacts have been discovered there, including the remains of a Crusader structure in the center of the village that was possibly a church.

During an archaeological salvage dig conducted near the Shuafat refugee camp in preparation for the laying of the tracks for the Jerusalem Light Rail system, the remains of an ancient Roman-Jewish settlement, dating back to the Roman Empire were discovered. The settlement was described as a 'sophisticated community impeccably planned by the Roman authorities, with orderly rows of houses and two fine public bathhouses to the north.' The findings are said be the first indication of an active Jewish settlement in the area of Jerusalem after the city fell in 70 CE. The main indication that the settlement was a Jewish one is the assemblage of stone vessels found there. Such vessels, for food storage and serving, were only used by Jews because they were believed not to transmit impurity. Archaeologists believe stone basins discovered at the site were used to hold ashes from the destroyed Temple.

The town of Shuafat was to be the most northernmost point of the corpus separatum proposed in 1947 for Jerusalem and its surrounding villages, which "in view of its association with three world religions" was to be "accorded special and separate treatment from the rest of Palestine and should be placed under effective United Nations control".

After the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, Shuafat was occupied by Jordan, which subsequently, in April 1950, unilaterally declared it had annexed the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Construction of the Shuafat refugee camp began in 1964 by the UN, to alleviate the crowded conditions in the Askar camp. Construction was completed in 1966. Upon completion, the Red Cross, on orders of King Hussein, transferred the Arab refugees, originally from Ashkelon and West Jerusalem, who had settled in the hovels of the burnt out Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, to the camp. According to David Bedein, the wholesale transfer was ordered because Jordan intended to undertake an Arab-style renovation of the Jewish Quarter, but the plan became obsolete when in the aftermath of the Six Day War, the West Bank and East Jerusalem were occupied by Israel. The town of Shuafat and the refugee camp were subsequently annexed by Israel into the municipal area of Jerusalem, though recently Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has questioned whether the annexation of areas like Shuafat into the Jerusalem area was necessary. Residents of Shuafat were offered Israeli citizenship, but most refused it, considering themselves to be illegally occupied, though many accepted permanent residency status instead.

Today

Shuafat borders Pisgat Ze'ev and Beit Hanina on the north, Shuafat refugee camp from the east, French Hill on the south, and Ramot on the west.

Three stations of the First 'Red' Line of the Jerusalem Light Rail will be situated in Shuafat: Shuafat North, Shuafat Central and Shuafat South.

According to Isabel Kershner of the New York Times, Shuafat, like most of the other Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem, suffers from an absence of municipal planning, overcrowding, and potholed roads. While the Shuafat refugee camp is located inside Jerusalem and its residents carry Jerusalem identity cards, the camp itself is largely serviced by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, even though 40 - 50% of the camp's population are not registered refugees. Some health services are provided by Israeli clinics in the camp, but in general the Israeli presence in the refugee camp is limited to checkpoints controlling entry and exit and Border Police incursions. In addition, unlike other UN-run refugee camps, residents of Shuafat refugee camp pay taxes to the Israeli authorities.

In a survey conducted as part of the research for the book Negotiating Jerusalem (2000), it was reported that 59% of Israeli Jews supported redefining the borders of the city of Jerusalem so as to exclude Arab settlements such as Shuafat, in order to ensure a "Jewish majority" in Jerusalem.

In July 2001, the Israeli authorities destroyed 14 homes in Shuafat on the orders of then mayor Ehud Olmert, who said the structures were built without permits. It has been claimed that permits are either impossible, or very difficult to get, for Palestinians for a variety of reasons. Similarly, is claimed that demolitions form part of a campaign to reduce the Arab population of Jerusalem.

Recently however the Sorbonne scholar Prof. Sylvaine Bulle has cited the Shuafat refugee camp for its urban renewal dynamic, seeing it as an example of a creative adaptation to the fragmented space of the camps towards creating what she calls a bricolage city, with businesses relocating from east Jerusalem there and new investment in commercial projects.

See also

• East Jerusalem
• List of places in Jerusalem

References

1. ^ Isabel Kerhsner (June 5 2007). "Under a Divided City, Evidence of a Once United One". Retrieved 2008-01-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
2. ^ "Jerusalem Neighborhood Profile: Shuafat Refugee Camp" (DOC). Ir Amin. 2006. Retrieved 2008-02-01. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
3. ^ Mariam Shahin (2005). Palestine: A Guide. Interlink Books. p. 334. ISBN 156656557X.
4. ^ Denys Pringle (1997). Secular Buildings in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: An Archaeological. Cambridge University Press. p. 94. ISBN 0521460107.
5. Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Wm. B. Eerdmans. 2000. p. 487. ISBN 0802824005.
6. Amiram Barkat (2 January 2006). "Shuafat dig reveals first sign of Jewish life after destruction of Second Temple". Retrieved 2008-02-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
7. Paul Jacob Ignatius Maria de Waart (1994). Dynamics of Self-Determination in Palestine: Protection of Peoples As a. BRILL. p. 216. ISBN 9004082867.
8. Meron Benvenisti, Jerusalem: The Torn City, Isratypeset, 1976, p.69
9. Beyond the Wall, Ir Amim Report, January 2007
10. http://israelbehindthenews.com/Oct-13-98.htm
11. "Olmert hints at possible concessions in Jerusalem". Ynet. October 15 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
12. Stations
13. Jerome M. Segal (2000). Negotiating Jerusalem. SUNY Press. p. 127. ISBN 0791445372.
14. Home Demolitions in East Jerusalem Rabbis for Human Rights, Questions answered. Verified 23rd Oct 2008.
15. Israel Razes 14 Arab Homes at Refugee Camp campaign to reduce the Arab population of Jerusalem. LA Times 10th July 2001. Verified 26th Oct 2008.
16. Esther Zandberg, 'Their Shoafat outshines her Paris,' Haaretz 26/10/2008

External links

• Why is the Shuafat Refugee Camp Seething?

v t e Palestine refugee camps locations and populations as of 2015
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 closed Aqabat Jaber 6,400 Ein as-Sultan 1,900 Far'a 7,600 Fawwar 8,000 Jalazone 11,000 Qalandia 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 18,000 Nur Shams 9,000 Jenin 16,000 Shu'fat 11,000 Silwad Birzeit Sabinah 22,600 Khan al-Shih 20,000 Nayrab 20,500 Homs 22,000 Jaramana 18,658 Daraa 10,000 Hama 8,000 Khan Danoun 10,000 Qabr Essit 23,700 Unofficial camps Ein Al-Tal 6,000 Latakia 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-Shamali 22,789 Dbayeh 4,351 Rashidieh 31,478 Former camps Tel al-Zaatar  ? Nabatieh  ? Zarqa 20,000 Jabal el-Hussein 29,000 Amman New (Wihdat) 51,500 Souf 20,000 Baqa'a 104,000 Husn (Martyr Azmi el-Mufti camp) 22,000 Irbid 25,000 Jerash 24,000 Marka 53,000 Talbieh 8,000 Al-Hassan  ? Madaba  ? Sokhna  ?
References "Camp Profiles". unrwa.org. United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. Retrieved 2 July 2015.

31°47′51.30″N 35°20′40.27″E / 31.7975833°N 35.3445194°E / 31.7975833; 35.3445194

• Neighbourhoods of Jerusalem
• Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank
• Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem
• Archaeological sites in the West Bank