| Revision as of 07:44, 20 February 2015 editAshtul (talk | contribs)1,008 edits →History: someone confused community settlements and cummunal ones. Farsakh source writes explicitly on those in west bank← Previous edit | Revision as of 07:52, 20 February 2015 edit undoAshtul (talk | contribs)1,008 edits Revert to revision 647896992 by Number 57 (talk) Sources introduced by Nishidani are discussing west bank settlements and community settlement intertwined. Much of the info don't apply (cont' on talk)Next edit → | ||
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| A '''community settlement''' ({{lang-he|יישוב קהילתי}}, ''Yishuv Kehilati'') is a type of ] in ] and the ]. |
A '''community settlement''' ({{lang-he|יישוב קהילתי}}, ''Yishuv Kehilati'') is a type of ] in ] and the ]. While in an ordinary village anyone may buy property, in a ''community settlement'' the village's residents, who are organized in a ], can veto a sale of a house or a business to an undesirable buyer. | ||
| By this selection process, residents of a community settlement may have a particular shared ideology, religious perspective, or desired lifestyle which they wish to perpetuate by accepting only like-minded individuals. For example, a family-oriented community settlement that wishes to avoid becoming a ] may choose to accept only young married couples as new residents. | |||
| ==History== | |||
| A seminal role in the extension of the model into the Palestinian territories was played by the ](WZO) and ], ]'s settlement branch in the West Bank.<ref name="Weizman" >Eyal Weizman, Verso Books, 2012 pp.125-130.</ref><ref name="Kellerman" /> Recognition of these ]s as community settlements developed only gradually, since they differed from the standard establishmentarian norms of being 'cooperative' and 'productive'.<ref name="Kellerman" /> Gush Emunim pushed this type of settlement, designed in dense networks, because it was best suited to hilly terrain, where agricultural and water resources were poor, and the density of Palestinian habitation high. life was based on family networks and partial cooperation, adapted to housing white-collar people with jobs in Israel.<ref name="Efrat" >Elisha Efrat, Routledge 2006 pp.31,37-8, pp95-6.</ref> Their purpose was to make an 'irreversible reality' in the Palestinian territories.<ref name="Efrat" /> Thje mountain strip community settlements were developed in two strategically parallel lines: the first cedntral string of settlements runs parallel to the main road connecting the 6 major Palestinian cities of ], ], ], ], ] and ], while the second, east to the watershed, runs parallel to the Allon Highway. The objective of this design is to create blockages hindering Palestinians from expanding their towns in the diredction of the road, and impeding the conurbation of their communities lying on either sides of the road.<ref name="Efrat" /> | |||
| The first community settlement, ], being established only in 1975, and four of the first five were unauthorized.<ref name="Kellerman" /> The reevaluation and recognition of such settlements as cooperative associations was based on the ascendancy to government of the ] party.<ref name="Kellerman" /> Gush Emunim plan was eventually adopted by both the World Zionist Organization and Israel's Ministry of Agriculture.<ref name="Efrat" /> | |||
| Community settlements are in Israeli legal terms ]: in practice they have been defined as 'private, members-only suburban village(s)'.<ref name="Weizman" /> While in an ordinary village anyone may buy property, in a ''community settlement'' the village's residents, who are organized in a cooperative, can veto a sale of a house or a business to an undesirable buyer.{{cn|date=February 2015}} | |||
| Each community settlement has its own selection process for admitting residents, together with mechanisms for monitoring all aspects of communal life, from religious observance, ideological rigour to how one uses the land outside one's home.<ref name="Weizman" /> Warnings accompany observed failures to live up to the principles of the community, and, if not taken into account, can lead to expulsion.<ref name="Weizman" /> The design of these principles arose out of a perceived necessity of impeding Palestinian Israelis from residing in such settlements. | |||
| monitoring may have a particular shared ideology, religious perspective, or desired lifestyle which they wish to perpetuate by accepting only like-minded individuals.<ref name="Weizman" /> | |||
| In family-oriented community settlements, a choice may be made to accept only young married couples in order to avoid becoming a ].{{cn|date=February 2015}} In West Bank community settlements, single-family housing with private yards, emblems of status, often prevail.<ref name="Kellerman" /> Another characteristic is that, unlike kibbutzim and moshavim, community settlements generally lack agriculture and depend heavily on commuting for employment.<ref name="Kellerman" /> In this sense, they serve primarily as dormitory towns or quarters.<ref name="Kellerman" /> | |||
| ==Legal structure== | ==Legal structure== | ||
| Legally, a community settlement operates as a ] in which all residents must be members. To enforce the restrictions on reselling property, property on a community settlement is formally not sold, but rather ]d. The land of the entire settlement is owned by one entity (usually the ] through the ]), which leases out individual plots only to members of the cooperative. In that sense, a community settlement is much like a village-sized ]. | Legally, a community settlement operates as a ] in which all residents must be members. To enforce the restrictions on reselling property, property on a community settlement is formally not sold, but rather ]d. The land of the entire settlement is owned by one entity (usually the ] through the ]), which leases out individual plots only to members of the cooperative. In that sense, a community settlement is much like a village-sized ]. | ||
| ⚫ | The residents cooperative may also own and operate property and businesses, and this is often used for keeping certain public facilities, such as ], ]s, ]s, sport facilities, youth clubs, ]s, etc., in the hands of the entire community. However, unlike a ] or a ], the economic cooperation between residents is very loose - most residents work outside the settlement, and residents only pay minimal ]es to the cooperative to help maintain the village and its public facilities. | ||
| Israeli law bands the allocation of land resources on a preferential basis. According to Eyal Weizman, the community settlement system developed techniques to bypass those laws by having state land, either in Israel or in the Palestinian territories, placed in the custody of legal bodies registered in the United States, Jewish Agency or the World Zionist Organization. By this means, he asserts, the state of Israel was 'enabled to circumvent its own laws'.<ref name="Weizman" /> | |||
| ⚫ | The residents cooperative may also own |
||
| Note that despite a popular misconception, |
Note that despite a popular misconception, the mere existence of community-owned facilities is ''not'' what differentiates community settlements from ordinary villages, as most ordinary villages also have the same types of facilities - preschool, synagogues, sport centers and sometimes even swimming pools - owned and operated by the village. Likewise, the mere existence of a democratic body of residents which makes decisions and organizes events for the whole community is ''not'' a defining feature of community settlements: Ordinary villages also have their own local governments which are democratically elected by their residents. | ||
| Most community settlements are small, |
Most community settlements are small, with no more than several hundred residents, and are therefore too small to form their own separate formal ]. Instead, the residents' cooperative is recognized by the state of Israel as a ]. Several such local committees can, for example, form together a ], which is one of the three types of ] in Israel. In practice, the regional council often has more impact on the resident's life than the cooperative of their own settlement: It is the regional council which will normally run schools, build roads, collect property taxes, and even run its own screening process. | ||
| ==Common features== | ==Common features== | ||
Revision as of 07:52, 20 February 2015
A community settlement (Template:Lang-he, Yishuv Kehilati) is a type of village in Israel and the West Bank. While in an ordinary village anyone may buy property, in a community settlement the village's residents, who are organized in a cooperative, can veto a sale of a house or a business to an undesirable buyer.
By this selection process, residents of a community settlement may have a particular shared ideology, religious perspective, or desired lifestyle which they wish to perpetuate by accepting only like-minded individuals. For example, a family-oriented community settlement that wishes to avoid becoming a retirement community may choose to accept only young married couples as new residents.
Legal structure
Legally, a community settlement operates as a cooperative in which all residents must be members. To enforce the restrictions on reselling property, property on a community settlement is formally not sold, but rather leased. The land of the entire settlement is owned by one entity (usually the Jewish National Fund through the Israel Land Administration), which leases out individual plots only to members of the cooperative. In that sense, a community settlement is much like a village-sized housing cooperative.
The residents cooperative may also own and operate property and businesses, and this is often used for keeping certain public facilities, such as preschool, synagogues, grocery stores, sport facilities, youth clubs, swimming pools, etc., in the hands of the entire community. However, unlike a kibbutz or a moshav, the economic cooperation between residents is very loose - most residents work outside the settlement, and residents only pay minimal property taxes to the cooperative to help maintain the village and its public facilities.
Note that despite a popular misconception, the mere existence of community-owned facilities is not what differentiates community settlements from ordinary villages, as most ordinary villages also have the same types of facilities - preschool, synagogues, sport centers and sometimes even swimming pools - owned and operated by the village. Likewise, the mere existence of a democratic body of residents which makes decisions and organizes events for the whole community is not a defining feature of community settlements: Ordinary villages also have their own local governments which are democratically elected by their residents.
Most community settlements are small, with no more than several hundred residents, and are therefore too small to form their own separate formal municipalities. Instead, the residents' cooperative is recognized by the state of Israel as a local committee. Several such local committees can, for example, form together a regional council, which is one of the three types of local government in Israel. In practice, the regional council often has more impact on the resident's life than the cooperative of their own settlement: It is the regional council which will normally run schools, build roads, collect property taxes, and even run its own screening process.
Common features
As explained above, what really sets apart a community settlement from an ordinary village is its ability to select its residents. However, when one looks at the 150 or so community settlements in Israel, more common features can be spotted in most, though not all, community settlements. These common features include:
- Community settlements are predominantly rural and exurban. As explained above, the land of most community settlements is owned by the Israel Land Administration; One of this organization's explicit goals is to populate Israel's peripheral areas, rather than have the population continue to gravitate toward its central Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area.
- Houses in Community settlements are predominantly, if not exclusively, single-family homes and not apartment buildings. One explanation for this is, again, the desire to spread-out the population. Another explanation is that the availability of affordable single-family houses is actually one the main attraction points of the new villages, which would otherwise not be very appealing to potential residents. Finally, building an apartment building is a much more complex financial enterprise for the cooperative than each family building its own home out of its own funds.
- Community settlements are predominantly small, with a few hundreds of residents. This is caused by a combination of the village's young age, the typically small area or land allocated to the village, and the desire to build only single-family houses. Many community settlements start out small, with only few dozen families, and over the years slowly grow and accept new families.
- Residents of community settlements are typically very involved in their community. They know their neighbors well, they volunteer for various committees which run the village and its facilities, and they often meet together for various events and celebrations. A genuine feeling of community is often felt in these settlements, which is why that word was chosen to describe this form of settlement. The strong sense of community is of course made possible by the small size of the villages, and also by favoring applicants who seek strong community ties over applicants who seek to live within their own four walls without ever seeing a neighbor.
- Although Jews constitute about 75% of Israel's general population, communal settlements are almost entirely Jewish. Some community settlements openly require applicants to be Jews (e.g., by declaring themselves a religious community), while other community settlements find more indirect ways to reject non-Jewish candidates, usually claiming "lack of social compatibility". Another problem for non-Jews is that the Jewish National Fund, the owner of the land in many community settlements, views itself as a Jewish organization whose mission is to spread the Jewish population, and therefore refuses to lease to non-Jews. See more in "Controversy" below.
- Today, most community settlements are gated communities, i.e., are enclosed in a fence and a gate which allow only residents (or their visitors) to enter. The reason stated for installing these is usually to deter thieves. Enclosing the entire village is practical because of the small size of its population, and the relatively controlled nature of its permanent population.
History and today
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The first community settlement in Israel was Neve Monosson, in the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area which was established in 1953. Many Israeli settlements in the West Bank are set up as community settlements; there are also many such communities in rural northern Israel.
Most community settlements in Israel and the West Bank are relatively small, with a few hundred or thousand residents. Some communities are even smaller, with fewer than 30 residents. Some communities cater to specific populations, such as the Haredi Israeli settlement and city Beitar Illit.
Controversy
To permanently move to a community settlement one must join the cooperative. An interview and acceptance process is often required to join the cooperative and move into the community.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel has charged that this screening process is designed to deny membership to Arabs, and that sometimes Jews of specific ethnic or socio-economic groups are also discriminated against. Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel issued a press release:
AdalahOn 6 January 2009, the Supreme Court of Israel issued an order nisi (order to show cause) that compels the state to respond within 60 days to a petition filed by Adalah demanding the cancellation of admission committees in “community towns”, which select among candidates who wish to live in these village.Overwhelmingly, these admissions committees exclude Arab families, Eastern Jews, single-parent families, gays, unmarried persons and other social groups from “community towns”.
References
- "Following Adalah's Petition Supreme Court Orders State to Respond as to Why Admissions Committees, which Overwhelming Exclude Arab Citizens of Israel from Living in "Community Towns", are Legal" (Press release). Association for Civil Rights in Israel. 2009-01-26. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
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