Al-Za’eem village in the governorate of Jerusalem is located 33 km to the east of Jerusalem. Al-Za’eem is surrounded by the lands of Alizaria and Kabana to the east and al-Issawiya village to the north. More specifically it is surrounded by the neighborhood of Suwana to the west and Alizaria to the south.
The establishment of the village goes back to 1952. It used to be called Rafat named after Rafat village in Ramla which was forcibly evacuated from its residents in 1948. Yet in 1987 the name of the village changed to Al-Za’eem.
The village has been inhabited by Palestinians from al-Khalil Jerusalem and other Palestinian cities.
Naeem Sub Laban the head of the local council of Al-Za’eem says “The population of the village is around 7000. All of them hold the Jerusalem (blue) ID. The village is surrounded by the separation wall. The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) has installed a security checkpoint (gate) at the entrance of the village in 2005 under unfounded security concerns. This gate opens at specific times during the day: from 6:00-8:00 AM and from 12:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
Complete isolation
Sub Laban noted that when the gate is shut down the residents of the village feel completely isolated from the outside world. He noted that the Israeli occupation forces deal with the village as if it does not fall under its control or that of the Palestinian Authority. This situation would increase negative social behaviors due to the lack of presence of a police force in the village.”
He explained to the PIC reporter “Recently the Israeli occupation forces have demolished four Palestinian houses in addition to destroying the walls of a land after claiming they were built without permit.”
He added that prior to installing this security gate the village was economically prosperous to some extent. Yet later a number of workshops have shut down due to the lack of access to them due to the existence of the gate. The gate has also left psychological impacts on the residents. It served as a source of worry to the students and teachers who sometimes get late to their schools and homes when the gate is shut down.
Daily suffering
Sub Laban highlighted the suffering of Palestinians who come to the village from Jerusalem when the gate it shut down. In this case they have to cross to the village via the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim which requires them to cross 4-5 kilometers which takes up to an hour. When traffic is heavy on the road it takes them longer than that.
Sub Laban called for opening the gate 24/7 to revive the village economically opining that opening the gate to the village would solve all its problems.
He added that the Israeli separation wall serves as a main obstacle to the village’s residents. The Israeli authorities confiscated parts of the village’s lands to expand the Maale Adumim settlement and connect it with other settlements as part of the E-1 settlement project. The families under this project will be no longer able to access their lands after designating them as closed military zones. Sub Laban noted that the village serves as an obstacle now which hinders the implementation of this project.
He noted that in order to get permits for construction purposes and in the case the land is located in area C a permit must be obtained from the military governor of Beit El yet these days obtaining a permit is impossible.
He noted that the Ministry of Local Councils in the Palestinian Authority established the village’s local council to provide basic services for residents. He added that there are three schools in the village one of them is secondary run by the Palestinian government and the other two are private preparatory schools.
