Balata Camp

In 1950, the UN gave the refugees from the Jaffa area temporary housing. These people initially refused the UN's offers, stating their eagerness to return to their homes. They desired no sense of permanence. After two years, they accepted the offer and settled at Balata.[2] In 1956, the Jaffa refugees desired more permanent housing. After the border with the State of Israel was sealed, the refugees moved into concrete housing that replaced the original tents.[2]

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) funds a school in the Balata camp, with approximately 5,000 pupils.[2] The Yaffa Cultural Center in Balata operates a guesthouse, children’s theater and cinema, children’s library and media center.[3] The American NGO, Tomorrow's Youth Organization, also operates classes for children from Balata.[4]

A boy in the Balata Camp, August 2011.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Balata residents played a leading role in the uprising known as the First Intifada. In November 2007, Palestinian National Authority police officers climbed rooftops in Balata and engaged in gun battles with militants of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades who had turned the camp into a military stronghold. Five residents and a policeman were wounded in the shooting.[5]

• Sakher Habash

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  Balata, 1950; the refugees were still living in tents
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  Balata Camp, early 1950s
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  Demolished home in Balata, 2002, during the Al-Aqsa Intifada
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  Balata Refugee Camp, 2011
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  Balata Refugee Camp, 2015

• Videos from Balata
• Balata, articles from UNWRA

32°12′N 35°17′E;