Issawiya

Issawiya, like the rest of Palestine, was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517, and in the 1560s the revenues of al- Issawiya were designated for the waqf of Hasseki Sultan Imaret in Jerusalem, established by Hasseki Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana), wife of Suleiman the Magnificent.[8] In the 1596 tax registers it appeared as Isawiyya, in the Nahiya of Quds of the Liwa of Quds, with a population of 35 households and 3 bachelors, all Muslim. The villages paid a fixed tax-rate of 33.3% on wheat, barley, olive trees, vineyards, fruit trees, goats and beehives; a total of 6,940 akçe.[9][10]

In 1838 it was noted as "a little village",[11] located in the el Wadiyeh region, east of Jerusalem.[12] An Ottoman village list from about 1870 found that Issawiya had a population of 178, (or 78), in 29 houses, though the population count included only men.[13][14]

In 1883, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described El Aisawiyeh as a "small village on the eastern slope of the chain of Olivet, with a spring to the south and a few olives round it."[15] Another source states the locals grew vegetables, which were sold in Jerusalem.[16]

In 1896 the population was estimated to be about 210 persons.[17]

’Isawiyeh 1937, with Hebrew University in foreground

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, 'Isawiyeh had a population of 333, all Muslims,[18] increasing in the 1931 census to a population of 558; 7 Christians and the rest Muslim, occupying 117 houses.[19]

In the 1945 statistics the population of Issawiya was 730; 720 Muslims and 10 Christians,[20] who owned 10,108 dunams of land while 235 dunams had Jewish owners, according to an official land and population survey.[21] 3,291 dunams were used for cereals,[22] while 47 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[23]

The Mount Scopus Agreement signed on July 7, 1948, regulated the demilitarised zone and authorized the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization to settle disputes between Israel and Jordan. One area of conflict involved two Jewish-owned plots in Issawiya, known as Gan Shlomit or Salomons Garden, which were purchased by V.F. Salomons in 1934 and sold to the Gan Shlomit Company, Ltd. in 1937.[24]

In 1961, the population was 1,163, according to a Jordanian census.[25]

In 1964, Issawiya had a population of 1,300. It was located at this time within the Mount Scopus demilitarized zone, an unsupervised demilitarized zone between Jordan and Israel.[26]

Issawiya, 2022

A mosque in Issawiya, 2022

Issawiya has been occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War in 1967. In that year Israel expropriated approximately one quarter of Isawiya's lands (2,230 dunams).[3] In January 1968 it appropriated a further 600 dunams. In 1975, 2,900 dunams of Issawiya land not annexed to Jerusalem were also expropriated as part of the development of Ma'ale Adunim. Some 100 dunams were then confiscated in 1982 to build route 1. From the mid eighties to the early 2000s Israel also reclassified another 3,800 dunams of Issawiya land not under cultivation as Israeli state land, and, in 2002 seized another 45 dunams to establish the Metzudat Adumim Border Police base, a measure which blocked Issawiya residents from accessing the little arable land left to them. By 2020, a development plan for an interchange near the eastern entrance to the village foresaw a prohibition on Issawiya residents from using a further 90 dunams. The Israel Nature and Parks Authority, together with the Jerusalem Municipal Council plans also to expropriate approximately a further 900 dunams, 450 for the Mount Scopus Slopes National Park and 450 for a construction-waste and dirt landfill.[3]

B'tselem has claimed that since the beginning of the occupation Israel has taken 90% of Isawiya's land, using a variety of devices from outright expropriation, declaring areas “state land” to military seizure.[3][27] According to ARIJ, Issawiya had 1,212 dunums of land confiscated by Israel in order to construct various Israeli settlements and expand the Hebrew University:

• 568 dunums for the Hebrew University in 1968,[28]
• 394 dunums for Giv’at Shappira (French Hill) in 1968,[28]
• 248 dunums for Mishr Adummim in 1974,[28]
• 2 dunums for Ma’ale Adummim in 1975.[28]

Issawiya is located at the foot of French Hill, northwest of the road to Ma'ale Adumim.[29] Under the jurisdiction of the Jerusalem Municipality, its citizens are considered permanent residents of the city, entitled to live and work in Israel without special permits. As permanent residents, they are also entitled to social benefits provided by Bituah Leumi (Israeli National Insurance Institute) and Israeli health insurance.[30]

It is one of the poorest Jerusalem neighbourhoods.[3] According to B'tselem, citing community leaders, the population is some 22,000 people while planners commissioned by the municipality and the local leadership say there are 3,700 to 4,000 apartments.[3] The average population density is 25 people per dunam, almost three times the 8.9 in French Hill and 3.5 times the average population density in Jerusalem.[2] Again, according to the same NGO, since April 2019, Issawiya has been subject to an ongoing campaign of harassment and collective punishment.[3] By 2020, Israeli authorities had issued 136 pending demolition orders for homes in the neighborhood.[3]