Where is Abu Dis?

Abu Dis is one of three small towns in the suburb of East Jerusalem, next to the Mount of Olives, recently cut away from Jerusalem by the Israeli Separation Wall. Abu Dis is in the West Bank, part of Palestine but was taken over by Israeli Occupation in 1967. Lots of the village lands have been taken to build illegal Israeli “settlements” – now massive townships – Maale Adumim, Kidar, Mishor Adumim.

Because of its proximity to Jerusalem (you could walk into the centre of Jerusalem from Abu Dis easily if you were allowed), people have been born there in the maternity hospital, gone to school there, gone there to work, to hospitals, to the cinemas and the theatre. But these links are now disrupted by the Israeli Separation Wall.

Abu Dis suffers badly as does all of Palestine from the Israeli occupation. For example

• Village land continues to be appropriated for illegal Israeli settlements. Land expropriation by the Occupation authorities is continuing (autumn 2005) with more land taken from Abu Dis at the very time the Israelis moved out of Gaza.
• Israel controls people through their papers in a way reminiscent of Apartheid South African pass laws. Some people in Abu Dis have West Bank papers and others have Jerusalem papers. The Israeli military allows people with different passes in different places, which divides families and affects the town’s relation with the area around it.
• Every family has been affected by the violence of the occupation in some way, with children witnessing the killing and the beating of parents and friends.
• Over the years of the Occupation, hundreds of people have been taken prisoner, often with no charge. (In early 2007 there are 11,500 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, including about 70 from Abu Dis).
• People are struggling to live a normal life, and children are very motivated to improve their education. However, education has been severely disrupted by many days of closures for funerals and military curfews.



• UNWRA profile of Abu Dis in 2004