Rawabi
Encyclopedia
Rawabi is the first Palestinian
planned city
in the West Bank
. Rawabi is to be located near Ramallah
and Bir Zeit
. A master plan has been drawn up for the city, which will consist of 10,000 homes in six neighborhoods with a population of 40,000. Homebuyers will have access to an affordable mortgage scheme similar to Fannie Mae. Rawabi is the largest private sector
investment project in the West Bank.
, 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) north of Birzeit, 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) to the north of Jerusalem, 40 km to the east of Tel Aviv, and 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) south of Nablus
. Amman
, the capital of Jordan
, is 70 kilometres (43.5 mi) to the east of Rawabi. On a clear day, it is possible to see the Mediterranean Sea
, 40 kilometres (24.9 mi) to the west, and the Israel
i coastal city of Tel Aviv
from the proposed site.Rawabi's municipal boundaries will encompass 6,300,000 square meters of land. Residential and commercial development is based on a population estimate of 40,000. The Palestinian National Authority
does not need Israeli approval for construction since the land for Rawabi falls entirely within Area 'A'
, which is under full Palestinian control.
The development is linked to a $500m affordable mortgage scheme. The Washington Post reports that Rawabi "is specifically designed for upwardly mobile families of a sort that in the United States might gravitate to places such as Reston, VA
. The developments are also relying on another American import, the home mortgage, including creation of a Fannie Mae-style institution for the West Bank".
Rawabi is the largest private sector project in Palestinian history. It was initiated at the Palestine Investment Conference
, which took place in Bethlehem
in 2008.
i company LDR and Palestinian multimillionaire Bashar al-Masri, is estimated at US$850 million. The project is expected to generate between 8,000 and 10,000 new jobs in the construction sector. The project involves a public-private partnership
between the Bayti Real Estate Investment Company, jointly owned by Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company (the Qatar Investment Authority
's property investment fund) and Massar International, and the Palestinian National Authority
. The Palestinian Authority is responsible for providing off-site infrastructure, while Bayti is tasked with the design and development of the city. The Rawabi economic growth strategy has the aim of creating 3,000 to 5,000 new jobs in "knowledge economy
" industries including information technology
, pharmaceuticals and health care
.
On 15 March 2010, two grant agreements were signed by Bashar Masri, Managing Director of Bayti Real Estate Investment Company and chairman of Massar International, and Leocadia I. Zak
, Director of the United States Trade and Development Agency
(USTDA), in the presence of US Consul General Daniel Rubinstein. The USTDA grants are funding two feasibility studies. The first study to develop a master plan for Rawabi's ICT infrastructure and services was won by American management consultancy company Decision/Analysis Partners LLC of Fairfax
, Virginia
. The second study will examine the possibility of building a tertiary waste water treatment facility for Rawabi and surrounding communities. Previously, United States Senator John Kerry
visited the construction site on 28 February along with Rubenstein and David Harden, senior advisor to the American special envoy to the Middle East, George J. Mitchell
.
, in cooperation with local experts from Birzeit
and An-Najah National
Universities and the technical teams of Bayti. It has been approved by the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Higher Planning Council.
The residential areas will surround a city centre that includes bank
s, shop
s, petrol stations, office
s, eight school
s, playground
s, walking trails, two mosque
s, a church, a hospital
, hotel
, cinema
and numerous other arts venues.
project which involves growing a forest around the city. The Jewish National Fund
is donating 3,000 saplings to the project, the announcement of which sparked some internal Israeli and Jewish controversy. Saplings have also been donated by the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture and by local and international organisations, corporations and individuals.
. The road would need to cross Route 465, used only by inhabitants of nearby Ateret
and Halamish
.The source of the city's water supply is not yet clear. One possibility is hooking up to Mekorot
, the Israeli water utility, via Ateret.They have not yet received a license for access roads for trucks
In December 2010, the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee
raised concerns about the involvement of Israeli contractors in the project. Ali Abunimah
, co-founder of The Electronic Intifada, a website that covers the Arab-Israeli conflict from a Palestinian perspective, has argued that through the development of Rawabi, Bashar Masri "appears to be actively helping Israel deepen its hold on the Palestinian economy despite his earlier claims that he is trying to help end this relationship". Abunimah argues that Masri "appears to have made the choice to work closely with the Israeli government and businesses in order to bring even more Israeli companies into the occupied West Bank", whereas Masri himself claims that his decision to use Israeli businesses was a matter of necessity given Israeli restrictions on Palestinian economic activity. Masri has made it a requirement that all contractors working on the project "sign an agreement refusing to use Israeli products originating from the settlements or work in the settlements themselves".
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
planned city
New town
A new town is a specific type of a planned community, or planned city, that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion. Land use conflicts are uncommon in new...
in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
. Rawabi is to be located near Ramallah
Ramallah
Ramallah is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank located 10 kilometers north of Jerusalem, adjacent to al-Bireh. It currently serves as the de facto administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority...
and Bir Zeit
Bir Zeit
Birzeit is a Palestinian town near Ramallah in the central West Bank. Its population in the 2007 census was 4529...
. A master plan has been drawn up for the city, which will consist of 10,000 homes in six neighborhoods with a population of 40,000. Homebuyers will have access to an affordable mortgage scheme similar to Fannie Mae. Rawabi is the largest private sector
Private sector
In economics, the private sector is that part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is run by private individuals or groups, usually as a means of enterprise for profit, and is not controlled by the state...
investment project in the West Bank.
Location
Rawabi is 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) northwest of RamallahRamallah
Ramallah is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank located 10 kilometers north of Jerusalem, adjacent to al-Bireh. It currently serves as the de facto administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority...
, 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) north of Birzeit, 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) to the north of Jerusalem, 40 km to the east of Tel Aviv, and 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) south of Nablus
Nablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...
. Amman
Amman
Amman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...
, the capital of Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, is 70 kilometres (43.5 mi) to the east of Rawabi. On a clear day, it is possible to see the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
, 40 kilometres (24.9 mi) to the west, and the Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i coastal city of Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
from the proposed site.Rawabi's municipal boundaries will encompass 6,300,000 square meters of land. Residential and commercial development is based on a population estimate of 40,000. The Palestinian National Authority
Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...
does not need Israeli approval for construction since the land for Rawabi falls entirely within Area 'A'
Administrative divisions of the Oslo Accords
The Oslo Accords created three temporary distinct administrative divisions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip until a final status accord would be established...
, which is under full Palestinian control.
The development is linked to a $500m affordable mortgage scheme. The Washington Post reports that Rawabi "is specifically designed for upwardly mobile families of a sort that in the United States might gravitate to places such as Reston, VA
Reston, Virginia
Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, within the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The population was 58,404, at the 2010 Census and 56,407 at the 2000 census...
. The developments are also relying on another American import, the home mortgage, including creation of a Fannie Mae-style institution for the West Bank".
Rawabi is the largest private sector project in Palestinian history. It was initiated at the Palestine Investment Conference
Palestine Investment Conference
The Palestine Investment Conference is aimed at strengthening the economy of Palestine and supporting a future Palestinian State. It took place in Bethlehem in 2008 and 2010. The conference was hosted in 2008 by Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and in 2010 by Palestinian President Mahmoud...
, which took place in Bethlehem
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...
in 2008.
Financing
The total cost of the development, mostly funded by the QatarQatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
i company LDR and Palestinian multimillionaire Bashar al-Masri, is estimated at US$850 million. The project is expected to generate between 8,000 and 10,000 new jobs in the construction sector. The project involves a public-private partnership
Public-private partnership
Public–private partnership describes a government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies...
between the Bayti Real Estate Investment Company, jointly owned by Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company (the Qatar Investment Authority
Qatar Investment Authority
The Qatar Investment Authority is Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, specializing in domestic and foreign investment. It was founded in 2005 to manage the oil and natural gas surpluses by the Government of Qatar...
's property investment fund) and Massar International, and the Palestinian National Authority
Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...
. The Palestinian Authority is responsible for providing off-site infrastructure, while Bayti is tasked with the design and development of the city. The Rawabi economic growth strategy has the aim of creating 3,000 to 5,000 new jobs in "knowledge economy
Knowledge economy
The knowledge economy is a term that refers either to an economy of knowledge focused on the production and management of knowledge in the frame of economic constraints, or to a knowledge-based economy. In the second meaning, more frequently used, it refers to the use of knowledge technologies to...
" industries including information technology
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
, pharmaceuticals and health care
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
.
On 15 March 2010, two grant agreements were signed by Bashar Masri, Managing Director of Bayti Real Estate Investment Company and chairman of Massar International, and Leocadia I. Zak
Leocadia I. Zak
Leocadia Irine Zak serves as the Director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency where she leads an agency dedicated to encouraging economic growth in emerging markets and the export of U.S. goods and services to those markets. After being nominated by President Barack Obama in November 2009, Zak...
, Director of the United States Trade and Development Agency
United States Trade and Development Agency
The U.S. Trade and Development Agency , located in Rosslyn, Arlington, Virginia, is an independent U.S. Government foreign assistance agency pursuant to section 661 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended . The agency was established to advance economic development and U.S. commercial...
(USTDA), in the presence of US Consul General Daniel Rubinstein. The USTDA grants are funding two feasibility studies. The first study to develop a master plan for Rawabi's ICT infrastructure and services was won by American management consultancy company Decision/Analysis Partners LLC of Fairfax
Fairfax, Virginia
The City of Fairfax is an independent city forming an enclave within the confines of Fairfax County, in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Although politically independent of the surrounding county, the City is nevertheless the county seat....
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. The second study will examine the possibility of building a tertiary waste water treatment facility for Rawabi and surrounding communities. Previously, United States Senator John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
visited the construction site on 28 February along with Rubenstein and David Harden, senior advisor to the American special envoy to the Middle East, George J. Mitchell
George J. Mitchell
George John Mitchell, Jr., is the former U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace under the Obama administration. A Democrat, Mitchell was a United States Senator who served as the Senate Majority Leader from 1989 to 1995...
.
Master plan
The Rawabi master plan was developed by AECOMAECOM
AECOM Technology Corporation is a professional technical and management support services firm. The company is ranked as the number one design firm for 2010 and 2011 by Engineering News-Record and number one by Architectural Record. It provides services in the areas of transportation, planning,...
, in cooperation with local experts from Birzeit
Birzeit University
Birzeit University is a university located in Birzeit near Ramallah, Palestinian territories. BZU is among the foremost tertiary educational institutes in the Palestinian territories and has played a significant role in the Palestinian political dialogue.- History :The institution was originally...
and An-Najah National
An-Najah National University
An-Najah National University is a Palestinian non-governmental public university governed by a board of Trustees. It is located in Nablus, in the northern West Bank. The university has over 16,500 students and 300 professors in 19 faculties...
Universities and the technical teams of Bayti. It has been approved by the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Higher Planning Council.
The residential areas will surround a city centre that includes bank
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
s, shop
Retail
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
s, petrol stations, office
Office
An office is generally a room or other area in which people work, but may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is in fact an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to the location of one's duty. When used as an adjective, the...
s, eight school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
s, playground
Playground
A playground or play area is a place with a specific design for children be able to play there. It may be indoors but is typically outdoors...
s, walking trails, two mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
s, a church, a hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
, hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
, cinema
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
and numerous other arts venues.
Greening project
Thousands of saplings are being planted as part of a greeningGreening
Greening is the process of transforming artifacts such as a space, a lifestyle or a brand image into a more environmentally friendly version...
project which involves growing a forest around the city. The Jewish National Fund
Jewish National Fund
The Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement. The JNF is a quasi-governmental, non-profit organisation...
is donating 3,000 saplings to the project, the announcement of which sparked some internal Israeli and Jewish controversy. Saplings have also been donated by the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture and by local and international organisations, corporations and individuals.
Land purchase and water supply
Over the course of two years, the developers bought private property from 2,000 families living in Canada, Iraq, Spain, Kuwait, Britain, Portugal and Italy. The construction site stretches over two ridges, 700 meters above sea level. They have not yet received a license for access roads for trucks which would pass through Area 'C'Administrative divisions of the Oslo Accords
The Oslo Accords created three temporary distinct administrative divisions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip until a final status accord would be established...
. The road would need to cross Route 465, used only by inhabitants of nearby Ateret
Ateret
Ateret is a village and Israeli settlement in the Samarian hills of the West Bank located in the municipal jurisdiction of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council 40 km north-west of Jerusalem on a hilltop at an elevation of 760 metres. To the west, the view is not obstructed from Hadera in the...
and Halamish
Halamish
Halamish , also known as Neveh Tzuf , is a communal Israeli settlement in the West Bank, located in the southwestern Samarian hills to the north of Ramallah, 10.7 kilometers east of the Green line. The Orthodox Jewish community with a population of 1,054 was established in 1977...
.The source of the city's water supply is not yet clear. One possibility is hooking up to Mekorot
Mekorot
Mekorot is the national water company of Israel and the country's top agency for water management.Mekorot was founded in 1937. It supplies 90% of Israel's drinking water and 80% of its water supplies. The company runs 3,000 installations throughout the country for water supply, water quality,...
, the Israeli water utility, via Ateret.They have not yet received a license for access roads for trucks
Controversy
In 2010, Israeli settlers held demonstrations to protest the project, although they acknowledged that they could not prevent the city's construction. Some settlers said they would establish settlements nearby.In December 2010, the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions refers to a campaign first initiated on 9 July 2005 by 171 Palestinian non-governmental organizations in support of the Palestinian cause ".....
raised concerns about the involvement of Israeli contractors in the project. Ali Abunimah
Ali Abunimah
Ali Hasan Abunimah is a Palestinian American journalist and co-founder of Electronic Intifada, a not-for-profit, independent online publication about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Born in Washington D.C., he spent his early years in the United Kingdom and Belgium before returning to the...
, co-founder of The Electronic Intifada, a website that covers the Arab-Israeli conflict from a Palestinian perspective, has argued that through the development of Rawabi, Bashar Masri "appears to be actively helping Israel deepen its hold on the Palestinian economy despite his earlier claims that he is trying to help end this relationship". Abunimah argues that Masri "appears to have made the choice to work closely with the Israeli government and businesses in order to bring even more Israeli companies into the occupied West Bank", whereas Masri himself claims that his decision to use Israeli businesses was a matter of necessity given Israeli restrictions on Palestinian economic activity. Masri has made it a requirement that all contractors working on the project "sign an agreement refusing to use Israeli products originating from the settlements or work in the settlements themselves".