Too close for comfort

RHONDA SPIVAK

Never before had I been to the Jewish settlement of Beit-El, only a 20-minute drive across a rocky plateau, north of Jerusalem, towards Ramallah, the capital city of the Palestinian Authority (PA). While the drive isn't long, it takes one well past Israel's security fence, deep into the heart of the West Bank.

Founded in the late 1970s by religious Jews, Beit-El is the site of the biblical spot with the same name where, according to Jewish tradition, the Patriarch Jacob fell asleep and dreamt of angels ascending and descending a ladder to heaven. In more recent years, I had come to know of Beit-El as the broadcasting centre for the right-wing radio station Arutz Sheva.

I don't know what I expected exactly, but I was rather taken aback to realize that Beit-El isn't only near Ramallah – it has practically merged with Ramallah. In fact, there is virtually no open space left between this Jewish settlement and the burgeoning Palestinian capital.

When Beit-El was founded by a handful of Jewish settler families in the '70s, it may never have dawned on anyone at the time that one day, as both Ramallah and Beit-El grew, the two would converge on each other.

Ramallah is in "Area A," as designated by the Oslo Agreement, meaning that it is land under full PA control. While Ramallah's inhabitants numbered 12,000 just after 1967, today it has a population of approximately 70,000. Beit-El, which is in "Area C," where Israel retains full control, now has almost 6,000 people. Notwithstanding that the name Ramallah means "the Height of God," it is Beit-El that is built on a hilltop, not Ramallah, which actually sits in the valley directly below. With each passing year, Beit-El has expanded down the hill, while Ramallah, has expanded up the hill.

Standing from a vantage point in Beit-El, I had a panoramic view of Ramallah. The city has now surpassed East Jerusalem as being the economic centre of the Palestinian West Bank and has undergone a face-lift in recent years. To me, parts of the city look like the wealthier parts of Amman. From Beit-El, I could identify the building that now serves as the PA's Ministry of Education, and I could also spot a United Nations Relief and Works Agency school for Palestinian refugees

Since Oslo, Palestinians from Bethlehem, Hebron, Jenin and Nablus have flocked to Ramallah to find work and economic opportunity. Real estate prices have boomed. Palestinians from Tunisia, the Gulf States, the United States and Lebanon have invested in Ramallah, and PA leaders including Mohammed Dahlan and Nabil Shath, live in the city's wealthier neighborhoods.

Mary, an American Christian living in Ramallah, who did not want to give her last name, expressed concern over the economic inequality apparent in the city. She told me, "Ramallah is a place where some Palestinians have made lots of money, and yet other Palestinians aren't any better off than they were."

In Beit-El, I couldn't help but notice a row of new apartments in the process of being built. This construction was occurring despite calls for Israel to freeze settlement construction.

Ari, a young modern-Orthodox resident of Beit-El, explained, "The apartments that are being built were approved of before Netanyahu came to power and are part of Beit-El's natural growth. They have all been already sold and the new owners are waiting to move in. There are other young couples looking to buy. There is more demand but not enough apartments. Some young couples are living in caravans nearby, because of the shortage of apartments."

I noticed that the apartments were being built by Palestinian laborers, and asked Ari where these laborers were from. He answered, "From Ramallah, of course ... with all of the wealth in Ramallah that the PA has [allegedly] managed to amass for its cronies, there are still unemployed Palestinian laborers who come here to find work."

Rhonda Spivak is a Winnipeg freelance writer.

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