Revava
Encyclopedia
Revava is a communal
village
and an Israeli settlement
located in the West Bank
's Samaria
n mountains about 35 km east of Tel Aviv
near Yakir
and Nofim
, on Road 5066 roughly between Barkan
and Karnei Shomron
. This Orthodox
Jewish community
, numbering about 250 families, is under the authority of the Shomron Regional Council
.
The word "revava" in Hebrew means "ten thousand". The name was chosen from the following verse in the Bible: "And they blessed Rebekah, and said to her: Our sister, you will be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let your seed possess the gate of those that hate them" (Genesis 24:60). The name was also very appropriate due to the village's location on the land of Ephrayim. The Bible says: "and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh" (Deuteronomy 33:17). For that same reason, the main synagogue in Revava is called "Revavot Ephrayim" (the ten thosands of Ephrayim)
The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law
, but the Israeli government disputes this.
Yitzhak Shamir
and Minister of Defense Moshe Arens
. While seven families and two single men had been the pioneer residents, only a few months later during the summer, another 10 families joined that group.
The groundwork for the settlement, however, was laid in the 1980's, when a group of idealistic Zionists contributed financial backing for the purchase of the land. Certain members of this group still have, to this day, the right to build on a plot in Revava.
From 2001 to 2006, Revava had a boys' baseball team.
Doubts to the real ownership of the land of the village was dispelled when Peace Now and related activists were convicted by an Israeli court of smearing the village by publishing a false report which claimed that 71% of Revava was built on "stolen" Arab land. The writers of the report tried to compromise and revised that that number down to 22%, but the court sentenced them to pay compensation of NIS 20,000 and print advertisements in two mass market newspapers. The Fund owns 100% of the land that Revava is built on.
Communal settlement (Israel)
A community settlement is a type of town in Israel. While in an ordinary town anyone may buy property, in a community settlement the town's residents, who are organized in a cooperative, can veto a sale of a house or a business to an undesirable buyer....
village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
and an Israeli settlement
Israeli settlement
An Israeli settlement is a Jewish civilian community built on land that was captured by Israel from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and is considered occupied territory by the international community. Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank...
located 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...
's Samaria
Samaria
Samaria, or the Shomron is a term used for a mountainous region roughly corresponding to the northern part of the West Bank.- Etymology :...
n mountains about 35 km east 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...
near Yakir
Yakir
Yakir is a Hebrew name. Notable people with the name include:* Iona Yakir, Red Army commander* Peter Yakir, Soviet dissident and historian, see Human rights in the Soviet Union* Yakir Gueron, Turkish rabbi...
and Nofim
Nofim
Nofim is an Israeli settlement located on the western edge of the northern West Bank, about 30 km east of Tel Aviv. The village, under the administrative municipal government of the Shomron Regional Council, is adjacent to Yakir. The Kana Stream passes to the north, west and south...
, on Road 5066 roughly between Barkan
Barkan
Barkan , is an Israeli settlement in the northern West Bank, about 25 km east of Tel Aviv and 8 km west of Salfit, under the administrative local government of the Shomron Regional Council. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics), the population was 1,200 at the end of 2004...
and Karnei Shomron
Karnei Shomron
Karnei Shomron is an Israeli settlement and local council established in 1977 in the northwestern West Bank, east of Kfar Sava. It is north-east of Tel Aviv and north of Jerusalem. In 2006, the population of Karnei Shomron was 6,300...
. This Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
Jewish community
Community
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
, numbering about 250 families, is under the authority of the Shomron Regional Council
Shomron Regional Council
The Shomron Regional Council is a regional council in the northern Samarian hills, in the northern part of the West Bank. The offices of the regional council are located in the Barkan Industrial Park. This regional council provides various municipal services for the 30 Israeli settlements within...
.
The word "revava" in Hebrew means "ten thousand". The name was chosen from the following verse in the Bible: "And they blessed Rebekah, and said to her: Our sister, you will be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let your seed possess the gate of those that hate them" (Genesis 24:60). The name was also very appropriate due to the village's location on the land of Ephrayim. The Bible says: "and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh" (Deuteronomy 33:17). For that same reason, the main synagogue in Revava is called "Revavot Ephrayim" (the ten thosands of Ephrayim)
The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law
International law and Israeli settlements
The international community considers the establishment of Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied territories illegal under international law, but Israel maintains that they are consistent with international law because it does not agree that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies to the...
, but the Israeli government disputes this.
History
The history of the settlement on the ground began in the spring of 1991 when 14 trailers were installed on land purchased by "The Fund for Redeeming the Land", with the assistance of Amana, and with permission from the Prime MinisterPrime Minister of Israel
The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of the Israeli government and the most powerful political figure in Israel . The prime minister is the country's chief executive. The official residence of the prime minister, Beit Rosh Hamemshala is in Jerusalem...
Yitzhak Shamir
Yitzhak Shamir
' is a former Israeli politician, the seventh Prime Minister of Israel, in 1983–84 and 1986–92.-Biography:Icchak Jeziernicky was born in Ruzhany , Russian Empire . He studied at a Hebrew High School in Białystok, Poland. As a youth he joined Betar, the Revisionist Zionist youth movement...
and Minister of Defense Moshe Arens
Moshe Arens
Moshe Arens is an Israeli aeronautical engineer, researcher and former diplomat and politician. A member of the Knesset between 1973 and 1992 and again from 1999 until 2003, he served as Minister of Defense three times and once as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Arens has also served as the Israeli...
. While seven families and two single men had been the pioneer residents, only a few months later during the summer, another 10 families joined that group.
The groundwork for the settlement, however, was laid in the 1980's, when a group of idealistic Zionists contributed financial backing for the purchase of the land. Certain members of this group still have, to this day, the right to build on a plot in Revava.
From 2001 to 2006, Revava had a boys' baseball team.
Doubts to the real ownership of the land of the village was dispelled when Peace Now and related activists were convicted by an Israeli court of smearing the village by publishing a false report which claimed that 71% of Revava was built on "stolen" Arab land. The writers of the report tried to compromise and revised that that number down to 22%, but the court sentenced them to pay compensation of NIS 20,000 and print advertisements in two mass market newspapers. The Fund owns 100% of the land that Revava is built on.