Ma’aleh Adumim

Ma’aleh Adumim was officially declared a city in 1991, but the roots of the city go back much further. The name “Ma’aleh Adumim” is first found in the Bible, in the book of Joshua (Chapter 15, versus 6 – 18). Ma’aleh Adumim, which literally means “Red Hills” – of the Bible is located on the border between the lands (and tribes) of Yehuda (Judah) and Binyamim (Benjamin). And in fact, the modern day Ma’aleh Adumim is located just outside the city of Jerusalem (which is part of the land of Binyamin) and the Judean Desert.
male-adumim1The roots of the modern city can be found in the idealistic Israelis who came after the Six Day War and began settling outside Jerusalem. Prior to the founding of the city and the conquering of the land by the Israeli army during the war, the land had been part of the State-owned land of the Jordanian government, which inherited it from the British, who ruled during the British Mandate period. The British came to rule after the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

The population has been steadily growing throughout its existence and as of 2006 numbered approximately 32,000. Initially, all traffic to and from Ma’aleh Adumim went through the Arab neighborhoods of Azariyya and Abu Dis. However, during the First Intifada, repeated stoning attacks and other problems encouraged the government to build an alternate, by-pass road.

All traffic was then diverted to this new road until January 2003, when yet another three-kilometer (1.8 mile) road was opened to alleviate traffic problems and also help residents avoid stone attacks that came from Arab neighborhoods overlooking the old road. This new road connects Ma’aleh Adumim to Jerusalem by two large 1/2 km. long tunnels that run under the campus of Hebrew University on Mount Scopus. Using the new road, residents can be in the center of Jerusalem in a mere 10 minutes.

ariel_2Ma’aleh Adumim is a city rich in activities for young and old. The city has won several awards for its careful attention to the environment and to education. Nearly 50% of the city budget is spent on education. Twice, Ma’aleh Adumim has won the Ministry of Education Prize for Excellence. The educational frameworks include options from preschool to college, numerous day –care facilities and almost forty kindergartens.

Elementary and high schools, as well as kindergartens, offer secular, religious and Torani (Torah-based) alternatives with large, modern facilities and high parental involvement. Additional facilities include the Birkat Moshe Hesder Yeshiva which serves as a learning and spiritual center, the Ma’aleh Adumim College with a student body of over 600 and the newly opened Technological College for Space and Aeronautics.

There is also an extensive network of after-school hours, enrichment, clubs, youth groups, workshops and extra -curricular activities. Once a year, for the last several years, the city trucks in tons and tons of snow and dumps it in the city center for children from the city to come play. For many in this desert-town, it is the only time they are exposed to snow!

Though the center of controversy lately may be due to the city’s ongoing construction to meet growing needs of the local population and others wishing to live in the modern city, those who visit the city are quick to notice that Ma’aleh Adumim is surrounded by empty hills and no one was made homeless by the establishment of the city. To meet the growing needs of the population, now in its third generation, new areas within the municipal borders have been added. Each day, these and other areas are constructed using construction workers that live, for the most part, in neighboring Arab areas.

Several years ago, some Palestinian families attempted to claim the land near the Ma’aleh Adumim mall using falsified documents. After careful evaluation, it was determined that the Palestinian families had tried similar tactics with the Jordanian government, which also rejected their claims as incorrect and fraudulent.

In recent months, as promised by successive Israeli governments, the city began construction on E1, a mountain opposite the main part of the city,. though technically and legally within the municipal boundaries of Ma’aleh Adumim. The Ma’aleh Adumim construction plan was initiated by the late Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin, after he signed the Oslo Accords with Yasser Arafat in 1993. E1 will, when completed, join Ma’aleh Adumim to Jerusalem and feature homes, a hotel, and a police station. To date, the police station and approach roads are under construction.

Claims that the building of E1 will interrupt the flow of Arab traffic were proven false during a conference with Mayor Benny Kashriel, who showed alternate plans that would benefit Arab traffic by circling the city on the eastern side between Abu Dis and Arab districts to the north. The E1 neighborhood, called Mevaseret Adumim, is expected to be completed by 2020, with between 3500 and 5000 residential units. The first stage already is in place.

Most Israelis agree that Ma’aleh Adumim will be a permanent part of Israel, that it is simply unrealistic to remove more than 30,000 people from their homes. Even more relevant, explain residents, is the fact that no one was removed from their homes to create Ma’aleh Adumim and therefore the destruction of the city would not benefit anyone in particular.

Ma’aleh Adumim is mainly a commuter city, where many people commute the short distance to Jerusalem and other locations on a daily basis and return in the evening. At the same time, several commercial areas within the city and a large industrial park on the eastern side of the city. Residents often travel to Jerusalem for an evening out, although there are many restaurants in Ma’aleh Adumim as well.

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