Ramot Information
Ramot (Hebrew: רָמוֹת, lit. Heights), also known as Ramot Alon (Hebrew: רמות אלון, lit. Alon Heights) is one of the largest housing developments in Jerusalem, with about 40,000 residents. It is situated in the northwestern part of the city and divided into six sections, from Ramot 1, the oldest section, to Ramot 6, the newest section. Ramot 5 is the commercial center.
Because part of the development is east of the Green Line[1][2] the United Nations and European Union consider it to be an illegal Israeli settlement,[3][4] separate from the Jerusalem municipality. However, Israel disputes this and the United States also refrains from characterizing Israeli localities in East Jerusalem as settlements, instead classifying them as neighborhoods in Jerusalem.[citation needed]
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Name
In the Bible, during the story of the death of the prophet Samuel, it is written that as he died, all of Israel came to bury him in his home, in the Rama. Oral tradition indicates that place is the one of the highest peaks surrounding Jerusalem, some 885 meters above sea level.[5] Ramot is located on the hills south of that peak.[citation needed]
There are Crusader era remains in Ramot 2 and Ramot 6.[citation needed]
The word Ramot in Hebrew means "heights" or "rises" (a plural of the word Rama). When used in reference to geography, the word is usually translated as "plateaus". The name Alon refers to Yigal Alon, a former prime minister of Israel. While the full name is Ramot Alon, the inhabitants refer to the neighborhood simply as Ramot.[5]
Geography
The neighborhood is built upon two elongated ridges about 100–200 meters above the surrounding landscape (heights of 693–876 meters above sea level). Between the ridges is the Golda Meir highway, leading to Tel Aviv.
Population
The population is ethnically and religiously diverse, and housing ranges from expensive, single-family homes to inexpensive, multi-level apartments. Ramot is a relatively new area by Jerusalem standards; construction began in the 1970s and continues today.
All sections of Ramot have a large, growing population of young Orthodox and Haredi families. They have built and established many synagogues and yeshivas (including the Lakewood East yeshiva), as well as communal institutions associated with Jewish religious life. Hagaon HaRav Efraim Kirschenbaum, Rav of Beis Medrash Pnei Shmuel in Ramat Beit Shemesh also resides there.
Ramot boasts a large English-speaking community, which is mostly located in Ramot 2 and 4.
References
- ^ "Leor Tubul, 17 years old, and Ronan Karamani, 18, vanished at a busy intersection outside the Ramot neighborhood, a Jewish suburb built in an area that had been the West Bank before Israel annexed East Jerusalem in 1967." Slaying of 2 Jews Stirs Violence in Jerusalem New York Times August 7, 1990.
- ^ "They began planting neighborhoods such as Ramot Allon on annexed West Bank land..." Clashing values alter a city’s face by Richard Boudreaux, Los Angeles Times June 05, 2007
- ^ "EU Report: Israel “Actively Pursuing the Illegal Annexation” of East Jerusalem". FMEP. March-April 2009. http://www.fmep.org/reports/archive/vol.-19/no.-2/eu-report-israel-201cactively-pursuing-the-illegal-annexation201d-of-east-jerusalem. Retrieved 2009-04-29.
- ^ [1]
- ^ a b The Ramot Alon neighborhood was established in 1974.
External links
Categories: Neighbourhoods of Jerusalem
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