Pnei Kedem ( he, פְּנֵי קֶדֶם) is an

Israeli outpost In Israeli law, an outpost ( he, מאחז, ''Ma'ahaz'' lit. "a handhold") is an unauthorized or illegal Israeli settlement within the West Bank, constructed without the required authorization from the Israeli government in contravention of Israe ...

attached to the

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...

of Metzad in the southeastern part of the

Gush Etzion Gush Etzion ( he, גּוּשׁ עֶצְיוֹן, ' Etzion Bloc) is a cluster of Israeli settlements located in the Judaean Mountains, directly south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the West Bank. The core group includes four Jewish agricultural v ...

settlement bloc in the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. It is located near Si'ir in the eastern

Judean Mountains The Judaean Mountains, or Judaean Hills ( he, הרי יהודה, translit=Harei Yehuda) or the Hebron Mountains ( ar, تلال الخليل, translit=Tilal al-Khalīl, links=, lit=Hebron Mountains), is a mountain range in Palestine and Israel wh ...

Nahal Arugot Nahal ( he, נח"ל) (acronym of ''Noar Halutzi Lohem'', lit. Fighting Pioneer Youth) is a program that combines military service with mostly social welfare and informal education projects such as youth movement activities, as well as training ...

(the Arugot Stream). Pnei Kedem at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

of 930 metres

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

, 14.5 km from the Green Line, outside the

Separation Barrier A separation barrier or separation wall is a barrier, wall or fence, constructed to limit the movement of people across a certain line or border, or to separate peoples or cultures. A separation barrier that runs along an internationally recogn ...

. The international community considers all Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.

History

The outpost was built in October 2000 with assistance from Amana within the boundaries of the nearby

of Metzad and on adjacent lands. In 2003, Pnei Kedem was given the status of a permanent township without being legalized, receiving lighting and other services from the Israeli Defense Ministry, despite the Israeli government's pledge in the

Road Map A road map, route map, or street map is a map that primarily displays roads and transport links rather than natural geographical information. It is a type of navigational map that commonly includes political boundaries and labels, making it a ...

to remove illegal outposts. Pnei Kedem holds an annual kite festival during Chol HaMoed

Sukkot or ("Booths, Tabernacles") , observedby = Jews, Samaritans, a few Protestant denominations, Messianic Jews, Semitic Neopagans , type = Jewish, Samaritan , begins = 15th day of Tishrei , ends = 21st day of Tishre ...

which attracts thousands of participants. In November 2007, ''Haaretz'' reported that a settler of Pnei Kedem complained that he had 500 olive tree saplings uprooted by Palestinians. As reported by ''The Jerusalem Post'' in 2008, settlers from Pnei Kedem receive "counterterrorism training" from the organization

Mishmeret Yesha Mishmeret Yesha ( he, משמרת יש"ע) is an Israeli organization that trains Israeli settlers in counterterrorism techniques and the use of weapons to guard Israeli outposts and settlements against Palestinian attack. It was founded in 1988 a ...

in "how to quickly neutralize terrorist infiltrators". In September 2011, before the

Palestinian Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,

's statehood bid at the United Nations, ''Arutz Sheva'' published photographs of women from Pnei Kedem being trained with firearms and live ammunition. The population of Pnei Kedem receives its municipal services from the

Gush Etzion Regional Council The Gush Etzion Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית גוש עציון, ''Mo'atza Azorit Gush Etzion'') is a regional council in the northern Judean Hills, the northern part of the southern area of the West Bank, administering the se ...

, which lists it on its official website as a separate community. But as Israeli authorities do not recognize the outpost as an independent settlement, the

Israel Central Bureau of Statistics The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics ( he, הלשכה המרכזית לסטטיסטיקה, ''HaLishka HaMerkazit LiStatistika''; ar, دائرة الإحصاء المركزية الإسرائيلية), abbreviated CBS, is an Israeli government ...

counts its residents as living in Metzad. According to ''

Arutz Sheva ''Arutz Sheva'' ( he, ערוץ 7, lit=''Channel 7''), also known in English as ''Israel National News'', is an Israeli media network identifying with religious Zionism. It offers online news articles in Hebrew, English, and Russian as well as l ...

'', Pnei Kedem was home to 32 families in 2011 and absorbing new residents.

References

External links

website פְּנֵי קֶדֶם

Peace Now profile

Video Advertisement of the Annual Kite Festival
{{Gush Etzion Regional Council Israeli settlements in the West Bank Populated places established in 2000 Gush Etzion Regional Council Israeli outposts Unauthorized Israeli settlements