Rawabi
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Rawabi ( ar, روابي, meaning "The Hills") is the first
planned city A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...
built for and by
Palestinians Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
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 ...
, and is hailed as a "flagship Palestinian enterprise." Rawabi is located near
Birzeit Birzeit ( ar, بيرزيت), also Bir Zeit, is a Palestinian Christian town north of Ramallah, in the central West Bank. Its population in the 2007 census was 4,529. Birzeit is the home to Birzeit University and to the Birzeit Brewery. Location ...
and
Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ar, رام الله, , God's Height) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the ''de facto'' administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusale ...
. The master plan envisages a high tech city with 6,000 housing units, housing a population of between 25,000 and 40,000 people, spread across six neighborhoods.Harriet Sherwood
'Rawabi rises: new West Bank city symbolises Palestine's potential,'
''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' 8 August 2013.
Building the Palestinian Dream
Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...
Construction began in January 2010. By 2014, 650 family apartments housing an estimated 3,000 peopleJack Moore
'Palestine's Billion-Dollar City Can Finally Open,'
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
27 February 2015.
had been completed and sold, but could not be occupied while negotiations over supplying the city with water stalled.Avi Issacharof
'Waterless, the first planned Palestinian city sits empty,'
The Times of Israel ''The Times of Israel'' is an Israeli multi-language online newspaper that was launched in 2012. It was co-founded by Israeli journalist David Horovitz, who is also the founding editor, and American billionaire investor Seth Klarman.
20 February 2015
The city remained without water; the delay was attributed to the
Israeli–Palestinian Joint Water Committee The Israeli–Palestinian Joint Water Committee (JWC) is a joint Israeli–Palestinian authority, created in 1995 by the Oslo II Accord. Its purpose is to manage water and sewage related infrastructure in the West Bank, particularly to take decisi ...
, with Israelis blaming Palestinians for the delay and Palestinians blaming Israelis.Shlomo Eldar
'Israel still refuses to run water to Rawabi,'
Al-Monitor Al-Monitor ( ar, المونيتور) is a news website launched in February 2012 by the Arab American entrepreneur Jamal Daniel and based in Washington, DC, United States. Al-Monitor provides reporting and analysis from and about the Middle East. ...
18 February 2015.
On 1 March 2015, its developer,
Bashar al-Masri Bashar Masri (/ ar, بشار مصري/ February 3, 1961) is a Palestinian entrepreneur and businessman. He is the founder and Chairman of the Board of International since its establishment in 1994. He is the founder and visionary behind the h ...
, announced that Israel would finally connect the city up to the Israeli-controlled water grid.AP,Nahum Barnea and Danny Rubinstei
'Palestinian city plan to move forward after Israel agrees to water deal,'
Ynet Ynet (stylized as ynet) is one of the major Israeli news and general-content websites, and is the online outlet for the '' Yedioth Ahronot'' newspaper. However, most of Ynet's content is original work, published exclusively on the website and wri ...
1 March 2015
In Israel Rawabi is called "The Palestinian
Modi'in Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut ( he, מוֹדִיעִין-מַכַּבִּים-רֵעוּת) is an Israeli city located in central Israel, about southeast of Tel Aviv and west of Jerusalem, and is connected to those two cities via Highway 443. In t ...
." The project was criticized by both certain Palestinian movements, such as the Palestinian National BDS Committee, and some Israeli settler groups, the former claiming the use of Israeli materials normalizes the occupation, the latter asserting the project invades Israel and could become a terrorist base.Smadar Peri
'Battle for water won by entrepeneur [sic] of first Palestinian planned city,'
Ynet Ynet (stylized as ynet) is one of the major Israeli news and general-content websites, and is the online outlet for the '' Yedioth Ahronot'' newspaper. However, most of Ynet's content is original work, published exclusively on the website and wri ...
4 March 2015
Buyers started moving into apartments in August 2015. By May 2017, despite difficulties with flying Israeli checkpoints controlling the road to the city, 3,000 Palestinians had taken up residence there.William Boot
'The $1.4 billion bet on a new Palestinian future,'
''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' 25 May 2017


Location

Rawabi is northwest of
Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ar, رام الله, , God's Height) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the ''de facto'' administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusale ...
, north of
Birzeit Birzeit ( ar, بيرزيت), also Bir Zeit, is a Palestinian Christian town north of Ramallah, in the central West Bank. Its population in the 2007 census was 4,529. Birzeit is the home to Birzeit University and to the Birzeit Brewery. Location ...
, to the north of
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, 40 km to the east of Tel Aviv, and south of
Nablus Nablus ( ; ar, نابلس, Nābulus ; he, שכם, Šəḵem, ISO 259-3: ; Samaritan Hebrew: , romanized: ; el, Νεάπολις, Νeápolis) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a populati ...
.
Amman Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 a ...
, the capital of
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
, is to the east. In addition, 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
Ateret Ateret ( he, עֲטֶרֶת, ''lit.'' Crown) is an Israeli settlement organized as a community settlement in the West Bank. Located in the municipal jurisdiction of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, it is located on a hilltop, at an elevation ...
is nearby. Masri envisages the latter as becoming a suburb of Rawabi in the future.
Lyse Doucet Lyse Marie Doucet , (; born 24 December 1958) is a Canadian journalist who is the BBC's Chief International Correspondent and senior presenter. She presents on BBC World Service radio and BBC World News television, and also reports for BBC R ...
and Jane McMullen
'The new Palestinian city that lacks only one thing,'
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
7 February 2015.
The construction site stretches over two ridges, above sea level.Building the Palestinian Dream on shaky ground.
Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...
On a clear day, it is possible to see the
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...
, to the west, and the
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i coastal city of
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
from the site. Rawabi's municipal boundaries will encompass 6,300,000 square meters of land. Residential and commercial development is based on a population estimate of 40,000.


Financing

One problem was that the West Bank lacked a traditional mortgage system. To that end, the development was linked to a $500m affordable mortgage scheme. The ''
Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' reports that Rawabi "is specifically designed for upwardly mobile families of a sort that in the United States might gravitate to places such as
Reston, VA Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia and a principal city of the Washington metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, Reston's population was 63,226. Founded in 1964, Reston was influenced by the Garden City moveme ...
. The developments are also relying on another American import, the home mortgage, including creation of a Fannie Mae-style institution for the West Bank". Rawabi is the largest private sector project in Palestinian history. It was initiated at the
Palestine Investment Conference The Palestine Investment Conference (PIC) is aimed at strengthening the economy of State of Palestine, Palestine and supporting a future Palestinian state. It took place in the Bethlehem Convention Palace, Convention Palace Bethlehem in 2008 and 201 ...
, which took place in
Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...
in 2008. The project involves a public-private partnership between Masri's property investment firm, Bayti (''My home'') Real Estate Investment Company, and his primary corporation, Masser International, which provided a third of the billion dollar investment, together with financial backing from Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company (the
Qatar Investment Authority The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA; ar, جهاز قطر للإستثمار) is Qatar's sovereign wealth fund. The QIA was founded by the State of Qatar in 2005 to strengthen the country's economy by diversifying into new asset classes. In 2021 ...
's property investment fund), Massar International, and the
Palestinian National Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,
. The total cost of the development, mostly funded by the
Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
i company LDR and Masri, a native of NablusElhanan Miller,
'In Rawabi, the brand-new Palestinian city, both sides win,'
The Times of Israel ''The Times of Israel'' is an Israeli multi-language online newspaper that was launched in 2012. It was co-founded by Israeli journalist David Horovitz, who is also the founding editor, and American billionaire investor Seth Klarman.
19 February 2014
and Palestinian multimillionaire, is estimated at US$850 million. As of June 2015, the total investment in Rawabi is US$1.2 billion. Masri sees the development as an integral part of a nation-building project, the construction of a future Palestinian state. He makes the claim that when he was a boy in Nablus, merely carrying a Palestinian flag on the streets was sufficient to get one shot by Israeli soldiers. To complete the project, it was calculated that 8,000 and 10,000 new jobs would be created in the Palestinian construction sector. The Palestinian Authority is responsible for providing off-site infrastructure, while Bayti is tasked with the design and development of the city. According to The Rawabi economic growth strategy, from 3,000 to 5,000 new jobs in "
knowledge economy The knowledge economy (or the knowledge-based economy) is an economic system in which the production of goods and services is based principally on knowledge-intensive activities that contribute to advancement in technical and scientific inno ...
" industries including
information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...
,
pharmaceuticals A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and rel ...
and
health care Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...
would result from its development. On 15 March 2010, two grant agreements were signed by Bashar Masri, Managing Director of Bayti Real Estate Investment Company and chairman of Massar International, and Leocadia I. Zak, Director of the
United States Trade and Development Agency The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) is an independent agency of the United States government, formed in 1992 to advance economic development and U.S. commercial interests in developing and middle income countries. Structure The U.S. ...
(USTDA), in the presence of US
Consul General A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...
br> Daniel_Rubinstein
">Daniel_Rubinstein">Daniel_Rubinstein
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.html" ;"title="Daniel Rubinstein">Daniel Rubinstein
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The USTDA grants funded two feasibility studies. The first study to develop a master plan for Rawabi's ICT infrastructure and services was won by American management consultancy company Decision/Analysis Partners LLC of Fairfax, Virginia">Fairfax, Virginia. The second study examined the possibility of building a tertiary Sewage treatment, waste water treatment facility for Rawabi and surrounding communities. Previously, United States Senator [ ohn Kerry visited the construction site on 28 February along with Rubenstein and David Harden, senior advisor to the American special envoy to the Middle East,
George J. Mitchell George John Mitchell Jr. (born August 20, 1933) is an American politician, diplomat, and lawyer. A leading member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States senator from Maine from 1980 to 1995, and as Senate Majority Leader from 198 ...
. In 2009 the Palestinian Authority undertook to provide $150 million to cover infrastructural costs for power, water, sewerage, schools and roads, but failed to honour its promise. As a result, purchasers must pick up the tab, which translates into a rise of 10 to 12 percent to the cost of houses. The development faced a financial crunch in 2014 due to a cash flow crisis when Masri was unable to collect $70 million from homeowners and mortgage banks for the first batch of 600 apartments, because they cannot be delivered until the access road, and a water supply, are given Israeli permits.


Master plan

The
Palestinian National Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,
did not need Israeli approval for construction since the land for Rawabi falls entirely within Area 'A', which is under full Palestinian control. The Rawabi master plan and Preliminary Design was developed by a Multi-disciplinary team from
AECOM AECOM (, ; formerly AECOM Technology Corporation) is an American multinational infrastructure consulting firm. AECOM has approximately 51,000 employees, and is number 157 on the 2019 Fortune 500 list. The company's official name from 1990 t ...
led by Raphael Samach (now with SAMACH+SEO), in cooperation with local experts from
Birzeit Birzeit ( ar, بيرزيت), also Bir Zeit, is a Palestinian Christian town north of Ramallah, in the central West Bank. Its population in the 2007 census was 4,529. Birzeit is the home to Birzeit University and to the Birzeit Brewery. Location ...
and An-Najah National universities and the technical teams of Bayti. It has been approved by the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Higher Planning Council. The design input included concerns to avoid looking like a Palestinian version of an Israeli settlement: indigenous trees are planted; red roofs- the most vigorous aestyhetic symbol of such settlements - are ruled out; defensive walling off of the township ignored, and guard towers are not envisioned. Constructing the city has created jobs for 8-10,000 Palestinians, a third of them women, and their pay is 30% above the Palestinian minimum wage. The residential areas will surround a
city centre A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...
that includes
bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...
s,
shop Shop or shopping refers to: Business and commerce * A casual word for a commercial establishment or for a place of business * Machine shop, a workshop for machining *"In the shop", referring to a car being at an automotive repair shop *A wood s ...
s,
petrol station A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Gasoline ...
s,
office An office is a space where an Organization, organization's employees perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize objects and Goals, plans, action theory, goals of the organizati ...
s, eight
school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...
s,
playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people ...
s,
walking trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. The ...
s, two
mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
s, a
Greek Orthodox The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek language, Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the Eastern Orthodox Church, entire body of Orthodox (Chalced ...
church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...
, a
hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...
,
hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...
, a seven-screen
cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking * ...
and numerous other arts venues, in a central
piazza A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...
lined with arcades and cafes. One third of the engineers and architects are women, a gender participation without precedent in the Arab world. The design envisages an elaborate recycling infrastructure: water towers are not included in buildings, neither are satellite dishes permitted. Water is to be recycled by a computerized system, and any excess will provide watering for the city's parks. The public transport system is to run on electricity, providing free transit to residents, with visitors only being required to pay. Though an industrial zone is planned, with paved roads already leading to the site, permission has yet to be received from the Israeli authorities. A soccer field, and
Roman amphitheatre Roman amphitheatres are theatres – large, circular or oval open-air venues with raised seating – built by the ancient Romans. They were used for events such as gladiator combats, ''venationes'' (animal slayings) and executions. About List of ...
girded by honey-coloured columns, and seating 12,000, has been completed.Isabel Kershner
Palestinian Town in West Bank Awaits Israel's Approval for Water,'
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' Retrieved 26 August 2014.
The first 700 units were offered for sale in June 2013, with prices ranging from $60,000 to $170,000, 90% of which were sold, according to the developer, within a month. Of the initial purchasers of homes in Rawabi by 2013, 7% were single professional women and 11% were
Palestinian Christians Palestinian Christians ( ar, مَسِيحِيُّون فِلَسْطِينِيُّون, Masīḥiyyūn Filasṭīniyyūn) are Christian citizens of the State of Palestine. In the wider definition of Palestinian Christians, including the Palestin ...
.
Lisa Goldman Lisa Goldman is a British theatre director, dramaturg, writer and author. She was Artistic Director and joint Chief Executive of Soho Theatre (2006–10) and The Red Room Theatre Company which she founded (1995-2006). In 2008 Lisa was included ...
, director of the Israel-Palestine Initiative at New America, argues that the project draw attention from the ongoing issues of military occupation, and notes that the home-buyers are middle-class couples earning 20 times more than the average Palestinian income.


Greening project

Thousands of
sapling In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
s are being planted as part of a
greening Greening is the process of transforming living environments, and also artifacts such as a space, a lifestyle or a brand image, into a more environmentally friendly version (i.e. 'greening your home' or 'greening your office'). The act of greenin ...
project which involves growing a forest around the city. The
Jewish National Fund Jewish National Fund ( he, קֶרֶן קַיֶּימֶת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael'', previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Syria (later Mandatory Palestine, and subseq ...
is donating 3,000 saplings to the project, the announcement of which sparked some internal Israeli and
Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
ish controversy. Saplings have also been donated by the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture and by local and international organisations, corporations and individuals.


Rawabi Tech Hub

In 2017, a "tech hub" opened in Rawabi City. According to the Rawabi City website, "Rawabi's Tech Hub hopes to catalyze and sustain growth in the Palestinian ICT sector with four major initiatives: (1) Attracting local and international ICT companies to establish operations at Rawabi; (2) Establishing the Rawabi Institute for Training and Advancement (RITA): a market-driven, technology-focused training institute; (3) CONNECT, a collaborative workspace for ICT entrepreneurs; (4) BADER, a private equity fund providing venture capital to ICT startups." As of February 2018, four companies were working at the CONNECT collaborative workspace: WebTeb, an Arabic version of WebMD; Imagry, a developer of automated driving software; Studio 83, a provider of 3D visualization for real estate companies; and an employee of GETAWAY, a German car-sharing startup.


Access roads

Though he obtained Israeli assurances in 2007 that a permit would be granted for a large access road capable of allowing 100 trucks to access the designated construction site weekly, and to cope with the volume of cars expected to be used by its prospective 40,000 residents,Kate Shuttleworth
'A Self-Contained City Inside A Conflict Zone: Millionaire American-Palestinian Investor Plans High-End, High-Tech Development In West Bank,'
IB Times The ''International Business Times'' is an American online news publication that publishes five national editions in four languages. The publication, sometimes called ''IBTimes'' or ''IBT'', offers news, opinion and editorial commentary on busi ...
6 December 2013.
it took several years for a permit to be granted, for a much smaller, scaled-back primary access road to transport in building materials. Only in January 2012 was a single access road for trucks approved by Israeli authorities, shortly before a visit by
UN Secretary General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of the Un ...
Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...
. The access road for inhabitants still needs to be approved. It needs to pass through Area 'C' and cross Route 465, used mainly by inhabitants of nearby Israeli settlements
Ateret Ateret ( he, עֲטֶרֶת, ''lit.'' Crown) is an Israeli settlement organized as a community settlement in the West Bank. Located in the municipal jurisdiction of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, it is located on a hilltop, at an elevation ...
and
Halamish Halamish ( he, חַלָּמִישׁ. ''lit.'' Flint), also known as Neveh Tzuf ( he, נְוֵה צוּף, links=no, ''lit.'' Oasis of Nectar), is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, located in the southwestern Samarian hills to the north ...
and Palestinian inhabitants of
Birzeit Birzeit ( ar, بيرزيت), also Bir Zeit, is a Palestinian Christian town north of Ramallah, in the central West Bank. Its population in the 2007 census was 4,529. Birzeit is the home to Birzeit University and to the Birzeit Brewery. Location ...
. At the beginning of 2013 a new stretch of road linking 465 road with Ramalla was approved, intended for Palestinian traffic only. As of June 2015, Israel has yet to provide permits for widening the only road to Rawabi as well for other access roads to Nablus and Ramalla.


Land purchase and water supply

The first 600 apartments were sold out by 2013, and were due to be handed over to their Palestinian owners in the spring of 2014. At this point, Israel demanded that the Palestinians meet with the Joint Water Committee to approve the Rawabi project, which the Palestinians were unwilling to do, because they would have been forced to rubber-stamp water projects to settlements. Israel provided water to settlements in spite of this, but refused to do so for Rawabi, preventing new buyers from moving in. Water has repeatedly proved a contentious issue in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The 600,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank are serviced with 6 times the quantity of water allocated to the area's 2.7 million Palestinians. A resolution of the issue was promised by August 2014, but Israel did not come through with the requested permit. As a result, the financial viability of the development project came under threat. Permits from Israel to allow the construction of an access road into the city were also lacking until February 2015. Political infighting, with wrangling over whether or not, it was necessary to convene a joint Palestinian-Israeli commission to authorize the final linkage to water, became a key sticking-point. For some years Israeli Defense Minister
Moshe Ya'alon Moshe "Bogie" Ya'alon ( he, משה יעלון; born Moshe Smilansky on 24 June 1950) is an Israeli politician and former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, who also served as Israel's Defense Minister under Benjamin Netanyahu from 2013 ...
placed as a condition for connecting the city to the Mekorot company, that the Israeli-Palestinian Joint Water Committee be convened to issue permits, not only to Rawabi but also to Israeli settlements, a proposal opposed by the Palestinian Authority, which has refused to convene the Committee since 2010 to avoid supplying Palestinian legitimisation of Israel's settlements in the West Bank. Such delays do not occur with Jewish settlement, since Mekorot connects any legal Jewish home in the West Bank to its water mains.
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
, head of the
Quartet on the Middle East The Quartet on the Middle East or Middle East Quartet, sometimes called the Diplomatic Quartet or Madrid Quartet or simply the Quartet, is a foursome of nations and international and supranational entities involved in mediating the Israeli ...
, who, together with Barack Obama has raised the issue of Israel's failure to supply Rawabi with water connections, has sided with the Palestinians this issue, stating that they have reason to refuse to supply settlements with water in so far as settlements are a key plank in peace negotiations. Ya'alon relented in early 2015 and approved connecting the city up to Mekorot. The decision was confirmed by Major General
Yoav Mordechai Yoav (Poli) Mordechai ( he, יואב מרדכי; born March 25, 1964, in Jerusalem) is a retired major general in the Israel Defense Forces. He concluded his 36-year career in the IDF in 2018 as the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Terr ...
, coordinator of Israeli government activities in the
Palestinian territories The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been militarily occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The I ...
, but the link was further delayed when the Minister of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water,
Silvan Shalom Zion Silvan Shalom ( he, ציון סילבן שלום, born 4 August 1958) is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Likud between 1992 and 2015. He held several prominent ministerial positions, including being Vice Pri ...
, the subject of a fierce letter-writing campaign from Israel's far-right settler lobby, postponed the decision, insisting that due authorization was required from the Joint Israeli-Palestinian Water Committee. In the West Bank, the Defence Minister exercises authority over the pipeline, while the water minister is in charge of the water, and Mekerot would not supply the water unless the Minister for infrastructure authorizes the Water Authority to give the go-ahead. According to both Weissglass and Shlomo Eldar such prior joint committee approval has not been necessary in setting up water connections for Israeli settlements in these territories, though Shalom's Ministry insists that this is a provision set forth in the Oslo Accords. A Haaretz editorial described the refusal to link up the city to water as a form of punishment to achieve diplomatic ends. Even Israeli President
Reuven Rivlin Reuven "Ruvi" Rivlin ( he, רְאוּבֵן "רוּבִי" רִיבְלִין ; born 9 September 1939) is an Israeli politician and lawyer who served as the tenth president of Israel between 2014 and 2021. He is a member of the Likud party. Riv ...
urged Israel to give water to Rawabi. The deadlock was broken on 26 February when Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu overruled objections and gave the go ahead for linkage.Smadar Peri
'Battle for water won by entrepeneur of first Palestinian planned city,'
Ynet Ynet (stylized as ynet) is one of the major Israeli news and general-content websites, and is the online outlet for the '' Yedioth Ahronot'' newspaper. However, most of Ynet's content is original work, published exclusively on the website and wri ...
4 March 2015
Masri hailed the decision, commenting: "Now we have our universal right of our water without being pressured for any concessions." The city now has a state of the art water grid—eventually serviced also by a huge water reservoir roughly half a kilometre outside the city—which is linked to a 2.4-km pipe through areas A and B under Palestinian civil administration. Israel has still to provide permission for the final link to the Israeli water company
Mekorot Mekorot ( he, מקורות, lit. "Sources") is the national water company of Israel and the country's top agency for water management. Founded in 1937, it supplies Israel with 90% of its drinking water and operates a cross-country water supply ne ...
's plant in
Umm Safa Umm Safa/Kafr Ishwa ( ar, أم صفا) or Um Al-Safa is a Palestinian village in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate. Location Umm Safa is located north of Ramallah. It is bordered by 'Ajjul and 'Atara to the east, Deir as Sudan and Ajjul ...
, 1.1 kilometres across Area C, which is under Israeli military administration. Technically, all new water infrastructure in the West Bank requiring pipes larger than 5 cm requires the approval of the Joint Israeli-Palestinian Water Committee. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was also reported to favour connecting the city to the watergrid. As of June 2016, 250 Palestinian families have taken up residence in Rawabi. Difficulties persist since the pipeline supplies only 300 cubic meters of water per diem, which is below the necessities of the residents and the demands for further construction.


The right to purchase

Asked whether Jews could purchase apartments in Rawabi, al-Masri home-buyers must get permission from the Palestinian Authority, a procedure that can take up to six months. He has no complaint about this because it is designed, he added, to avoid the possibility that "bad Israelis" might buy properties and fly the Israeli flag at their windows. Many
Israeli-Arabs The Arab citizens of Israel are the largest ethnic minority in the country. They comprise a hybrid community of Israeli citizens with a heritage of Palestinian citizenship, mixed religions (Muslim, Christian or Druze), bilingual in Arabic an ...
have purchased apartments as an investment or for leisure purposes.


Controversies

William Booth, a writer and bureau chief for the ''Washington Post'', has stated that
Rawabi is the counternarrative in the forever conflict in which Palestinians are often portrayed as terrorist or victim, living in refugee camps or dusty villages out of biblical times.
Masri has been attacked by both sides for undertaking his development. Some Palestinians protest that his approach is "normalizing" Israel's occupation of the West Bank. In 2010, Israeli settlers held demonstrations to protest the project, although they acknowledged that they could not prevent the city's construction. Some settlers said they would establish settlements nearby. Masri has repudiated offers of building supplies from settlements, and ignored Israel suggestions as to how Rawabi should be modelled. He has gone on the record as stating
Settlers are evil people in general that continue to harass our people; they continue to live on our land illegally, and it's recognized by almost the whole world as being illegal. We do not deal with illegal bodies or illegal issues.
He has made it a requirement that all contractors working on the project "sign an agreement refusing to use Israeli products originating from the settlements or work in the settlements themselves". Some Palestinians criticize the development as one that creates the impression that they can enjoy economic prosperity while the Israeli occupation continues.
Yousef Munayyer Yousef Munayyer ( ar, يوسف منيّر) is a Palestinian-American writer and political analyst based in Washington, D.C., United States. He was the executive director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights. Previously he directed The Jeru ...
has stated that,"(t)he project creates this illusion that there is this happy space in Palestine that is independent of the military occupation which governs many aspects of Palestinian life." In reply, Masri argues that it is a symbol that defies the occupation, secures Palestinian territory from confiscation for settlements, opens up job opportunities under an otherwise brutal occupation, and blocks the brain drain of talented Palestinians. If, he adds, such a developmental project is, as some critics assert, making the occupation look good, then, "maybe we should live in tents, maybe we should all freeze to death." In designing the project, he didn't think that 'Israel and Palestine would kiss and be happy.'Daisy Carrington
'New city offers vision of better life in West Bank,'
CNN News, 5 July 2013.


References


External links


Official website

Rawabi: Live Work Grow. Facebook site
{{Authority control Cities in the West Bank Planned cities 2010 establishments in the Palestinian territories Municipalities of the State of Palestine