Al-Auja, Jericho

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al-Auja
Municipality type C
Arabic transcription(s)
•  Arabic	العوجا
•  Latin	al-'Auja (official) al-Awja (unofficial)
Southern entrance to al-Auja, 2011
al-Auja Location of al-Auja within Palestine
Coordinates: 31°56′51″N35°27′42″E / 31.94750°N 35.46167°E / 31.94750; 35.46167
Palestine grid	195/150
State	State of Palestine
Governorate	Jericho
Government
• Type	Municipality (from 1994)
Area
• Total	107,905  dunams (107.9 km2 or 41.7 sq mi)
Population  (2017) [1]
• Total	5,224
• Density	48/km2 (130/sq mi)

Not to be confused with Nahr al-Auja, the Arabic name of the Yarkon River, or Auja al-Hafir.

Al-Auja (Arabic : العوجا) is a Palestinian town in the Jericho Governorate of the State of Palestine, in the eastern West Bank, located ten kilometers north of Jericho. The town has a total area of 107,905 dunams, however its built-up area comprises only 832 dunams. It is situated 230 meters below sea level.

Agricultural land makes up over 10% of the town's area, ^[2] mostly planted with bananas, oranges, and vegetables for which al-Auja is well known. Irrigation water is mainly supplied from the al-Auja spring. ^[3]

History

The town is built along, and shares the name of, the Wadi al-Auja stream, "al-auja" meaning "the meandering one". This should not be confused with the other river called in Arabic by the same name, Nahr al-Auja, and known by its biblical and Hebrew name as the Yarkon River. During World War I this coincidence led to the term of "the line of the two Aujas" referring to a strategic line connecting the two river valleys. ^[4]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Al-Auja, together with ad-Duyuk and Nweimeh had a population of 332; 322 Muslims and 10 Christians, ^[5] where the Christians were 7 Orthodox, and 3 Syrian Catholic. ^[6] According to the 1931 census, Al-Auja had a population of 253 Muslims, in 100 houses. ^[7]

In the 1945 statistics, the village's population was 290, while Arab el Nuseirat had 520, Arab el Kaabina had 260, Arab el Ureinat had 210 and Arab el Saayida had 110 members; a total of 1,390; all Muslims, ^[8] and together they had jurisdiction over 106,946 dunams of land. ^[9] Of this, 418 dunams were used for citrus and bananas, 2,822 dunams were for plantations and irrigable land, 6,502 for cereals, ^[10] while a total of 97,204 dunams were classified as non-cultivable areas. ^[11]

Jordanian era

In the wake of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and after the 1949 Armistice Agreements, al-Auja came under Jordanian rule. It was annexed by Jordan in 1950.

Post 1967

Since the 1967 Six-Day War, al-Auja has been under Israeli occupation. 30,147 dunams of al-Auja's land was classified as "closed-off area" barred from Palestinian use. ^[2]

According to ARIJ, Israel have confiscated land from Al-Auja in order to construct four Israeli settlements:

• 993 dunams for Nativ HaGdud, ^[12]
• 499 dunams for Yitav. ^[12]
• 497 dunams for Na'aran (Niran), ^[12]
• 268 dunams for Gilgal. ^[12]

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, al-Auja had a population of over 4,000 inhabitants in mid-year 2006. ^[13] In 1997, refugees constituted 24.7% of the population. ^[14] The 15.5% of Al-Auja area which is located in "Area A", was transferred to the Palestinian National Authority in a 1994 deal which also included Jericho and Gaza. The remaining 84.5% of al-Auja is Area C, which remains under total Israeli control. ^[2]

The town and the adjacent village of Ras al-Auja are subject to frequent attacks by settlers and military forces. This includes denying access to water sources, pumping which causes local springs to dry up, ^[15] destruction of houses, confiscation of agricultural equipment, ^[16] damaging livestock, ^[17] uprooting of olive and date trees, ^[18] interference with grazing and violent attacks on Palestinian civilians. ^[19] In 2024, an illegal outpost was established near Al-Auja from which the settlers and hilltop youth launch attacks on the residents, including dumping waste into the local spring. ^[20]

Arson attack in Al-Auja, April 2024

Archaeology

Archelais

Archelais, a Herodian town founded by and named after Herod Archelaus, is now an archaeological site on the northern outskirts of Auja (Khirbet el-Beiyudat), and is gradually being covered by modern Palestinian construction and devastated by treasure hunters. ^{[21] [22]}

References

1. Preliminary Results of the Population, Housing and Establishments Census, 2017 (PDF). Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) (Report). State of Palestine. February 2018. pp. 64–82. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
2. Al 'Auja village Archived 2007-08-14 at the Wayback Machine Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem. 21 January 2006.
3. Welcome to al-'Auja Palestine Remembered.
4. H. S. Gullett (1923). The Australian Imperial Force in Sinai and Palestine, 1914-1918 (PDF). Sydney: Angus & Robertson Ltd. p. 487. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 16 September 2015. Allenby did not hesitate. His original objective had been the "line of the two Aujas" from the Nahr Auja, which falls into the Mediterranean above Jaffa, to the Wady Auja, a little stream which, bursting from springs in the desert foot-hills above the Jordan valley, flows eastwards to the Jordan River about ten miles north of the Dead Sea.
5. Barron, 1923, Table VII, Sub-district of Jericho, p. 19
6. Barron, 1923, Table XIV, p. 45
7. Mills, 1932, p. 45
8. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 24
9. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 56 Archived 2008-08-05 at the Library of Congress Web Archives
10. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 101 Archived 2018-06-22 at the Wayback Machine
11. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 151 Archived 2018-06-22 at the Wayback Machine
12. Al 'Auja Town Profile p. 19
13. Projected Mid -Year Population for Jericho District by Locality 2004- 2006 Archived 2012-02-07 at the Wayback Machine Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
14. Palestinian Population by Locality and Refugee Status Archived 2008-11-18 at the Wayback Machine (1997) Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.
15. "Israeli settlers continue to level Palestinian land near Jericho". Wafa. 30 November 2022.
16. "Al-'Auja, Jordan Valley: Israel demolishes house under construction and confiscates community residents' bulldozer". BTSELEM. 24 March 2022.
17. "Ras 'Ein al-'Auja, Jordan Valley: Israeli settlers, with military and police escort, steal sheep and fire in the air. Police officers arrest the sheep's owner following settlers' false claims". BTSELEM. 3 February 2024.
18. "Israel uproots and confiscates dozens of olive and palm seedlings, al-'Auja area, Jericho District". BTSELEM.
19. "Israeli Settlers Attack Palestinian Village of Al-Auja in Jericho". DAYS OF PALESTINE. September 8, 2023.
20. "Extremist settlers begin building new outpost near Jericho". Middle East Monitor. April 15, 2024.
21. Jacobson, David M. (2014). "Editorial: Vandalism and Worse at Herodian Sites". Palestine Exploration Quarterly . 146 (3). London: 173-176. doi: 10.1179/0031032814Z.000000000103 . ISSN   1743-1301.
22. Ben Zvi, Sara Jo (8 January 2018). "Wanton Destruction on a Calamitous Scale". Segula Magazine. Jerusalem. Retrieved 20 May 2021.

Bibliography

• Barron, J.B., ed. (1923). Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922. Government of Palestine.
• Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945.
• Hadawi, S. (1970). "Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine". Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center. Archived from the original on 2018-12-08. Retrieved 2015-02-14.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.

External links

• Welcome To al-'Auja
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 15: IAA, Wikimedia commons
• Al 'Auja Town (Fact Sheet), Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem (ARIJ)
• Al 'Auja Town Profile (ARIJ)
• Al 'Auja aerial photo (ARIJ)
• Locality Development Priorities and Needs in Al 'Auja (ARIJ)