Abu Ghosh - Arab-Israeli Relations

Arab-Israeli Relations

When Chaim Weizmann, later the first president of the State of Israel, visited Palestine in the spring of 1920, he was graciously hosted by the residents of Abu Ghosh. From the early 20th century, the leaders of Abu-Ghosh worked together and were on friendly terms with the Zionist leaders. Throughout the Mandate-period, the village of Abu Ghosh was on friendly terms with local Jews.

In 1947-1948, the road to Jerusalem was blocked and passage through the hills surrounding Jerusalem was crucial for getting supplies to the besieged city. Of the 36 Muslim-Arab villages nestled in these hills, Abu Ghosh was the only Muslim town that remained neutral, and in many cases proved friendly and helped to keep the road open. "From here it is possible to open and close the gates to Jerusalem," said former President Yitzhak Navon. Many in Abu Ghosh helped Israel with supplies.

Issa Jaber, director of the local department of education, says that the personal relationship with Zionist leaders during the prestate period set the basis for later cooperation. “We had a perspective for the future,” he says.

The villagers left Abu Ghosh during the heavy fighting in 1948, but most returned home in the following months. In the second half of 1949, the IDF and police rounded up those believed to be "infiltrators" and deported them to Jordan. Israeli historian Benny Morris writes about an open letter to the Knesset in which the residents of Abu Ghosh claimed that the army had "surrounded our village, and taken our women, children and old folk, and thrown them over the border and into the Negev Desert, and many of them died in consequence, when they were shot the borders." The letter further stated that the villagers had been woken up to "shouts blaring over the loudspeaker announcing that the village was surrounded and anyone trying to get out would be shot....The police and military forces then began to enter the houses and conduct meticulous searches, but no contraband was found. In the end, using force and blows, they gathered up our women, and old folk and children, the sick and the blind and pregnant women. These shouted for help but there was no saviour. And we looked on and were powerless to do anything save beg for mercy. Alas, our pleas were of no avail... They then took the prisoners, who were weeping and screaming, to an unknown place, and we still do not know what befell them." In the wake of public pressure, the vast majority of villagers were allowed to return. The Israeli government, subsequently on peaceful terms with the village, invested in improving the infrastructure of the village.

Abu Ghosh mayor Salim Jaber explains the good relations with Israel to the great importance attached to being hospitable: "We welcome anybody, regardless of religion or race." According to a village elder interviewed by the Toronto Globe and Mail: "Perhaps because of the history of feuding with the Arabs around us we allied ourselves with the Jews...against the British. We did not join the Arabs from the other villages bombarding Jewish vehicles in 1947. The Palmach fought many villages around us. But there was an order to leave us alone. The other Arabs never thought there would be a Jewish government here...During the first truce of the War of Independence, I was on my way to Ramallah to see my father and uncles, and I was captured by Jordanian soldiers. They accused me of being a traitor and tortured me for six days."