Pisgat Ze’ev

View of Pisgat Ze'ev from Moshe Dayan Boulevard

Pisgat Ze'ev (hebräisch פסגת זאב, lit. Ze'ev Peak), is the largest Israeli settlement and neighborhood in East Jerusalem, with almost 50,000 residents. Building commenced in 1982 and the first families moved in three years later. Pisgat Ze'ev is located east of the Arab neighborhood of Shuafat, west of the Arab villages of Hizme and Anata, and south of Neve Yaakov. Because it was built on land annexed by the Jerusalem municipality from the West Bank after the Six-Day War it is considered an illegal Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem by the international community.

Background

Pisgat Ze'ev was established to create a continguous Jewish link with Neve Yaakov, which had been isolated from other Jewish neighborhoods. It is named after the Revisionist Zionist leader, Ze'ev Jabotinsky. Archeological evidence shows that the region was a major producer of wine and oil for use in the Temple in Jerusalem.

Construction and expansion

Pisgat Ze'ev

Pisgat Ze'ev consists of five sections: Center (1982), West (1988), East and North (1990), and South (1998). It is linked to downtown Jerusalem by a direct freeway, Route 60. Because it is located in territory captured by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War and was subsequently annexed (first through the Jerusalem annexation directorate of 1967, then through the Jerusalem Law of 1980), it is often called a settlement in East Jerusalem. Technically speaking Pisgat Ze'ev lies in the northern sector of Jerusalem and its location is only referred to as "East Jerusalem" for political reasons.

The construction of Pisgat Ze'ev has increased the proportion of Jews living in East Jerusalem relative to the number of Arabs. In 1990, there were 150,000 Arabs and 120,000 Jews in East Jerusalem; in 1993, there were 155,000 Arabs and 160,000 Jews.

West Bank barrier

Since the spring of 2004, the Israeli West Bank barrier has been built to separate Pisgat Ze'ev and other Jerusalem neighborhoods from the West Bank. One result was an increase of Palestinians with Jerusalem residency moving into Pisgat Ze'ev, which has a largely homogeneous Jewish population.

Schools and public buildings

With 40 percent of the residents under the age of 21, Pisgat Ze'ev has 58 kindergartens, 9 elementary schools, 2 middle schools and 3 high schools. There are also 22 synagogues and 2 libraries.

Street names

Many of the streets in the central section of Pisgat Ze'ev are named for Israeli army units that took part in the 1948 and 1967 wars. Two streets, the "Street of the Four" and the "Street of the Sixteen," commemorate Israeli soldiers who fell in combat in this area during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the Six-Day War, and other battles for Jerusalem. A memorial listing the names of these soldiers can be found at the Archeological Park in Pisgat Ze'ev-Central.

See also

• List of places in Jerusalem

Pisgat Ze'ev East

External links

• Official website Vorlage:He icon
• Jerusalem Photos Portal - Pisgat Ze'ev