Rawabi

Article summary

Rawabi ( , meaning "The Hills") is the first planned city built for and by Palestinians in the West Bank, and is hailed as a "flagship Palestinian enterprise." Rawabi is located near Birzeit and Ramallah. 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. Construction began in January 2010. By 2014, 650 family apartments housing an estimated 3,000 people had been completed and sold, but could not be occupied while negotiations over supplying the city with water stalled. The city remained without water for an extended period due to structural and institutional obstacles. Though Israeli authorities technically approved a water connection, Minister Silvan Shalom withheld implementation, citing the need for the Israeli–Palestinian Joint Water Committee (JWC) to reconvene. The JWC, established under the 1995 Oslo Accords, requires mutual approval for projects, a system that gives Israel de facto veto power over Palestinian water infrastructure. Construction of the pipeline itself was complicated by the fact that parts of its route cross Area C, which is under full Israeli military control. When the hookup was finally approved in early 2015, the initial allocation was limited to 300 cubic meters per day, enough for only a fraction of the city’s anticipated population.…

Key claims

1. date of establishment: 1995 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
2. population: 40,000 people — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
3. population: 25,000 residents — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
4. population: 3,000 residents — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. The record states that the date of establishment is "1995". What evidence would count against this claim?
3. The record states that the population is "40,000 people". What evidence would count against this claim?
4. The record states that the population is "25,000 residents". What evidence would count against this claim?
5. The record states that the population is "3,000 residents". What evidence would count against this claim?
6. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
7. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1378550767