Wadi Ara

Umm al-Fahm is one of the largest Arab-majority cities in Israel Proper, home to around 60,000 residents, nearly all of them Palestinian citizens of Israel. The city sits in the Wadi Ara region of northern Israel, on the edge of the Green Line.

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Umm al-Fahm and the surrounding villages of the Little Triangle were transferred from Jordanian to Israeli control in the 1949 armistice agreement. From 1948 to 1966, its residents lived under Israeli military rule, subject to curfews, travel permits, and land confiscations imposed only on the country's Arab population. Military rule was lifted a year before Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967.

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The Green Line sits at the edge of the city. Palestinian villages just kilometers away, once part of the same contiguous land, are now on the other side of the separation barrier. Many residents have family in those villages.

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I visited Umm al-Fahm with a group of fellows learning about Arab citizens of Israel and activists across the Wadi Ara region. We were guided by Muhammad Rabah, met with municipality workers, and visited the Umm al-Fahm Art Gallery, the only art museum in an Arab town in Israel and a meeting point between communities.