History of the Arab Development Society
The Arab Development Society (ADS) was established in Jerusalem in 1943 and was officially recognized by a resolution of the League of Arab States in 1945. It was founded as a charitable, non-political organization with no affiliation to any political or sectarian agenda. A special charter was adopted for the society, approved at the time in support of a project proposed by the late Musa Alami.
The Society was later re-registered under Jordanian law in 1952.
Shortly after its founding, the Society launched an ambitious program to implement its stated objectives. By 1948, it had acquired and reclaimed approximately 7,584 dunums of saline land to the east of Jericho, divided by the Amman road. The Society introduced a wide variety of fruit trees, vegetables, and forage crops.
In addition, the Society acquired 500 dunums of land in the Jordan Valley area of Wadi Al-Far’a (Al-Jiftlik) in the Nablus district.
Despite the challenges, the project made remarkable and rapid progress. With support from various Arab and international partners, the Society demonstrated the existence of usable groundwater for agriculture, and 28 wells were dug using rudimentary tools.
The Society also imported a herd of Friesian cattle, which it bred successfully until the herd exceeded 500 head. In the early 1960s, it established a modern dairy plant to produce pasteurized milk and its derivatives, such as yogurt, labneh, cheese, and more.
In parallel, the Society operated a poultry unit with layers reaching up to 30,000 birds at certain times.
Furthermore, the Society surveyed around 350 Palestinian villages to identify their challenges and development needs.
However, these promising efforts were brought to a halt by the partition of Palestine in 1948.
After the Nakba (Catastrophe), the Society responded to the emerging circumstances and the worsening Arab refugee crisis by shifting its focus to caring for children, orphans, and the needy among the displaced, providing them with shelter, food, clothing, and education.
To serve this purpose, the Society established a vocational training center, partially funded by the production of agricultural crops, milk, and dairy products, which are produced on a model farm set up on 8,000 dunums of landeast of Jericho, intersected by the main road between Jericho and Amman.
The ADS made remarkable and rapid progress, thanks to the support of numerous Arab and foreign entities. Contrary to what "experts" at the time had agreed upon, the project proved the existence of relatively usable groundwater for agriculture, enabling it to dig 27 wells using rudimentary hand tools.
The Society was able to reclaim about 4,000 dunums of saline land and cultivate a variety of fruit trees, vegetables, and forage crops.
Additionally, the Society imported a herd of Friesian cattle, which it successfully bred until the herd exceeded 500 head. A modern dairy plant was later established to produce pasteurized milk and its derivatives, such as yogurt, labneh, cheese, and more.
Furthermore, the Society took on the task of raising a flock of laying hens, with the number of birds reaching as high as 30,000 at certain times.
The Arab Development Society (ADS) produced goods of such quality that it was able to enter the markets of neighboring countries, reaching Amman, Damascus, Beirut, and the Gulf countries.
ADS also contributed to supporting Arab villages through soil conservation projects, rural road construction, providing drinking water, and acquiring agricultural machinery, in addition to encouraging cooperatives and handicraft industries.
Moreover, ADS expanded its educational activities, with the number of trainees at its vocational training center reaching 160 trainees at one time.
The 1967 Arab-Israeli War (the Setback) was a true catastrophe for the Jericho Project of the Arab Development Society (ADS). For two years, the project's land became a frontline in the battle, a site for Israeli artillery, making it a direct target for Jordanian shelling.
As a direct result of the fighting and its side effects, the project suffered severe losses, including:
The loss of half of the cattle herd.
The loss of all poultry flocks.
The destruction or theft of most of the agricultural machinery.
The damage or loss of a large number of equipment and wells.
The greatest loss was in the trained human resources, as many of the workers and trainees had to flee with the refugees to Jordan, leading to a significant vacuum in operational and educational capacity within ADS.
The Israeli aggression left widespread devastation in ADS's properties, including:
The housing provided for workers.
The administrative offices.
The machinery and agricultural equipment.
The reconstruction of ADS Jericho after the 1967 setback was a slow and difficult process, especially under the Israeli occupation and its discouraging policies. Nevertheless, the Society persevered in its efforts to revive the project, led and guided by its elderly president, Musa Alami, with continuous support from the Society’s friends, particularly the Musa Alami Foundation (USA) and the Friends of the Arab Development Society (UK).
These contributions helped keep ADS alive, but they were not enough to restore its former prosperity.
In 1983, a few months before the passing of Musa Alami, an agreement was reached between the Arab Development Society and both the Norwegian Refugee Council and the Swedish Child Relief Foundation, whereby the two organizations managed ADS Jericho until 1987.
This marked the real beginning of the reconstruction process, offering the Society an opportunity to reassess ADS and mobilize support for its revival.
Before the agreement ended, a team of donors, led by:
The Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (Kuwait)
The Islamic Development Bank (Jeddah)
The European Economic Cooperation Council (Brussels)
The OPEC Fund (Vienna)
provided financial assistance that enabled the Society to:
Repair much of the project’s infrastructure.
Restore and modernize the dairy factory.
Drill a new well.
Build new facilities for the agricultural training center.
Thanks to this support and the Society’s diligent efforts, ADS was close to completing the reconstruction phase and was more equipped to face future challenges with confidence and sustainability.
