Sha'ar HaAmakim

Sha'ar HaAmakim

Sha'ar HaAmakim in 2008
Sha'ar HaAmakim
Coordinates: 32°43′22.79″N 35°6′47.88″E / 32.7229972°N 35.1133000°E / 32.7229972; 35.1133000Coordinates: 32°43′22.79″N 35°6′47.88″E / 32.7229972°N 35.1133000°E / 32.7229972; 35.1133000
Grid position 160/236 PAL
District Haifa
Council Zevulun Regional Council
Affiliation Kibbutz Movement
Founded 1935
Founded by Romanian and Yugoslavian immigrants
Population (2015)[1] 687
Website www.s-h.org.il

Sha'ar HaAmakim (Hebrew: שַׁעַר הַעֲמָקִים‎, lit. Gate of the Valleys) is a kibbutz in northern Israel associated with the Hashomer Hatzair movement founded in 1935. Located near Kiryat Tiv'on, it falls under the jurisdiction of Zevulun Regional Council. In 2015 it had a population of 687.

History

Antiquity

Hellenistic era site near the kibbutz

Human habitation in the area dates at least as far back as the Hellenistic period.[2]

Crusader era

In 1283, during the hudna ("truce") between the Crusaders based in Acre and the Mamluk sultan al-Mansur Qalawun, this location was named el Harathiyah and was described as part of the domain of the Crusaders.[3]

Ottoman era

During the Ottoman era, a Muslim village at the site was called el Hâritheh.[4] The village appeared as El Harti on the map of Pierre Jacotin compiled in 1799.[5] In 1859, the population was recorded as 120 with tillable land of 12 feddans.[6] In 1875, Victor Guérin reported about 40 houses.[7] In 1882, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described it as an adobe hamlet.[6]

British Mandate era

Horse-drawn and mechanical vehicles at the kibbutz' flour mill in the 1950s

In 1925 a Zionist organisation purchased 50 feddans in Hartieh from the Sursock family of Beirut. At the time, there were 60 families living there.[8] From 1931, and lasting several years, the Jewish Agency struggled to evict the Arab tenant farmers from Hartiya.[9][10][11] According to Avneri, Hartiya land was to become Sha'ar HaAmakim.[9] According to the Department of Statistics, however, Sha'ar HaAmakim had previously been part of Sheikh Bureik.[12][13]

Kibbutz Sha'ar HaAmakim was founded in 1935 by immigrants from Romania and Yugoslavia. Its name was derived from the nearby confluence of the Jezreel and Zevulun valleys.[14] By 1945 it had a population of 360, all Jews.[12][13]

State of Israel

Sha'ar HaAmakim hosted volunteers from around the world, including France and the United States, who worked at the kibbutz and participated in cultural exchanges.[15] In the 1960s, there were up to 100 volunteers each year.[16] Bernie Sanders, who later became a U.S. Senator, worked at the kibbutz for several months in 1963.[17][18]

Economy

According to a 2016 report, the kibbutz derives most of its income from its solar water heater factory. It also makes money from agriculture, including dairy farming.[15] For over five decades, the kibbutz has produced and processed sunflower seeds which it markets under its name both in Israel and for export.[19] It also has a fish pond and orchards producing apples, peaches, and pears.[16]

References

  1. ↑ "List of localities, in Alphabetical order" (PDF). Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  2. ↑ Segal, Arthur; Młynarczyk, Jolanta; Burdajewicz, Mariusz; Bar-Oz, Guy (2009). Excavations of the Hellenistic site in Kibbutz Sha'ar-Ha'Amakim. Haifa: Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa. ISBN 9789659041879.
  3. ↑ Barag, 1979, p. 204
  4. ↑ ”the ploughed land”, Palmer, 1881, p. 109
  5. ↑ Karmon, 1960, p. 163
  6. 1 2 Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 270
  7. ↑ Guérin, 1880, pp. 399-400
  8. ↑ List of villages sold by Sursocks and their partners to the Zionists since British occupation of Palestine Evidence to the Shaw Commission, 1930
  9. 1 2 Avneri, 1984, pp. 156-7
  10. ↑ 26 February 1935, House of Commons
  11. ↑ Bernie Sanders Stint at 'Stalinist' Kibbutz Draws Red-Baiting From Right, Nathan Guttman, February 5, 2016 The Forward
  12. 1 2 Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 15
  13. 1 2 Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 49
  14. ↑ History Sha'ar HaAmakim Seeds
  15. 1 2 Erlanger, Steven (February 5, 2016). "Bernie Sanders's Kibbutz Found. Surprise: It's Socialist.". The New York Times. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
  16. 1 2 Sales, Ben (February 8, 2016). "50 years on, Bernie Sanders still champions values of his Israeli kibbutz". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  17. ↑ Aderet, Ofer (4 February 2016). "Mystery Solved? Haaretz Archive Reveals Which Kibbutz Bernie Sanders Volunteered On". Haaretz. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  18. ↑ Sales, Ben (February 8, 2016). "50 years on, Bernie Sanders still champions values of his Israeli kibbutz". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  19. ↑ "Shaar Haamakim Seeds". Sha'ar Ha'amakim Seeds, Ltd. Retrieved February 6, 2016.

Bibliography

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