Misgav Am () is a
kibbutz
A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...
in the
Upper Galilee in northern
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
. Located close to the border with
Lebanon
Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
, facing the Lebanese town of
Odaisseh, and near the Israeli town of
Kiryat Shmona, it falls under the jurisdiction of
Upper Galilee Regional Council. In it had a population of .
Misgav Am is above sea level and overlooks on one side the
Hula Valley and on the other side the neighboring Lebanese village of
Odaisseh.
History
The kibbutz was founded on 2 November 1945, the anniversary of the
Balfour Declaration, by young
Palmach members.
[About Misgav Am]
Misgav Am Misgav Am was one of seven Palmach posts established on the eastern fringe of the Galilee. It was located at the northern part of the now depopulated
Palestinian village of
Hunin.
The founders were members of
Hanoar Haoved from the suburbs of
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
. They were later joined by
new immigrants from Turkey and Bulgaria.
In the late 1970s, the population increased as new immigrants moved there from Europe, the United States and South America.
[
On 7 April 1980, five armed men from the ]Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
i-backed Arab Liberation Front penetrated Misgav Am in the night and entered the nursery. They killed the kibbutz secretary and an infant boy and held the rest of the children hostage, demanding the release of about 50 captives held in Israeli prisons. The first raid of an IDF infantry unit was unsuccessful, but a second attempt, a few hours later, succeeded, and all the armed group were killed. Two kibbutz members and one soldier were killed, four children and 11 soldiers were wounded.
Immediately after the attack, Israeli troops entered southern Lebanon to wipe out terrorist nests and to intensify the pressure on the Palestinian terrorists in Lebanon. Israel withdrew after five days, because of heavy political pressure by the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, and the losses due to years of fighting with the differents lebanse factions. In the years of the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon
The Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon lasted for eighteen years, from 1982 until 2000. In June 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon in response to attacks from southern Lebanon by Palestinian militants. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) occupied the ...
(1982–2000), the kibbutz had cordial relations with the people on the other side of the border, despite the state of war between Lebanon and Israel since 1948.
During the Second Lebanon war in 2006, several thousands of IDF troops were deployed around Misgav Am, which brought heavy logistical problems regarding food, water and sanitary facilities.
2023 war
During the Gaza war
The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...
, northern Israeli border communities, including Misgav Am, faced targeted attacks by Hezbollah and Palestinian factions based in Lebanon
Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
, and were evacuated.
2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon
On 30 September 2024, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) launched a limited ground invasion into Southern Lebanon. On that same day, the IDF declared that Misgav Am became a closed military area.
Education
The kibbutz offers an education system beginning age three and ending after high school. There is a daycare center for babies, another for infants and also a kindergarten. Elementary school is at kibbutz Kfar Giladi. Junior and senior high school is located at kibbutz Dafna.
With the new policy of a longer schooling day, children receive various enrichment classes in the region: dance and music at Kfar Blum, ice-skating at Canada centre of Metula, and karate at Ramot Naftali.
Kibbutz life
Around 90 of the 300 people living in Misgav Am are members. Many residents study in the nearby Academic College of Tel Hai. The kibbutz residents celebrate some of the Jewish and national holidays together, which is kind of a kibbutz tradition: Lag Ba'omer, Independence Day
An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...
, Hanukkah
Hanukkah (, ; ''Ḥănukkā'' ) is a Jewish holidays, Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd ce ...
, Tu Bishvat
Tu BiShvat () is a Jewish holiday occurring on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shevat. It is also called ''Rosh HaShanah La'Ilanot'' (), literally " New Year to the Trees". In contemporary Israel, the day is celebrated as an ecological awa ...
and Shavuot
(, from ), or (, in some Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi usage), is a Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday, one of the biblically ordained Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan; in the 21st century, it may ...
.
The kibbutz has a covered swimming pool, a library, a mini-market and sports courts. Besides a 24-hour Magen David Adom
The Magen David Adom (, abbr. MDA, pronounced ''MAH-dah'' per its Hebrew acronym, ) is Israel's national emergency medicine, emergency medical, Emergency management, disaster, ambulance and blood bank service. The literal meaning of the name is ...
emergency station, there is also a health clinic which belongs to Clalit Health Services
Clalit, (, General Health Services; previously – , General Sick Fund), is the largest of Israel's four state-mandated health service organizations, charged with administering health care services and funding for its members. (All Israeli citize ...
.
Economy
The kibbutz factory, Sion Texo Medic Ltd., produces bandages and wound dressings.
Gallery
File:משגב עם (עודיסה) - קבוצת נוער מיון, שנמצאת בתל חי עולה למשגב עם-JNF027310.jpeg, First residents 1945
File:Misgav-Am.jpg, Kibbutz Misgave-Am (c. 1948)
File:Misgav Am ii.jpg, Yiftach Brigade
The 11th Brigade (also known as the Yiftach Brigade) is a reserves unit in the Israel Defense Forces, composed mainly of fighters that completed their compulsory service in the Egoz Unit, Unit 621 – 'Egoz'.
History
In the 1948 Arab–Israeli ...
carrying out construction work at Misgav Am (1948)
File:Mishgav Am.jpg, Winter 1948
File:Misgav Am iii.jpg, Laundry (1948)
File:Misgav Am iv.jpg, Repairing dining hall roof after storm damage (1948)
References
External links
Official website
Educational tours and visitors center
(official website)
{{Authority control
Kibbutzim
Populated places established in 1945
Populated places in Northern District (Israel)
1945 establishments in Mandatory Palestine