Barkan ( he, בַּרְקָן) is an Israeli settlement in the northern

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, about 8 km west of the

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

city of Salfit, under the administrative local government of the

Shomron Regional Council The Shomron Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית שומרון, ''Mo'atza Azorit Shomron'', English ''Samaria Regional Council'') is an Israeli regional council in the northern portion of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Thirty-five Is ...

. In its population was . The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.

History

Founded in June 1981 by secular Israelis from the Beitar and

Herut Herut ( he, חֵרוּת, ''Freedom'') was the major conservative nationalist political party in Israel from 1948 until its formal merger into Likud in 1988. It was an adherent of Revisionist Zionism. History Herut was founded by Menachem Be ...

movements, Barkan is part of a chain of settlements built along the Trans-Samaria Highway, and adjacent to the

Barkan Industrial Park The Barkan Industrial Park ( he, איזור התעשיה ברקן, lit. Barkan Industrial Area) is located about 25 kilometres east of Tel Aviv in the West Bank. Its offices are located at the northern entrance. The industrial park is located adj ...

. The park, established in 1982, has 120 businesses and factories manufacturing plastics, metal-work, food, textile, and more. Of the 5,000 workers, 90% are

Palestinian Arabs Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

. According to ARIJ, Israel confiscated land from two

villages in order to construct Barkan: 167 dunams from

Qarawat Bani Hassan Qarawat Bani Hassan ( ar, قراوة بني حسان) is a Palestinian town in the Salfit Governorate of the State of Palestine, located thirty kilometers southwest of Nablus and 8 kilometers northwest of Salfit in the northern West Bank. Accordi ...

,Qarawat Bani Hassan Town Profile
ARIJ, p. 17 and 353 dunams from Sarta. "Barkan" is called after the Hebrew name of the Syrian thistle. The original name of the town was Beit Abba after

Abba Ahimeir Abba Ahimeir ( he, אב"א אחימאיר, russian: Аба Шойл Гайсинович; 2 November 1897 – 6 June 1962) was a Russian-born Jewish journalist, historian, and political activist. One of the ideologues of Revisionist Zionism, ...

, a leader of the

Lehi Lehi (; he, לח"י – לוחמי חרות ישראל ''Lohamei Herut Israel – Lehi'', "Fighters for the Freedom of Israel – Lehi"), often known pejoratively as the Stern Gang,"This group was known to its friends as LEHI and to its enemie ...

Archaeology

archeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and ...

east of the town contains remnants of an

Israelite The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...

settlement during the time of the first and second

temples A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

References

External links

Menachem Brody's photos of Barkan
{{Shomron Regional Council Non-religious Israeli settlements Populated places established in 1981 1981 establishments in the Israeli Military Governorate Israeli settlements in the West Bank

History

Archaeology

See also

References

External links