Hatzor (), officially Hatzor Ashdod, 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 southern

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 near Ashdod, it falls under the jurisdiction of Be'er Tuvia Regional Council. In it had a population of .

Etymology

The kibbutz is named after a biblical city in the territory of the

Tribe of Judah According to the Hebrew Bible, the tribe of Judah (, ''Shevet Yehudah'') was one of the twelve Tribes of Israel, named after Judah (son of Jacob), Judah, the son of Jacob. Judah was one of the tribes to take its place in Canaan, occupying it ...

called Hatzor (Joshua 15:23). The extended name ''Hatzor Ashdod'' is to distinguish between this kibbutz and the Galilean town of Hatzor HaGlilit, although the kibbutz is best known as simply "''Hatzor''".Carta's Official Guide to Israel and Complete Gazetteer to all Sites in the Holy Land. (3rd edition 1993) Jerusalem, Carta, p.193, (English)

History

Before the establishment of the kibbutz

The gar'in of the kibbutz was founded by a group of Hashomer Hatzair graduates from

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

who gathered at Mishmar HaEmek in 1936. It was named ''Kibbutz Eretz Israeli Gimel'' (Gimel is the third letter of the Hebrew Alphabet). In 1937, the members left Mishmar HaEmek and moved to Rishon LeZion and settled in a camp used by another gar'in that left to establish the kibbutz of Sha'ar HaGolan. At Rishon LeZion, the members were occupied in manual work at orchards, factories, and road paving (for the Solel Boneh company) and established a carpentry shop and a Laundrette. In 1938, some members were sent for agricultural training in Beit Gan. In 1941, the gari'n absorbed a group of pioneers from

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, graduates of Hashomer Hatzair and in the years 1945 and 1946, two groups from 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

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, graduates of the movement as well. On 13 May 1943, a group of the gar'in members founded Gvulot, one of the three lookouts, the first

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish settlements in the Negev. The members settled in Gvulot for three years where they worked the lands of the Jewish National Fund and asked to remain there as a permanent settlement. In 1946, Jewish establishments decided to give the land to members of kibbutz Nirim and in return the members of ''Kibbutz Eretz Israeli Gimel'' were given lands near Yasur.

After the establishment of the kibbutz

On 17 June 1946, some of the members arrived at the point and established the kibbutz, which is when they renamed themselves "Hatzor". The location chosen for the kibbutz was a barren hill, with four

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

villages surrounding it and a British airbase. Initially, the residents lived in tents and built two sheds used as a dining room and a barrack. In January 1947, the residents began building permanent buildings, and the rest of the members of the gar'in gradually arrived at the kibbutz from Rishon LeZion until all of them arrived in November 1947. 1948 war July 16-17 1948

During the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine, transportation was limited and was only carried out with armored vehicles, and fieldwork was done under guards. Following the Israeli Declaration of Independence on 14 May 1948, the army of Egypt invaded the former territory of Mandatory Palestine and advanced along the coastline until it reached Ad Halom bridge. From the end of May till October 1948, the kibbutz was near the front lines of the Egyptian Army and was repeatedly shelled by artillery fire. Many members of the kibbutz were recruited to the Israeli Defense Forces and participated in the Battles of Negba. The children, as well as livestock, were evacuated to Holon, while the members who stayed in the kibbutz hid in trenches and shelters. Following Operation Yoav in October, the Egyptians withdrew, and the kibbutz returned to routine life. The surrounding Arab villages were depopulated, and their residents became refugees in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

. Their land was confiscated by the state of Israel and part of it was leased to the kibbutz. In the 1950s, another group of Hashomer Hatzair members from

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and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

also joined the kibbutz. Like other kibbutzim founded by Hashomer Hatzair members, Hatzor was affiliated with the Kibbutz Artzi movement, which in the 1990s merged into the Kibbutz Movement. Since the 1990s, the Kibbutz has undergone changes towards privatization and abandoned many of its original collective habits. As a result, more than 100 new members were admitted within 7 years. A new neighborhood of 44 families, populated by those new members, was completed in the spring of 2014.

References

External links