Sha'ar HaGolan

Infobox_Kibbutz
kibbutz_name = Sha'ar HaGolan
foundation = 21 March 1937
founded_by = Czechoslovakian and Polish Hashomer Hatzair members
region = Golan Heights
council = Emek HaYarden
industry = Agriculture, plastics, tourism
affiliation = Kibbutz Movement
website = [http://www.shaar-hagolan.co.il/ www.shaar-hagolan.co.il]

Sha'ar HaGolan ( _he. שער הגולן, "Gate of the Golan") is a kibbutz situated at the foot of the Golan Heights in the Jordan Valley area of north-eastern Israel. Located less than 1 km from the border with Jordan, it falls under the jurisdiction of Emek HaYarden Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 504.

History

Sha'ar HaGolan was founded on 21 March 1937 by members of the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement from Czechoslovakia and Poland. The founders met and were organized as a team in 1930 in Rishon LeZion and were called "Ein Hakore" until 1937, when they established the kibbutz as a tower and stockade settlement.

During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the kibbutz's defenders, and those of neighbouring kibbutz Masada, retreated due to lack of reinforcement and direction. The kibbutzim were captured and briefly held by the Syrian Army, during which time they were looted and burned down. Although the members soon returned, a stigma was attached to them, and vindication in the form of released military records only arrived in recent years. [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=703004 Zionist mythology destroys its children] Haaretz, 6 April 2006]

Economy

The main source of income is a plastics engineering factory. Other sources include agriculture like the raising of bananas, avocado, water melons, dairy cows, and tourism. Sha'ar HaGolan has a museum with pre-historic Neolithic findings uncovered on the banks of the Yarmuk River. [ [http://archaeology.huji.ac.il/golan/index.htm Archaeological Excavations at Sha`ar Hagolan - A Neolithic Art Center in the Jordan Valley, Israel] Hebrew University of Jerusalem]

References

External links

* [http://www.shaar-hagolan.co.il/ Official website]
* [http://www.elmulgolan.co.il/welcomeie.html El Mul Golan]
* [http://www.pexgol.com/ Golan Plastic Products]