- Beit Alfa
Infobox Kibbutz
name= Beit Alfa
caption=
imgsize=250
caption3=
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hebname=Hebrew|בֵּית אַלְפָא
arname=
foundation = 4 November 1922
founded_by =Hashomer Hatzair
district =Gilboa Regional Council
council = Menashe
industry = Agriculture
affiliation =Kibbutz Movement
website = [http://www.betalfa.org.il www.betalfa.org.il]
meaning=
founded=November 21, 1962
district=north
population=1100
popyear=
area_dunam=
mayor=
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latd=32 |latm=30 |lats=58 |latNS=N
longd=35 |longm=25 |longs=49 |longEW=E
website= Beit Alfa ( _he. בֵּית אַלְפָא) is akibbutz in the Northern District ofIsrael , near the Gilboa ridge. The kibbutz was founded in 1922 byHashomer Hatzair volunteers. In 1940 some of the members, affiliated with Hashomer Hatzair, moved toRamat Yohanan kibbutz, in exchange for supporters ofMapai from Ramat Yohanan. Itsdairy was the first Israeli dairy to use robotic milking technology.The Beit Alfa Synagogue National Park in the nearby kibbutz of
Heftziba , contains an ancient Byzantine-erasynagogue , with amosaic floor depicting the lunar Hebrew months as they correspond to the signs of thezodiac . [cite web| title=Beit Alfa Synagogue National Park (on Kibbutz Hefzibah)| url=http://www.parks.org.il/ParksENG/company_card.php3?NewNameMade=0&from=116&CNumber=334516| publisher=Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority| accessdate=2007-09-22]Controversy
Kibbutz Beit Alfa has been controversial because one of its main industries is riot control equipment that is sold to regimes that some accuse of abusing human rights. During the 1980s, Beit Alfa sold water cannon to the
apartheid regime inSouth Africa . [See "An Israeli Dilemma: S. African Ties; Moves to Cut Links Are Slowed by Economic Pressures, Sentiment," The Washington Post, 20 September 1987.] Officials from Beit Alfa have defended selling such weapons to human-rights abusing regimes, on the grounds that compared with live ammuniton, water cannon save the lives of demonstrators who otherwise might be shot dead with live ammunition. [ [http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0823-02.htm "Israeli Riot-Gear Sale Fuels Concern," Christian Science Monitor, 23 August 2001] ]References
External links
* [http://www.betalfa.org.il Official website] he icon
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