Kfar Etzion

Kfar Etzion
Hebrew	כְּפַר עֶצְיוֹן
Founded	1927 (original) 1934 (first re-establishment) 1943 (second re-establishment) 1967 (third re-establishment)
Founded by	Yemenite immigrants
Region	West Bank
Affiliation	Religious Kibbutz Movement
Coordinates	31°38′56.4″N 35°6′55.44″E / 31.649°N 35.1154°E / 31.649; 35.1154Coordinates: 31°38′56.4″N 35°6′55.44″E / 31.649°N 35.1154°E / 31.649; 35.1154
Kfar Etzion
Website	www.kfar-etzion.co.il

Kfar Etzion (Hebrew: כְּפַר עֶצְיוֹן‎‎, lit. Etzion Village) is a religious Israeli settlement and kibbutz located in the Judean Hills between Jerusalem and Hebron in the southern West Bank. It has a population of 400 and falls under the jurisdiction of Gush Etzion Regional Council. ^[1] The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.^[2]

History

Migdal Eder

In January 1927, the Zikhron David society, a group of 160 Orthodox Jews from the Mea Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem, established a small farming community, "Migdal Eder," on land south of Jerusalem. ^[3] The name was taken from a verse in the Bible, Genesis 35:21. During the 1929 Palestine riots, Migdal Eder was attacked and destroyed. Residents of the neighboring Arab village of Beit Umar sheltered the farmers, but they could not return to their land.^[4]

Kfar Etzion

In the early 1930s, the land was purchased by Shmuel Yosef Holtzman, who renamed the settlement "Kfar Etzion," a play on his own name: In German “holtz” means “wood”, which translates to “etz” in Hebrew). The Jews were forced to leave again in the wake of the 1936 Arab uprising. Much of what Holtzman and his comrades had built was demolished by the Arabs.^[4]

Kfar Etzion, 1947

In 1943-1947, the kibbutz movement sent out groups of settlers to establish four kibbutzim, creating what became known as the Etzion bloc. Kfar Etzion, Ein Tzurim, Massu'ot Yitzhak and Revadim were destroyed in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and the entire area came under Jordanian rule.^[4]

The kibbutzim held off the attacks for ten days until Kfar Etzion fell. In the Kfar Etzion massacre on May 14, all but four of the inhabitants were executed by Arab Legion and irregular forces. The other three kibbutzim surrendered. The inhabitants there were taken as prisoners of war and released nine months later.^[5]

In 1967 Israel occupied the West Bank in the Six-Day War. The Israeli cabinet decided to re-establish the settlement of Kfar Etzion despite receiving legal advice that establishing such settlements in occupied territory would be illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention^[6] Today Kfar Etzion houses a museum and archive documenting the history of Gush Etzion.

References

1. ^ "Gush Etzion". Gush Etzion. http://www.gush-etzion.org.il/communities.asp. Retrieved 2011-08-24. 
2. ^ "The Geneva Convention". BBC News. 10 December 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1682640.stm. Retrieved 27 November 2010. 
3. ^ Jerusalem and its environs: quarters, neighborhoods, villages, 1800-1948, Ruth Kark, Michal Oren-Nordheim
4. ^ ^{a b c} Settlements in Focus: Gush Etzion
5. ^ Moshe Dayan, 'The Story of My Life'. ISBN 0-688-03076-9. Page 130. Describes negotiations with Abdulla el-Tel about the release of 670 Israelis in the "Jordan POW camp at Mafrak." He states that 320 of them were from the Etzion bloc, including 85 women.
6. ^ Secret Memo

Further reading

• Between Jerusalem and Hebron: Jewish Settlement in the Pre-State Period, Yossi Katz

External links

• Official website (Hebrew)