Dafna
Dafna | |
|---|---|
| Country | Israel |
| Region | Upper Galilee Regional Council |
| Affiliation | Kibbutz Movement |
| Founded | 3 May 1939 |
| Founded by | HaShomer |
| Website | www.dafna.org.il |
Dafna (Hebrew: דפנה) is a kibbutz in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 7 km east of Kiryat Shmona. It was founded on 3 May 1939, after the tower and stockade principle, it was the first tower and stockade settlement in the northern Hula Valley. Dan and Dafna are known as "the Ussishkin Fortresses".
Three streams of the Dan river surround the evergreen landscape.
Education
The junior and senior regional high school is located at kibbutz Dafna.
Economy
Dafna Industries was founded 1964 and is today one of the leading footwear exporters of Israel. Its products are exported to Europe, North and South America.
But also agriculture is important. The apple, avocado and grapefruit orchards, as well as the cotton fields, the cows and the fish ponds bring revenues to the kibbutz.
The country lodging "Ganei Dafna" (Garden of Dafna) offers tourists some recreational moments.
History
The helicopters disaster: on February 4, 1997, at approximately 19:00, two "Yasur" Sikorsky CH 53 helicopters carrying 73 soldiers and loaded with ammunition collided in mid-air over She'ar Yishuv. One of the helicopters smashed into an open field near the cemetery of Kibbutz Dafna.[1]
It is believed that this accident increased the pressure on the IDF to withdraw its forces from Lebanon, finally done in May 2000.[2]
Today a monument in Kibbutz Dafna commemorates the 73 killed soldiers.[3] The monument is in the shape of a huge tree whose leaves symbolize the names of those killed in the disaster.
References
- ^ Al menos 73 soldados israelíes mueren al colisionar dos helicópteros militares en el aire El Mundo, 5 February 1997 Template:Es icon
- ^ The movement that shaped the Lebanon pullout Jerusalem Post, 8 June 2000 (republished on Women and Mothers for Peace)
- ^ Gaydamak to help fund monument to victims of helicopter disaster Haaretz, 7 March 2007