Tower-and-palisade settlement
The Tower and Palisade Settlement ( Hebrew חומה ומגדל Chomá uMigdál , 'wall and tower'; The English name Stockade and Tower is also in use ) is a fortified agricultural Jewish settlement in Palestine ; this type of settlement was typical of the time of the Arab uprising in the late 1930s.
Historical context
In the 1930s, during the British mandate in Palestine , tensions between the native Arabs and the Jewish population grew steadily as a result of aliyah (immigration). This situation became especially since the takeover of the Nazis in Germany in 1933. The Arab population opposed the immigration and other Jewish settlement in the country. It should also be prevented that further settlements are built on land already bought by the Jewish National Fund .
In this tense mood, the Arab uprising developed from a general strike in 1936 . Violent clashes broke out between the two population groups, and both sides were injured and killed. There were also attacks by armed Arab units on isolated agricultural Jewish settlements.
In order to increase the number of settlers in areas sparsely populated by Jews and to prevent the loss of controversial areas close to the border, the Jewish organizations decided to establish further settlements.
Features of the settlements
When establishing a settlement, the settlers had to expect Arab attacks from the start. Therefore, the settlements had to be built quickly and easy to defend from the start.
The solution lay in the prefabricated construction: All the required parts of the new location were prefabricated from wood. At the destination, the parts were put together by the settlers within a few hours. A double-walled wooden palisade with gravel filling and some huts and a prefabricated watchtower could be erected within a day. The built-up area comprised over 1 dunam (= 1000 square meters).
From the first night the new settlement could be defended well.
Spread of the settlements
What is noticeable is a significant accumulation of tower and palisade settlements in two north-south strips. Over 90% of the settlements are located in a 15 km wide strip along the Mediterranean coast or in the area of the Jordan Rift . There are 10 settlements in the area around Bet Shean alone; In the late 1930s, there was a high likelihood that this area would be slammed on the Arab side.
history
The first tower-and-palisade settlement was Tel Amal (= Nir David), which emerged in December 1936 a few kilometers west of Bet She'an . Within a short time, 57 such settlements were built based on the same building principle. The last tower-and-palisade settlement of this period was Amir in the Hule Plains , which was founded in October 1939. If you add other settlements that were built according to a similar principle in the years up to the founding of the state, there are over a hundred of these places. Although many of the settlements were attacked, the Jewish side managed to hold them. Many of the settlements are kibbutzim that still exist today.
A reconstruction of the Tel Amal settlement can be seen in the Gan HaSchloscha National Park .
table
| Surname | founding | comment |
|---|---|---|
| Kfar Hittim | December 7, 1936 | |
| Tel Amal | December 10, 1936 | Now called Nir David |
| Sde Nahum | January 5, 1937 | |
| Sha'ar HaGolan | January 31, 1937 | |
| Masada | January 31, 1937 | |
| Ginnossar | February 25, 1937 | |
| Bejit Josef | April 9, 1937 | |
| Mishmar HaShlosha | April 13, 1937 | |
| Tirat Tzvi | June 30, 1937 | |
| Bnei Brit | 4th July 1937 | It's now called Moledet |
| En haSchofet | July 5, 1937 | |
| A Gev | July 6, 1937 | |
| Maoz Haim | July 6, 1937 | |
| Kfar Menachem | July 27, 1937 | |
| Chafetz Chaim | August 15, 1937 | |
| Tzur Moshe | September 13, 1937 | |
| Usha | November 7, 1937 | |
| Chanita | March 21, 1938 | |
| Shavei Tzion | April 13, 1938 | |
| South Warburg | May 17, 1938 | |
| Ramat Hadar | May 26, 1938 | |
| Alonim | June 26, 1938 | |
| Ma'ale HaHamisha | July 17, 1938 | |
| Tel Yitzhak | July 25, 1938 | |
| Beit Yehoshua | August 17, 1938 | |
| A HaMifratz | August 25, 1938 | |
| Ma'ayan Tzvi | August 30, 1938 | |
| Sharona | November 16, 1938 | |
| Geulim | November 17, 1938 | |
| Eilon | November 24, 1938 | |
| Neve Eitan | November 25, 1938 | |
| Kfar Ruppin | November 25, 1938 | |
| Kfar Masaryk | November 29, 1938 | |
| Mesilot | December 22, 1938 | |
| Dalja | May 2, 1939 | |
| Dafna | May 3, 1939 | |
| Dan | May 4, 1939 | |
| Sde Eliyahu | May 8, 1939 | |
| Mahanayim | May 23, 1939 | |
| Shadmot Dvora | May 23, 1939 | |
| Shorashim | May 23, 1939 | |
| Hazore'im | May 23, 1939 | |
| Tel Tzur | May 23, 1939 | |
| Kfar Glikson | May 23, 1939 | |
| Ma'apilim | May 23, 1939 | |
| Mishmar HaYam | May 28, 1939 | It's now called Afek |
| Hamadiyah | June 23, 1939 | |
| Kfar Nice | June 26, 1939 | |
| Negba | July 12, 1939 | |
| Gescher | August 13, 1939 | |
| Beit Oren | October 1, 1939 | |
| Amir | October 29, 1939 | |
| Kfar Szold | November 13, 1942 |
Web links
- About Stockade and Tower, Tel Amal (English)