Ein Zeitim ( he, עין זיתים, lit. ''Spring of Olives'') was an agricultural settlement about 2 km north of

Safed Safed (known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as Tzfat; Sephardi Hebrew, Sephardic Hebrew & Modern Hebrew: צְפַת ''Tsfat'', Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation, Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Tzfas'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Ṣǝp̄aṯ''; ar, صفد, ''Ṣafad''), i ...

first established in 1891.

History

Ein Zeitim was founded by members of the Dorshei Zion (Seekers of Zion) society, a

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

pioneer group from

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

. Despite strong opposition by the Turkish government, the settlers managed to establish farms with olive groves, orchards and dairy and poultry. Ein Zeitim was built 800m north of the Arab village

Ein al-Zeitun Ein al-Zeitun, also spelled Ein Zaytun, Ein ez-Zeitun, Ain al-Zaytun or Ain el-Zeitun, was a Palestinian Arab village, located north of Safed in the Upper Galilee. During the early Ottoman period, Ein el-Zeitun had a mixed population of Muslims ...

, which had commonly been called Ein Zeitim in Hebrew and had been a mixed Arab-Jewish village during the Middle Ages. In 1891 some speculators bought 430 hectares of land about 3 km north of Safed, and sold it to a party of laborers. Unable to work the land properly, the new owners transferred it to Baron de Rothschild, with whose assistance 750,000 vines and many fruit-trees were planted in the course of six or seven years, and during this time a number of houses were built. The population in 1898 was 51. The village was abandoned during the

first World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and only a handful of residents returned at the end of the war. The

1922 census of Palestine The 1922 census of Palestine was the first census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine, on 23 October 1922. The reported population was 757,182, including the military and persons of foreign nationality. The divisi ...

recorded a population of 37 inhabitants, consisting of 30 Jews and 7 Muslims. During the

1929 Palestine riots The 1929 Palestine riots, Buraq Uprising ( ar, ثورة البراق, ) or the Events of 1929 ( he, מאורעות תרפ"ט, , ''lit.'' Events of 5689 Anno Mundi), was a series of demonstrations and riots in late August 1929 in which a longst ...

, three residents were killed and the remainder left. Six Muslims and one Jew were recorded there in 1931, living in four houses. An attempt to revive the village in 1933 failed. In 1946 the village was reestablished after the

Jewish National Fund Jewish National Fund ( he, קֶרֶן קַיֶּימֶת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael'', previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Syria (later Mandatory Palestine, and subseq ...

acquired the land. It had a population of 100 in 1947, but by the end of 1951 the population had fallen to 40.Government of Israel, ''Government Year-book 5713 (1952), Supplement page VI. Eventually, it ceased to be populated and it became part of a military base.

References

External links

Ein Zeitim in history
{{Coord, 32, 59, 49.92, N, 35, 29, 9.25, E, source:hewiki_type:landmark_region:IL, display=title Former kibbutzim Populated places established in 1891 Jewish villages in the Ottoman Empire Jewish villages in Mandatory Palestine 1891 establishments in the Ottoman Empire 1929 Palestine riots

History

References

Further reading

External links