Na'aran ( he, נערן), formerly known as Niran () is an
Israeli settlement
Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...
organized as a
kibbutz
A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...
in the
West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
.
Located in
Area C of the
Jordan Valley
The Jordan Valley ( ar, غور الأردن, ''Ghor al-Urdun''; he, עֵמֶק הַיַרְדֵּן, ''Emek HaYarden'') forms part of the larger Jordan Rift Valley. Unlike most other river valleys, the term "Jordan Valley" often applies just to ...
near
Jericho
Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Gove ...
,
[Niran](_blank)
Bik'at HaYarden Regional Council it falls under the jurisdiction of
Bik'at HaYarden Regional Council
Bik'at HaYarden Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית בקעת הירדן, ''Mo'atza Azorit Bik'at HaYarden'', ''lit.'' Jordan Valley Regional Council), also Aravot HaYarden (''lit.'' Jordan Plains) is a regional council covering 21 Isr ...
. In it had a population of .
The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank
illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.
Etymology
The settlement was originally named Niran after the
biblical
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
city of
Naaran
Naaran (also Na'aran) ( he, נערן) is an ancient Jewish village dating to the 5th and 6th century CE, located in the modern-day West Bank. Remains of the village have been excavated north of Jericho, in Ephraim, between Bethel and Jericho. Naa ...
. In 2018 it was renamed Na'aran.
History
The settlement was established on 18 June 1971 under the name Niran as a
Nahal settlement
Nahal settlements ( he, היאחזות נח"ל, ''Heahzut Nahal'') were settlements established by Nahal soldiers in Israel and Israeli-occupied territories
Israeli-occupied territories are the lands that were captured and occupied by Isra ...
by the Nahal Command in collaboration with the Agricultural Settlement Department of the
Jewish Agency
The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. ...
on land prepared by 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 ...
.
According to
ARIJ, Israel confiscated 497
dunam
A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; tr, dönüm; he, דונם), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area equivalent to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amount ...
s of land from the
Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
village of
Al-Auja in order to construct the settlement. Niran began its existence as "a tented outpost of a few dozen persons."
The barren conditions required that soil be carried up from surrounding valleys to make agriculture viable.
During its time as a military outpost, it was used to prevent armed infiltration from
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
and as a disciplinary assignment for delinquent Israeli soldiers.
It was demilitarized and converted to a civilian kibbutz in 1977.
Culture
The kibbutz organizes workshops on
Zionism
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, 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 ...
,
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
and Israeli society. Some members of the kibbutz work in the date groves or at the local plastics factory, P.V.Ran, which manufactures packaging and wrappings for food products in compliance with international standards.
Archaeological findings
The ruins of a 6th-century
synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
were discovered in
Naaran
Naaran (also Na'aran) ( he, נערן) is an ancient Jewish village dating to the 5th and 6th century CE, located in the modern-day West Bank. Remains of the village have been excavated north of Jericho, in Ephraim, between Bethel and Jericho. Naa ...
, a short distance from the kibbutz.
The site contains an ancient mosaic and archeological treasures and attracts both worshippers and pilgrims.
[ In May 2012, the ancient synagogue was vandalized with graffiti that included swastikas and Palestinian flags.]
References
External links
Kibbutz website
{{Bik'at HaYarden Regional Council
Kibbutzim
Kibbutz Movement
Nahal settlements
Israeli settlements in the West Bank
Populated places established in 1971
1971 establishments in the Israeli Military Governorate