Sde Nehemia ( he, שְׂדֵה נְחֶמְיָה, ''lit.'' Nehemia's Field) (Sde Nehemya) is a
kibbutz in northern
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. Located in the
Upper Galilee
The Upper Galilee ( he, הגליל העליון, ''HaGalil Ha'Elyon''; ar, الجليل الأعلى, ''Al Jaleel Al A'alaa'') is a geographical-political term in use since the end of the Second Temple period. It originally referred to a mounta ...
, it falls under the jurisdiction of
Upper Galilee Regional Council
The Upper Galilee Regional Council ( he, מוֹעָצָה אֲזוֹרִית הַגָּלִיל הַעֶלְיוֹן, translit. ''Mo'atza Azorit HaGalil HaElyon'') is a regional council in Israel's Upper Galilee region, bordered by the Mevo'ot HaH ...
. In it had a population of .
The
Banias
Banias or Banyas ( ar, بانياس الحولة; he, בניאס, label=Modern Hebrew; Judeo-Aramaic, Medieval Hebrew: פמייס, etc.; grc, Πανεάς) is a site in the Golan Heights near a natural spring, once associated with the Greek g ...
and
Hasbani River
The Hasbani River ( ar, الحاصباني / ALA-LC: ''al-Ḥāṣbānī''; he, חצבני ''Ḥatzbaní'') or Snir Stream ( he, נחל שניר / ''Nahal Sənir''), is the major tributary of the Jordan River. Local natives in the mid-19th cent ...
s converge on the grounds of the kibbutz.
History
Sde Nehemia was founded on 19 December 1940 by
immigrants
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...
from
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
and
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
, on land bought from the
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
village of
al-Dawwara. It was originally known as Kvutzat Huliot, but later renamed after Nehemia de Lieme, a Dutch banker and Zionist activist who served as head of the
Jewish National Fund.
In the early days of the kibbutz, the pioneers lived in tents in the midst of malaria-infested swampland. One of them, Yehuda Abas, a physician, distributed anti-malarial pills free of charge to the local Arab population but discovered they were being cut into four and sold for large sums of money to Arabs from Syria and Lebanon. Abas's solution was to introduce injections.
Rafael Reiss from Sde Nehemia was one of seven parachutists sent into Nazi-occupied Europe in 1944. He was captured by the Nazis and executed on 20 November 1944.
In May, 1948, the kibbutz requested, "somewhat shamefacedly", 1,700 dunams of land from the newly
depopulated 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-'Abisiyya.
Differential salaries were implemented in 2003, ending the kibbutz tradition of economic equality.
File:שדה נחמיה - מראה-JNF027671.jpeg, Sde Nehemia 1944
File:שדה נחמיה - מראה-JNF027673.jpeg, Sde Nehemia 1944
File:שדה נחמיה - מראה.-JNF036632.jpeg, Sde Nehemia 1945
File:KIBBUTZ SDE NEHEMIA. קיבוץ שדה נחמיה בגליל העליון.D833-092.jpg, Sde Nehemia, 1946
Economy
Located in the fertile
Hula Valley
The Hula Valley ( he, עמק החולה, translit. ''Emek Ha-Ḥula''; also transliterated as Huleh Valley, ar, سهل الحولة) is an agricultural region in northern Israel with abundant fresh water, which used to be Lake Hula, prior to ...
between the
Golan Heights
The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...
and
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
, agriculture is a significant source of income. The kibbutz also owns a plastics factory, Huliot, a leading manufacturer of pipe systems and plastic products. Huliot specializes in flow products for water supply, drainage, sewage and
greywater
Greywater (or grey water, sullage, also spelled gray water in the United States) refers to domestic wastewater generated in households or office buildings from streams without fecal contamination, i.e., all streams except for the wastewater fro ...
recycling which it sells on the local and global markets. The factory was established in 1947.
Made in Israel Portal
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References
External links
Facebook page for former volunteers
{{Upper Galilee Regional Council
Kibbutzim
Kibbutz Movement
Upper Galilee Regional Council
Populated places established in 1940
Populated places in Northern District (Israel)
1940 establishments in Mandatory Palestine
Austrian-Jewish culture in Israel
Czech-Jewish culture in Israel
Dutch-Jewish culture in Israel
Slovak-Jewish culture in Israel