Avivim

Avivim
Avivim
Coordinates: 33°5′21.2″N 35°28′19.43″E / 33.089222°N 35.4720639°ECoordinates: 33°5′21.2″N 35°28′19.43″E / 33.089222°N 35.4720639°E
Council Merom HaGalil
Region Upper Galilee
Affiliation Moshavim Movement
Population (2012) 481[1]
Avivim public library

Avivim (Hebrew: אֲבִיבִים), is an Israeli moshav in the far north of Israel, in the Upper Galilee. It is located less than one kilometre (3,000 feet) from the Blue Line with Lebanon, on Palestinian lands of the Shiite village Saliha, depopulated after a massacre carried out by Israeli forces.[2][3][4]

History

In 1920, Saliha was designated part of Lebanon under the auspices of the Franco-British Boundary Agreement. It was one of 24 villages transferred to British control in 1924 following the 1923 demarcation of the border between the British Mandate for Palestine and the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon.[5] It thus formed part of Palestine.

Under the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, Saliha was to be included in the proposed Arab state, while the boundary between it and the proposed Jewish state was to run north of the built-up area of the village. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Saliha was the site of a massacre carried out by Israeli forces shortly before the village was completely depopulated. The built structures in the village, with the exception of an elementary school for boys, were also destroyed. Israeli forces blew the village mosque, killing 60–94 people who were inside.[6]

Moshav Avivim was founded in 1958, abandoned, and then reestablished in 1963 by immigrants from North Africa, mostly Moroccan Jews.

Arab–Israeli conflict

The moshav's proximity to the Lebanese border has made it a target for terrorist attacks, most notably the Avivim school bus massacre. On May 8, 1970, terrorists from the Syrian-sponsored Saeka organization fired two bazooka shells[7] at the community school bus, killing nine children and three adults, and injuring 19 others.[8] In October 1970, guerrillas in Lebanon fired mortars at Avivim, triggering an alert along the Lebanese border.[9]

Avivim also suffered during the 2006 Lebanon War, and was subject to at least one infiltration attempt by Hezbollah. The moshav also came under fire from Hezbollah forces in the nearby village of Maroun al-Ras, across the border in Lebanon.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Locality File" (XLS). Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. 2012. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
  2. ↑ "The seven lost villages", Danny Rubenstein, Haaretz, 4 August 2006, at Independent Medi Review Analysis website. Original article at www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/746274.html.
  3. ↑ Morris, Benny. (2004) The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-00967-7
  4. ↑ The Seven Villages, Origins and Implications
  5. ↑ Asher Kaufman. Seven Shii Villages as a Case Study of Boundaries, Identifies and Conflict "Between Palestine and Lebanon: Seven Shi'i Villages as a Case Study of Boundaries, Identities, and Conflict". Middle East Journal 60 (4): 685–706.
  6. ↑ Benny Morris (2004). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press. p. 481.
  7. ↑ Moshav Avivim still stands determined during tensions
  8. ↑ Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: from Balfour Promise to Bush Declaration, Gabriel G. Tabarani
  9. ↑ Avivim Settlement under Mortar Fire From Terrorists in Lebanon
  10. ↑ Moshav Avivim still stands determined during tensions