Givat Shemesh
| Givat Shemesh גבעת שמש | |
|---|---|
  Givat Shemesh | |
| Coordinates: 31°46′27.08″N 34°57′1.98″E / 31.7741889°N 34.9505500°ECoordinates: 31°46′27.08″N 34°57′1.98″E / 31.7741889°N 34.9505500°E | |
| District | Jerusalem |
| Council | Mateh Yehuda |
| Founded | 1954 |
| Population (2011) | 59 |
| Website | www.retorno.org |
Givat Shemesh (Hebrew: גִּבְעַת שֶׁמֶשׁ, lit. Sun Hill) is a village and drug rehabilitation centre in central Israel. Located near Beit Shemesh above kibbutz Tzora and run by the Retorno organisation. It falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In 2011 it had a population of 59.[1]
The rehabilitation center was first founded in 1989 in Mexico by Rabbi Eitan Eckstein, and later opened in Israel. Retorno is a Jewish center which has elements of Judaism in and around the therapy program. No one is forced to conform to religious practice, but it the general lifestyle in the center.[2]
History
Givat Shemesh is located on the land of the depopulated Palestinian Arab village of Dayr Rafat, just west of the village site.[3] Depopulation was caused mainly by migration from the war zone in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, both voluntary and unvoluntary by Jewish armed forces in order to save lives.[4] Dayr Rafat, along with four other villages, were overtaken by Israeli forces on 17-18 July 1948. The villages had been on the front line since April 1948 and most of the inhabitants had already left the area and the few who remained at each village were expelled.[5]
References
- ↑ Population by settlement Central Bureau of Statistics
- ↑ Facilities Retorno
- ↑ Khalidi, 1992, p.287
- ↑ Jewish frontier, Volume 24, p.24. Labor Zionist Letters, Inc., 1957
- ↑ Benny Morris, "The birth of the Palestinian refugee problem revisited", p.436. Cambridge University Press, 2004. ISBN 9780521009676