Givat Shemesh
| Givat Shemesh | |
| Founded | 1954 |
| Council | Mateh Yehuda |
| Region | Latrun |
| Coordinates | 31°46′27.08″N 34°57′1.98″E / 31.7741889°N 34.95055°ECoordinates: 31°46′27.08″N 34°57′1.98″E / 31.7741889°N 34.95055°E |
 Givat Shemesh
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| 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 2006 it had a population of 63.[citation needed]
The village was established in 1954[citation needed]. 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 Judaism practice, but it the general lifestyle in the center.[1]
[edit] Area history prior to 1948
Givat Shemesh is located on the land which formerly belonged to the Arab Palestinian village of Dayr Rafat (according to Khalidi[2]), just west of the village site. Dayr Rafat was depopulated during 1948 Arab–Israeli War.[3] Depopulation was caused mainly by migration from the war zone, both voluntary and unvoluntary by Jewish armed forces in order to save lives.[4] Some sources state that a handful of inhabitants in the area were expelled (without attribution to particular villages).[5]
[edit] References
- ^ Retorno.org (see "Facitilites")
- ^ Khalidi, 1992, p.287
- ^ 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
[edit] Bibliography
- Khalidi, Walid (1992), All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948, Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies, ISBN 0887282245
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