Jewish residents of Karkur nicknamed their settlement a ‘colony of love’ because many English-speaking women fraternised with the British soldiers, under the auspices of the local Jewish Hospitality Committee." According to Marom, "Jewish workers socialised with British troops at nearby coffeehouses like Teacher’s Garden Café and other public institutions in Karkur. ĭuring World War II, residents worked in Ein Shemer Airfield, operated by the British Royal Air Force as RAF Ein Shemer. By 1931, Karkur has grown to 189 houses, with an overwhelming Muslim majority (282 Jews and 564 Muslims) yet by 1945, all Muslims had left, and its population was recorded as 2380, all Jews. Īccording to a census conducted in 1922 by the British Mandate authorities, Karkur had a population of 38 inhabitants, consisting of 35 Jews and 3 Muslims. Eventually the Jewish National Fund and the London Ahuza society joined forces to establish Karkur. The London Ahuza society hoped to settle English Jews on the land, but succeeded only partially. Shlezinger went bankrupt and sold his land to the Jewish National Fund. Until actual settlement began, the area was guarded by Hashomer, which planted eucalyptus trees to circumvent a Turkish law that allowed the Ottomans to expropriate lands if they were not cultivated for three years. This land became the core of Karkur, Moshav Gan Hashomron and Kibbutz Ein Shemer. Two years later, the land was sold to a private investor, Yitzhak Shlezinger, the Odessa Committee and the First London Ahuza society. In 1913, 15 square kilometers of land was purchased by the Hachsharat Hayishuv society from Arabs in Jenin and Haifa for 400,000 francs (a sum equivalent to 2 million US dollars). An Arab village named Kerkur had stood at this location by the time the Palestine Exploration Fund had compiled its first maps in 1878.
0 kommentar(er)
