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]
History
Givat Shemesh is located on the land of the depopulated Arab village of Dayr Rafat, just west of the village site.[2] Depopulation was caused mainly by migration from the war zone in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, both voluntary and involuntary by Jewish armed forces in order to save lives.[3] 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.[4]
The Retorno rehabilitation centre was established in 1989 in Mexico by Rabbi Eitan Eckstein, and later opened in Israel. The centre has elements of Judaism in and around the therapy program and religious practice is the general lifestyle in the centre.[5]
References
- ↑ Population by settlement Central Bureau of Statistics
- ↑ Walid Khalidi (1992) All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948 Institute for Palestine Studies p287 ISBN 0-88728-224-5
- ↑ Jewish frontier, Volume 24, p24. Labor Zionist Letters, Inc., 1957
- ↑ Benny Morris (2004) The birth of the Palestinian refugee problem revisited, Cambridge University Press, p436 ISBN 9780521009676
- ↑ Facilities Retorno