{"id":121,"date":"2024-01-18T07:37:14","date_gmt":"2024-01-18T07:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/git.quatro.digital\/clients\/kkl\/?post_type=community&p=121"},"modified":"2024-02-08T10:04:36","modified_gmt":"2024-02-08T10:04:36","slug":"kibbutz-nirim","status":"publish","type":"community","link":"https:\/\/donate.kkl-jnf.org\/westernnegevtribute\/?community=kibbutz-nirim","title":{"rendered":"Nirim"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kibbutz<\/strong> Nirim (Hebrew for “Plowed Fields<\/em>“), was founded in 1946 by a small group of people from the “Nir” battalion of Hashomer Hatzair<\/strong>, who underwent agricultural training in Kibbutz Nir David, in Northern Israel.<\/p>\n

The Battle of Nirim is a testimony to the bravery of the kibbutz founders. On the morning of May 15, 1948, a mere fourteen hours after the declaration of the establishment of the State of Israel, Egyptian forces invaded the sovereign territory of Israel, and attempted to occupy Kibbutz Nirim. At that time there were 42 people in Nirim (30 men and 12 women) with 14 guns, 4 Sten automatic rifles and one machine gun. The defenders were well-trained and conditioned, even by\u00a0Palmach<\/strong>\u00a0standards. That handful of defenders was attacked by an Egyptian infantry battalion of about a thousand fighters, a platoon of six armored personnel carriers, a platoon of 3 mortars (six barrels) and a platoon of heavy machine guns, and about twenty caterpillars carrying automatic weapons. The attackers were also assisted by an artillery battalion and tanks. The defenders drew their weapons, and when the attackers reached a distance of 150 meters they opened accurate fire. The Egyptian soldiers stopped when they noticed on the fences of the kibbutz signs written in English: “Caution! Mines!”<\/p>\n

The Egyptians retreated, with 35 causalities, while the attack left seven members of Nirim dead and six wounded. The next day the Egyptians continued to shell the kibbutz but did not attack it. Nirim’s endurance in the campaign was considered a miracle, and in the Israeli press the assessment was that the failure of the attack on Nirim caused the Egyptians to refrain from trying to conquer the northern Negev, and instead advance directly on the road through Gaza towards Ashdod.\u00a0 Except for the security house, all the buildings of Nirim were destroyed. From the dining room, a single wall remained with a slogan on it, which was hung during the May Day celebrations and has since been a symbol for all fighters: “Not the tank will prevail, but the man”.<\/p>\n

Until recent tragic events, the kibbutz had about 500 residents, who lived there and enjoyed a rich community life and a green and flourishing environment. In recent years, the kibbutz had been undergoing a process of changing lifestyles, and moving from a cooperative community to a community that maintains its social values of mutual caring and support in the ‘safety net’ model. The main goal of the change process: to encourage demographic growth through the addition of new members, with the aim of continuing to maintain a thriving multi-generational community. The kibbutz economy relies mostly on agriculture, growing avocados and various greenhouse produce; it’s also home to one of the largest organic farms in Israel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kibbutz Nirim (Hebrew for “Plowed Fields“), was founded in 1946 by a small group of people from the “Nir” battalion of Hashomer Hatzair, who underwent agricultural training in Kibbutz Nir David, in Northern Israel. The Battle of Nirim is a testimony to the bravery of the kibbutz founders. On the morning of May 15, 1948, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/donate.kkl-jnf.org\/westernnegevtribute\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/community\/121"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/donate.kkl-jnf.org\/westernnegevtribute\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/community"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/donate.kkl-jnf.org\/westernnegevtribute\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/community"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/donate.kkl-jnf.org\/westernnegevtribute\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}