“From Vote to Declaration” was the title of the seventh Annual Be’erot BaNegev Conference at Kibbutz Alumim, supported by KKL-JNF. “From Vote to Declaration” refers to the six fateful months from the UN vote for the partition of Palestine on November 29, 1947 to the declaration of Independence on May 14, 1948. This theme was chosen for the 2018 conference to mark the 70th anniversary of the State of Israel, which takes place this year. Some 450 people attended, including academics, history buffs and interested members of the public.
The conference opened with a series of blessings from representatives of the organizations that fund and support the annual event. These were
Ami Uliel, KKL-JNF Director of the Southern Region,
Amitai Porat, Secretary General of the Religious Kibbutz Movement;
Tamir Idan, Head of the Sdot Negev Regional Council;
Omri Shulman, Director General of the Council for the Protection of Heritage Sites;
Nir Meir, Secretary General of the Kibbutz Movement, and the Secretary of Kibbutz Alumim,
Gilad Fischbein.
In his address, the Rabbi of Kibbutz Alumim, Rabbi Dr.
Amit Kula, told the audience that there is a dire need in Israeli society today to “relate more to the factors that unite the public, rather than those that divide.”
The organizer of the Beerot BaNegev Conference,
Jeremy Maissel, who has been a member of Kibbutz Alumim since 1984, explained how the event came about.
“Kibbutz Alumim was founded in 1966, and built on the very same land that Kibbutz Be’erot Yitzhak was situated until 1948 when it was destroyed in a heroic battle with the Egyptian army. The Egyptian forces were finally defeated; however, the victory claimed a heavy toll on the defenders. Every building in the kibbutz was destroyed apart from the water tower, and a large percentage of the fighters were either killed or wounded. The survivors, including the widows and children of the deceased, decided to stay together and rebuild their Kibbutz in the center of the country near Lod. We, the members of Kibbutz Alumim, have taken upon ourselves to continue the tradition of the historic Kibbutz Beer Yitzhak and its brave fighters, and to tell their story for generations to come. This is the primary mandate of the Be’erot BaNegev Heritage and Educational Center on Kibbutz Alumim, and the annual Be’erot BaNegev Seminar.”
KKL-JNF Director of the Southern Region,
Ami Uliel, spoke about the importance of historical research and protection of historical sites, alongside the conservation of nature. He said that KK-JNF invests heavily to promote all these values. He also drew attention to the festival that was taking place just outside the perimeter of Kibbutz Alumim, in nature.
“In the fields and forests of the entire Northern Negev, carpets of scarlet red anemones are blooming. To celebrate this happening, which takes place every year for several weeks after the rainy season, KKL-JNF holds the
Darom Adom (Scarlet South) Festival. Thousands of visitors arrive daily to see this natural wonder and to take part in wildflower walks, musical performances, and varied activities for the whole family. Coincidently, this conference takes place every year on the day that Beerot Yitzhak was founded in 1943, which always falls during the period when the anemones are blooming.”
The first conference session, entitled “The UN Vote and its Results”, was chaired by historian Dr. Nachum Baruchi, who is a member of Kibbutz Beerot Yitzhak.
It began with a film portraying the UN vote, showing how the vote outcome evoked much joy tinted with apprehension for the Jews, and fury for the Arabs. The film set the tone for the remainder of the session.
Historian and author Dr. Zeev Zivan spoke about his research on ‘The War on the Roads” that took place during the War of Independence. The fledgling Israeli army needed to convey supplies to outlying areas, such as the Negev, with its tiny fleet of trucks and private cars. He explained some of the methods used to get past hostile Arab villages along the way.
Historian Dr.Tzvi Tzameret, a senior lecturer at IDC Herzliya, spoke about the Jewish refugees from Muslem countries who arrived during and after the proclamation of the State.
“After the UN vote, the safety and living conditions for Jews in certain Arab countries such as Libya and Syria deteriorated drastically, and they were forced to flee. They arrived in Israel as refugees, as did the Jews from Europe. The number of Jewish refugees that arrived in the new State of Israel was not less than the number of Palestinians that fled during the war of independence. There is no doubt whatsoever that those Jews were refugees too.”
Nechemia Rappel, former Secretary General of the Religious Kibbutz Movement, chaired the second session titled “The War until the Declaration of Independence”. It began with a panel of 6 members of the Religious Kibbutz Movement who discussed what life was like for children in the kibbutz at that time.
Yizraella, a participant from Kibbutz Tirat Tzvi, who was in second grade in 1948, said that the fact that they slept in a special children’s home on the kibbutz was a source of security for them. “Designated people were assigned to take care of our needs all the time, while our parents were fighting in the war. We at least had a sense of home throughout that period.”
Another testimony was provided by former Palmach member Mickey Cohen, who recalled his memories as a fighter in the elite commando force of the Haganah, the underground Jewish army, during the period of the British Mandate for Palestine.
The last speaker was Itzik Dror, an educator who described his historical research into that period. He showed copies of documents and other elements that he had collected. One of the events he recounted was the Italian air force attack on Tel Aviv in 1941, which caused the death of over 130 people, and the wounding of many others. “This was probably the worst attack in Tel Aviv in the last 100 years and interestingly, it is not mentioned much.”
The afternoon was devoted to tours around the area. One of the trips was to see the fields of wild scarlet red anemones that Ami Uliel had spoken about in the morning. Rafi Babian from Kibbutz Alumim, who is the security officer for the Sdot Negev Regional Council, was the guide on that walking tour. He took the participants to a nearby field with an ancient well in the center that had been named “Marva’s Well”. Marva was Babian’s late daughter who passed away in 2014 from a serious illness. Babian said that the well, and the anemone festival every year, help keep his daughter’s memory alive. At one point, he picked a wild garlic plant and handed out pieces of it to the participants to taste. The walk through the anemone-blanketed fields together with Babian’s personal stories about the area, himself, and his family, was a moving experience for everyone. The outdoor excursion was a fine ending to the morning’s conference about this special and strategically important region.