Tower and stockade

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Nir David – Tower and Stockade (1946)
Kibbutz Hanita – Tower and Stockade (1938)
Recreation of Tower and Stockade in Kibbutz Negba

Tower and stockade (Hebrew: חומה ומגדל‎, Homa UMigdal, lit. Wall and tower) was a settlement method used by Zionist settlers in the British Mandate of Palestine during the 1936–39 Arab revolt, when the establishment of new Jewish settlements was restricted by the Mandatory authorities. During the course of the Tower and stockade campaign, 52 new Jewish settlements were established throughout the country.

The motivation was to have as much Jewish-owned land as possible populated by Jews, particularly in remote areas, by establishing "facts on the ground." These settlements would eventually be transformed into fortified agricultural settlements, and served for security purposed (as defenses against Arab raiders) as well as creating continuous Jewish-populated regions, which would later help determine the borders of the Partition Plan.

All of the major settlement groups (mostly kibbutzim and moshavim) took part in the campaign, which consisted of assembling a guard tower with a fence around it. While many of these settlements were not approved by the Mandate, existing settlements were not dismantled according to the law at the time. Therefore, the construction of the Tower and Stockade settlements had to be finished very quickly, usually in the course of a single night.[1]

[edit] List of Tower and stockade settlements (by order of establishment)

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ilana, Shamir; Dr. Shlomo Shavit (1987). The Young Reader’s Guide to Jewish History. Viking Kestrel. p. 79. ISBN 0-670-81738-4. 
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