View source for Kerem Shalom

{{Short description|Kibbutz in southern Israel}}
{{for|the nearby border crossing with [[Palestine]]'s [[Gaza Strip]]|Kerem Shalom border crossing}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Infobox Kibbutz
| name       = Kerem Shalom
| hebname    = {{Script/Hebrew|כֶּרֶם שָׁלוֹם}}
| arname     = {{lang|ar|كرم أبو سالم}}
| meaning    = Vineyard of Peace
| image = חדראוכלכרםשלום5845.JPG
| imgsize    = 250px
| caption    = Dining hall
| foundation = 1967 (original)<br />2001 (re-establishment)
| founded_by = {{nowrap|[[Hashomer Hatzair]] members}}
| district   = south
| council    = [[Eshkol Regional Council|Eshkol]]
| affiliation= [[Kibbutz Movement]]
| popyear    = {{Israel populations|Year}}
| population = {{Israel populations|Kerem Shalom}}
| population_footnotes= {{Israel populations|reference}}
| pushpin_map= Israel northwest negev#Israel
| pushpin_mapsize= 250
| coordinates= {{coord|31|13|40|N|34|17|05|E|display=inline,title}}
| website    = 
}}

'''Kerem Shalom''' ({{langx|he|כֶּרֶם שָׁלוֹם}}, "Vineyard of Peace") is a [[kibbutz]] in southern Israel. Located on the [[Tripoint|triple]]  [[Gaza Strip]]-[[Israel]]-[[Egypt]] border, it falls under the jurisdiction of [[Eshkol Regional Council]]. In {{Israel populations|Year}} it had a population of {{Israel populations|Kerem Shalom}}.{{Israel populations|reference}}

[[File:118549 kibbutz kerem shalom PikiWiki Israel.jpg|thumb|Sculpture in the kibbutz]]
[[File:Visit of Issac Herzog, President of Israel, at kibbuz Kerem Shalom planting trees (2).jpg|250px|thumb|right|Visit of [[Issac Herzog]], President of Israel, at kibbuz Kerem Shalom planting trees, August 2024]]

==History==
[[File:101622 kibbutz kerem shalom PikiWiki Israel.jpg|thumb|The dining hall under construction; architect [[Israel Goodovitch]], c. 1968]]

The kibbutz was established in 1967 by members of [[Hashomer Hatzair]], a [[socialist-Zionist]] [[youth movement]]. The name "Kerem Shalom" is Hebrew and translates to "Vineyard of Peace."<ref name="TimesofIsrael2023-KeremShalom">{{cite web |title=In a border kibbutz brushed by terror, an understated resilience |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-a-border-kibbutz-brushed-by-terror-an-understated-resilience-kerem-shalom/ |author=Jessica Steinberg |website=The Times of Israel |date=2023-11-17 |access-date=2025-04-06}}</ref>
The founders chose this name with the hope that the kibbutz would play a role in establishing peace and ending the [[Arab–Israeli conflict]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}

''Haaretz'' described it as "a small community with a communal-secular way of life, which marks holidays and holds culture evenings together and observes total mutual responsibility - in education, culture, health and its economy." According to Ilan Regev, the community manager, "the kibbutz, which was founded in 1967, fell apart in 1995, after members left, but in 2001, it was reestablished." In 2011, the kibbutz had 35 members and candidates (families and individuals), about 30 children and eight members of a youth movement on a year of service prior to serving in the IDF. Eight families joined the kibbutz after [[Operation Cast Lead]]. The kibbutz started a campaign in 2011 to attract new residents, called "Zionism 2011". Proximity to the Gaza Strip, being subjected to Palestinian mortar attacks and its association with the abduction of [[Gilad Shalit]], which happened close by, has resulted in the kibbutz struggling to increase its membership according to Regev. He described the kibbutz as "unique in the country in an area that in effect determines the borders of the state, the way it was at the start of Zionism, with an attempt to shape a just and egalitarian society." The Israeli government required the kibbutz to populate at least 40% of the 100 allocated residential slots within a specified time which, according to Regev, required 80 new members and candidates. The state can reduce the "means of production—land, water and the like" if its requirements are not met.<ref name=h20110531>{{cite news|title=Kibbutz Kerem Shalom looking for a few good Zionists willing to settle right next to the Gaza Strip|url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/kibbutz-kerem-shalom-looking-for-a-few-good-zionists-willing-to-settle-right-next-to-the-gaza-strip-1.365049|newspaper=Haaretz|date=31 May 2011|author=Yanir Yagna}}</ref>

In March 2006, the [[Avian influenza]] virus was identified in [[domestic turkey|turkey]] coops in Kerem Shalom.<ref>[https://www.jpost.com/israel/bird-flu-discovered-in-kibbutz-kerem-shalom Bird flu discovered in Kibbutz Kerem Shalom], ''Jerusalem Post'', March 31, 2006</ref>

In 2008, the kibbutz was bombarded by mortar shells in an attack described as the worst since the [[Israeli disengagement from Gaza]].  Although a mortar shell hit the electricity infrastructure, several families insisted on celebrating the [[Passover seder]] at the kibbutz dining hall.<ref>[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3533758,00.html Kerem Shalom residents vow not to leave] Ynetnews</ref>

The kibbutz was [[October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel|again attacked by Hamas in 2023]]. Its 10-person civil defense team engaged the attackers. At least 20 Hamas attackers and two members of the civil defense team were killed.<ref>[https://www.timesofisrael.com/young-dad-of-6-absorbed-blast-to-protect-family-in-attack-on-kibbutz-kerem-shalom/ Young dad of 6 absorbed blast to protect family in attack on Kerem Shalom]</ref> Over the following months, Israeli and Palestinian aid trucks have been attacked by Israeli right-wing rioters here in protest of the transfer of humanitarian aid .<ref>{{cite news |last= Borger |first= Julian |title= Supplies arrive in Gaza via new pier but land routes essential, says US aid chief |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date= 17 May 2024  |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/17/gaza-pier-aid-un-distribution}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Kerem Shalom border crossing]]
[[File:Secretary Blinken Tours Kerem Shalom (53691421302).jpg|thumb|US Foreign Secretary Blinken and Israeli defence minister Gallant tour humanitarian aid crossing into the Gaza Strip from Israel]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130927005051/http://eng.negev-net.org.il/HTMLs/article.aspx?C2004=12737 Kerem Shalom] Negev Information Centre
{{commons category|Kerem Shalom crossing}}

{{Eshkol Regional Council}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Kibbutzim]]
[[Category:Kibbutz Movement]]
[[Category:Eshkol Regional Council]]
[[Category:Geography of the Gaza Strip]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1967]]
[[Category:1995 disestablishments in Israel]]
[[Category:Populated places disestablished in 1995]]
[[Category:1967 establishments in Israel]]
[[Category:2001 establishments in Israel]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 2001]]
[[Category:Israel–Gaza Strip border]]
[[Category:Gaza envelope]]
[[Category:Populated places in Southern District (Israel)]]