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Karmiyyah

KARMIYYAH (Heb. כַּרְמִיָּה), kibbutz in the southern Coastal Plain of Israel, near the Gaza Strip, about 5 mi. (9 km.) S.W. of Ashkelon, affiliated to Ha-Kibbutz ha-Arẓi Ha-Shomer ha-Ẓa'ir. It was founded in 1950 by a group of pioneers from France and Tunisia. Newcomers from Argentina later made up the majority of the members. Field crops, citrus groves, and dairy cattle constituted the principal farm branches. The kibbutz also started up a textile and leather factory. In 2002 the population was 326. Nearby is the Shikmah Dam, a pilot water storage plant where winter floodwaters of Naḥal Shikmah are filtered through porous sand dunes and stored underground. Thus protected from evaporation losses, they are recovered through wells for use in summer. The name Karmiyyah, which is derived from the Hebrew kerem ("vineyard"), also refers to the Hebrew form of Adolphe *Crémieux's name.


Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.