Birya
The Palmach settlement Birya was founded in January 1945. Settlement members were evicted by the British and new groups subsequently resettled Birya.
Birya was a Palmach settlement located in a fortress on Noazim mountain, in the eastern upper Galilee, to the north of Safed. The land on which Birya was build was purchased in 1908 by Baron Rothschild, and in 1922 an attempt by a group of laborers to settle in Birya failed. On the 8th of January 1945 (23 of Tevet 5705), a platoon of the Religious units, attached to the Bnei Akiva youth movement, was dispatched to establish an outpost in Birya – not for settlement purposes but for defense purposes. The members constructed a security building on the site and engaged in forestry activities in the near-by forest, on behalf of the Jewish National Fund (Keren Kayemeth).
On the 5th of March 1946, the British captured Birya, claiming that the residents had attacked a Foreign Legion base in Har Kena'an. They arrested all 24 settlers and detained them in the Acre prison. This caused an uproar in the Jewish Yishuv, and 10 days later several thousand youths established a temporary camp (Birya B) at the edge of the mountain on which the fortress was located. On the same day, the British stormed the camp and evicted all its inhabitants, yet others came in their place and founded Birya C. Finally, after negotiations, the British permitted twenty youths to remain in the Birya C camp.
On the 7th of June 1946, the British themselves left the site. The temporary camp was abandoned and the residents returned to the fortress.
Birya fortress became a Bnei Akiva settlement, and was abandoned after the War of Independence due to a shortage of land and production means.
On the 5th of March 1946, the British captured Birya, claiming that the residents had attacked a Foreign Legion base in Har Kena'an. They arrested all 24 settlers and detained them in the Acre prison. This caused an uproar in the Jewish Yishuv, and 10 days later several thousand youths established a temporary camp (Birya B) at the edge of the mountain on which the fortress was located. On the same day, the British stormed the camp and evicted all its inhabitants, yet others came in their place and founded Birya C. Finally, after negotiations, the British permitted twenty youths to remain in the Birya C camp.
On the 7th of June 1946, the British themselves left the site. The temporary camp was abandoned and the residents returned to the fortress.
Birya fortress became a Bnei Akiva settlement, and was abandoned after the War of Independence due to a shortage of land and production means.