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Gush Etzion - The Etzion Bloc in Judea
| New Jewish Villages |
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| The Town of Alon Shvut |
Kfar Eldad near El David |
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| El David |
Karmei Tzur |
Gush Etzion Children
| Kfar Etzion Museum |
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On the day Israel declared its independence in the Spring of 1948,
Kfar Etzion fell to the Arabs. Two hundred and forty brave Jewish
fighters died in the battle for the Etzion Bloc, south of Jerusalem. At
Kfar Etzion, one of four kibbutzim in the area, the captured Jews were
gathered together by soldiers of the Arab Legion and told they were going
to be photographed. Instead, the soldiers opened fire, murdering scores,
according to eyewitness accounts from Jewish survivors. The wounded from
the battle had taken refugee in a cellar bunker. After the village had
surrendered, the Arabs blew up the bunker with grenades, killing everyone
in it. Only then were any survivors taken to captivity in Jordan.
| Herodion Pools near Tekoa |
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Tekoa Fire and Rescue Truck and Symbol
The Tekoa Rescue Unit will primarily serve the eastern half of the
Etzion Bloc - the villages of Tekoa, Tekoa Bet, El David, Kfar Eldad,
Maaleh Amos, and Metzad - as well as hikers in the Judean Desert (with
its steep cliffs and hidden caverns), and as backup for the western
Etzion Bloc area. As a combination rescue and firefighting team, the
Unit will employ a modified GMC rapid intervention vehicle with a 1200
liter water tank, and its crew will be volunteers from the Tekoa area.
Credits: All of the photos on this page are from the
Gush Etzion Regional Council Website,
except for the symbol of the Tekoa Fire and Rescue Team, which was conceived and executed by
Bruce Adkins of Portsmouth, Ohio.
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