page_title: Gedera
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Gedera / History
caption_attribution_description: The picture are from old book (that was published in 1899), some of the picture are fro 1899, some are even older: This work or image is now in the public domain because its term of copyright has expired in Israel. According to Israel's copyright statute from 2007 (translation), a work is released to the public domain on 1 January of the 71st year after the author's death (paragraph 38 of the 2007 statute) with the following exceptions: A photograph taken on 24 May 2008 or earlier&#160;— the old British Mandate act applies, i.e. on 1 January of the 51st year after the creation of the photograph (paragraph 78(i) of the 2007 statute, and paragraph 21 of the old British Mandate act). If the copyrights are owned by the State, not acquired from a private person, and there is no special agreement between the State and the author&#160;— on 1 January of the 51st year after the creation of the work (paragraphs 36 and 42 in the 2007 statute). See also category: PD Israel &amp; British Mandate. العربية&#160;| Deutsch&#160;| English&#160;| עברית&#160;| Հայերեն&#160;| македонски&#160;| русский&#160;| 中文&#160;| 中文（简体）‎&#160;| +/− For the scan and the the crop: I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide. In some countries this may not be legally possible; if so: I grant anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law. The name of the book (in hebrew) is: "מראה ארץ ישראל והמושבות" by (in hebrew): "ישעיהו ראפאלוביטש ושותפו משה אליהו זאכס" Gedera עברית: גדרה
context_page_description: Gedera, or Gdera, is a town in the Central District of Israel founded in 1884. It is 13 kilometres south of Rehovot.
  In 2019, it had a population of 28,313.
context_section_description: Gedera is in the Book of Chronicles I 4:23 and the Book of Joshua 15:36 as a town in the territory of Judah. Its identification with the site of modern Gedera was proposed by Victor Guérin in the 19th century, but was dismissed as "impossible" by William F. Albright who preferred to identify it with al-Judeira. Biblical Gedera is now identified with Khirbet Judraya, 1 km (0.6 mi) south of Bayt Nattif.
  Tel Qatra, which lies at the northern edge of Gedera, is usually identified with Kedron, a place fortified by the Seleucids against the Hasmonaeans (1 Macc. 15:39-41, 16:9). It has also been identified with Gedrus, a large village in the time of Eusebius (fourth century). Eusebius identified Gedrus with biblical Gedor, which is a name also appearing on the Madaba map, but several other sites for Gedor have been proposed.
  Tel Qatra was occupied from the Middle Bronze Age to at least the early Islamic period. Sometime between then and the Medieval period, settlement moved to the southern foot of the tell, where the Palestinian village of Qatra existed until 1948. Its peak was in the Byzantine period, when the tell had at least one large public building.
  Gedera was founded in the winter of 1884 by members of the Bilu group, to the south of Qatra. Gedera was established on a tract of village land purchased for the Biluites by Yechiel Michel Pines of the Lovers of Zion from the French consul in Jaffa, Poliovierre. The first pioneers arrived at the site during the festival of Chanukah. In 1888, Benjamin and Mina Fuchs built Gedera's first stone house, later used as a Bnai Brith meeting house.
  In 1912, a group of Yemenite immigrants settled in Gedera. During the British Mandate, Gedera became a popular resort due to its mild climate and fresh air.
  In 1949–1953, thousands of immigrants from Yemen, Romania, Iraq, Poland, Egypt, Morocco, Tunis, India, Iran, Libya, and other countries were housed in tent camps.
  The land on which Gederah was established had once been owned by the Palestinians of Qatra, who had lost it due to debts. They were cultivating it as tenant farmers when the Jewish owners arrived and resented the intrusion onto what they still thought of as their land. According to another account, the land was actually owned by Qatra, but had been assigned by the government to the nearby village of Mughar when Qatra disclaimed ownership to avoid a certain murder charge. Mughar then sold it to Polivierre, who sold it to Pines. This, and the close proximity of the two sites, led to poor relations between the communities that sometimes led to violent clashes. Israel Belkind, a member of Bilu, described Gedera's relationship with its Arab neighbors as among the worst in all the settlements. Haim Hissin, also a Bilu member, criticized the Arabs for their provocative behavior, but also blamed the Jews for being unfair and arrogant.
  Qatra was depopulated by the Haganah on 17 May 1948.
  In the 1950s, a neighborhood called Oriel ("light of God") was established for new immigrants with visual impairments. The immigrants worked in a sheltered workshop, and the neighborhood was specially planned to promote their independence.
  On February 9, 2009, a Grad rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit Gedera, marking the northernmost point in a round of 200 rockets targeting southern Israel.
caption: Gedera, circa 1899
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