Agreed to lower the letter E: The name of the kibbutz in the Negev changed after a 71-year struggle

The naming committee agreed to the request of the settlement "Dvira" to be named after the biblical city "Dvir".

This, after for years the residents of the kibbutz opposed the name and even deleted the letter E from the signs pointing to the kibbutz.

"Finally gained self-determination"

Eli Ashkenazi

05/07/2022

Tuesday, 05 July 2022, 14:03 Updated: 14:55

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71 years after the kibbutz was founded on June 22, the government naming committee finally granted the settlement of the settlement in the northern Negev to be officially called "Dvir" and not "Dvira".

The kibbutz movement's secretary general, Nir Meir, said that he "congratulates the members of Kibbutz Dvir

who have finally gained their right to self-determination."

The kibbutz as Dvir was called into question, and as a result the government naming committee decided that the kibbutz's name would be "Dvira", that is - on the way to Dvir.

At that time, a few years after the establishment of the state, the hands of the government naming committee were busy and its decisions were considered high-weight.

Many settlements arose then, and the institutions of the young state saw high importance in the transgression of the state map.

Settlements that sought to bear the names of the Arab settlements that had lived there before were reprimanded for their insistence, and names of mountains and canals were given Hebrew names in place of their Arab names.

After 71 years, the name of the settlement changed.

Kibbutz Dvir (Photo: Official Website, Dvir Community)

Every landscape item - a stream, a spring, a mountain, a hill and a bridge - was given a name.

Of course, this is also the case with geographical terms.

It was decided to say "mountain" and not "jabal", "river" and not "wadi".

If in doubt, a letter sent by Ben-Zion Eshel, secretary of the names committee, made it unequivocally clear that "we use the term 'stream' and not 'wadi' in any case, whether it is a solid stream or a disappointing stream."

The secretary also wrote that "we have therefore abolished any use of the Arabic term 'Wadi' and it is appropriate that you give publicity to this instruction, and in particular to the authors of the textbooks for the knowledge of the homeland who often use 'Wadi', 'Wadi' and 'Wadi' simply."

Um Rashrash became Eilat, Bab al-Wad became the valley gate, Wadi Sarar became Nahal Sorek and Wadi Musrara is now called Nahal Ayalon.

These are a few examples of a widespread revolution.

The committee ordered Israeli teachers to instill in Hebrew students the Hebrew names as a task defined as a "duty of honor."

In addition, the committee worked to disseminate its decisions regarding the new names it gave to thousands of points on the map.

Thus, for example, on November 17, 1953, such an update was sent to 115 settlements throughout the Galilee with "Hebrew names for mountains and plateaus, degrees and observatories in the Upper Galilee and the Lower Galilee."

Instruction for schools to use the new Hebrew names (Photo: screenshot, State Archives)

In a letter attached to the list of names, the committee noted that "the mountains on the list have so far been known by Arabic nicknames and many of them have not been called by name at all. From now on they will be remembered and written by their Hebrew name."

The request was "to do on your part as much as you can do, to get to know the mountains and get to know their Hebrew names. Please impart their knowledge to many of the younger generation and strive wholeheartedly to root out the Hebrew names in everyday life."

Kibbutz Maayan Baruch was quick to reply that he had received the list, hung it on the bulletin board and that "a personal request has been made to our traveling friends to draw their attention to the list."

The committee seldom withdrew from its decisions and in view of the stubbornness of individual localities, it apologized and accepted their request.

Thus, for example, the name "Menara" was officially given to a kibbutz that settled on the border with Lebanon.

The committee tried to offer the members of the kibbutz the name "Ramim, but they flatly refused. The residents of the kibbutz, which has existed since 1941, got used to its current name for a decade and did not agree to change it. According to folklore, the kibbutz members refused "And so the name remained the same.

Dvir's members also insisted and appealed to the committee again and again, and their requests were repeatedly and decisively rejected."

Please return from your mistake, and return to the name that has been determined and that you do not have and that there can be no objection in principle about it, Dvira, "the committee wrote to them in 1953, clarifying," no force in the world can bring ancient Dvir from the mountain to the lowlands.

Therefore, there is no possibility that your settlement will be called 'Dvir'.

And it is true that your place will not be placed on the map of the country in this way. "

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Request to change the name of the kibbutz to "Dvir" (Photo: screenshot, State Archives)

The establishment did adhere to the official name, which often caused the kibbutz members to delete the letter E from the sign pointing to the kibbutz.

A letter sent to the kibbutz secretariat from Keren Hayesod showed that the authorities did not like the same acts.

"I reviewed the landmarks set up by Keren Hayesod and to my amazement I found that you covered the letter E on the sign for 'Dvir' instead of 'Dvira' and until I receive a commitment from you not to change the name again, I will not renew the sign in case it breaks down," a clerk wrote. Keren Hayesod.

Over the years, the name "Dvir" has become a common name known to all, not only by the residents of the kibbutz.

The establishment, for its part, continued to adhere to the official name and thus, for example, the nearby forest was called "Dvira Forest" and the junction west of the kibbutz was called "Dvira Junction".

Now, after the letter H from the settlement has been erased endlessly, the state also recognizes this.

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