Mizra
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Mizra מִזְרָע |
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 Mizra
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| Coordinates: 32°39′2.52″N 35°17′16.07″E / 32.6507000°N 35.2877972°ECoordinates: 32°39′2.52″N 35°17′16.07″E / 32.6507000°N 35.2877972°E | |
| District | Northern |
| Council | Jezreel Valley |
| Affiliation | Kibbutz Movement |
| Founded | 1923 |
| Founded by | European immigrants |
| Population (2015) | 608 |
| Website | www.mizra.org.il |
Mizra (Hebrew: מִזְרָע, lit. Sowing) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located between Afula and Nazareth, it falls under the jurisdiction of Jezreel Valley Regional Council. In 2015 it had a population of 608.
Kibbutz Mizra was established on a tell known as Ruba al-Natzra during Hanukkah in 1923 by the first immigrants of the Third Aliyah. The following year the founders were joined by a group which had formed in Haifa, and in the 1930s they were joined by Galician Hashomer Hatzair members from Aliyah Bet. During the British Mandate of Palestine, Mizra hosted the Palmach headquarters, until it was discovered by the Mandate authorities in Operation Agatha of 1946. The kibbutz also has a museum portraying the history of the Yishuv.
The name Mizra can be found on maps from the Middle Ages, though its exact origin is unknown. There is one theory that it is derived from nearby Nahal Mizra, though some believe that is connected to Hovat Mizra, an ancient farm in the area.
Mizra is known in Israel for its meat processing plant and its store, Maadaney Mizra (Mizra delicatessen), which for many years was Israel's only provider of non-kosher meat, most notably pork. For the Israeli religious public, it was a symbol of impurity and a violation of the state's Jewish character. During the aftermath of "the dirty trick" affair of 1990, an Agudat Yisrael MK said of a Mizra member that he "not only sold pig, he acted like one". The Aliyah from the Commonwealth of Independent States in the 1990s brought Mizra competitors, and it eventually sold 75 percent of the plant to Tiv Ta'am, an Israeli supermarket chain that sells pork.
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