Shahar Colony

Shahar is a moshav located in southern central occupied Palestine, approximately three kilometers west of Kiryat Gat and one kilometer east of Nir Hen. The moshav was established in 1955 as part of a regional housing program for Zionist refugees from North Africa and Zionist immigrants from India on the lands of the depopulated Palestinian village of Al-Faluja.

Its name symbolizes the dawn of Zionist settlement in the Hevel Lakhish region. The main industry developed was flower cultivation for export, which thrived despite the harsh desert climate. One of Shahar’s prominent businessmen, Eliyahu Betzalel, received the Kaplan Prize in 1994 and later the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Award, which honors non-resident Indians, in recognition of these achievements.

In 2019, the population of settlers was approximately 879.

Sources:
Due to the scarcity of Arabic sources, Hebrew sources were used: the settlement’s official Hebrew website and the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics.
Information on the village of Al-Faluja was obtained from the Palestine Remembered website.