Dalia Colony

Dalia is a kibbutz located in the north of the occupied Palestinian territories, in the Galilee region, approximately 30 kilometers southeast of Haifa. The kibbutz was established in 1939. As of 2022, its population was 870 settlers.

Kibbutz Dalia was founded on the lands of the depopulated Palestinian village of Daliyat al-Rawhaʾ in the Haifa district by members of two Jewish groups affiliated with the Hashomer Hatzair movement, who had immigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1933.

The first group, known as BaMa’aleh (Hebrew: “במעלה”), consisted of Romanian Zionists who received agricultural training in Romania before immigrating. They initially settled in Hadar Ramatayim and Magdiel (now part of Hod HaSharon) and Kfar Malal.
The second group, called BaMifneh (Hebrew: “במפנה”), was made up of German Jews who were trained primarily in Denmark, as well as in France and the United Kingdom. They settled in Karkur and earned a living through agriculture, construction, and labor at the Port of Haifa.

In April 1939, the Kibbutz Artzi network of the Hashomer Hatzair movement decided to merge the two groups. The symbolic unification occurred on May 1st (International Workers’ Day). On that day, 50 members—25 from each group—arrived at the kibbutz’s permanent site, adjacent to the Arab village of Daliyat al-Rawhaʾ, which was later depopulated in 1948. They began cultivating land that had been acquired by the Jewish National Fund. The kibbutz’s first industry was a small soap factory.

The 1940s saw significant development in the kibbutz. Between 1940 and 1943, several structures were built, including a stable and a cowshed (used until 1970), a textile plant, a gin factory, a chicken coop (used until 1973), and a beehive. Members from the nearby Kibbutz Ein HaShofet helped construct a road connecting Dalia to the national transportation network. The first permanent building was a children’s house. During the 1940s, the kibbutz also operated a rabbit farm, which served as a primary source of meat during the wartime austerity period of World War II.

In 1944, young members of the kibbutz formed a group that later joined the Palmach militia. One of its members was killed during the “Night of the Bridges” operation, a coordinated attack by Jewish militias on bridges along Palestine’s borders. Members also fought in the Yiftach Brigade during the 1948 Nakba War and went on to establish Kibbutz Harel.

In 1947, the kibbutz hosted a national-level training course for Palmach commanders. During the war, an Egyptian plane was shot down near the kibbutz, and its pilot was captured and held in the cowshed, attracting the attention of the kibbutz children. The kibbutz supported the war effort by donating its only truck and repurposing local facilities to assist the Israeli military industries.

Sources:
Due to the limited availability of Arabic-language sources, we relied on Israeli sources, including the official Hebrew website of the settlement and the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics.
Information on the village of Daliyat al-Rawhaʾ was taken from the Palestine Remembered website.