MEVASERET ZION

Maoz Zion, oldest neighborhood of Mevaseret Zion,
view from Castel National Park, courtesy, Wikipedia

Mevaseret Zion is a town consisting of 15 neighborhoods with a population of over 24,000. It is located on the northwestern outskirts of Jerusalem on a mountain ridge over 2400 feet above sea level and straddles both sides of the Jerusalem–Tel Aviv highway. It is adjacent to the town of Motza (some information of which can be found within this blog’s posting of “JerusalemCorridor”). The older neighborhoods/townships of Maoz Zion and Mevaseret Yerushalayim are under the jurisdiction of one local council. The newer neighborhoods were not part of either township. Today, Mevaseret Zion is the wealthiest municipality per capita in the Jerusalem District.

During the time of Joshua, the site of Mevaseret Zion and the surrounding area was allotted to the tribe of Benjamin. The Romans built a fortress there, known simply as Castellum to ensure their control of the road to Jerusalem. Centuries after the fall of Crusader rule in the 13^th century, an Arab settlement was built there and the settlers decided to revive the old Roman name and called it “al Qastal”.

During Israel’s War of Independence in 1948, al Qastal, which overlooked the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem Highway, was the center of fierce fighting, namely that of Operation Nachshon. At that time, the Arabs had besieged Jerusalem hoping to starve that city’s Jews to death. The capture of Qastal was one of the keys to breaking the siege and the settlement changed hands several times in the course of the fighting. The tides turned when the revered Arab commander, Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni, was killed. Many of the Arabs left their positions to attend al-Husayni's funeral at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday, April 9. That same day, Qastal fell to Israeli forces virtually unopposed.

After the war, in 1951, the Jewish village of Maoz Zion ("Stronghold of Zion") was established at the foot of Castel Hill to house Jewish refugees from Iraq, Kurdistan, North Africa and Iran who had been living in a ma'abara, or transit camp, in the area. Many were employed at the nearby Solel Boneh stone quarry.

Mevasseret Yerushalayim was established east of Ma'oz Zion in 1956 by Jewish refugees from North Africa. It was located on a ridge near the armistice line, north of Motza. The residents worked in the fruit orchards in the Arazim Valley.

In 1963, Maoz Zion and Mevasseret Yerushalayim formed a joint local council, which was called Mevasseret Zion. The source of the name came from the Book of Isaiah: "Ascend a lofty mountain, O herald of joy to Zion" (Isaiah 40:9). It encompassed al Qastal and the surrounding area.

Today, the site of Al Qastal is now Castel National Park, consisting of a fortified summit in the Judean Mountains, a memorial for the Israeli soldiers who died there, including a monument designed in 1980 by Yitzhak Yamin, and a memorial to the convoys that tried to break through the blockade of Jerusalem.

Other sites in Mevaseret Zion include: Har'el shopping mall located near the Har'el interchange and houses such internationally known businesses as Magnolia Jewelers; the world's first kosher McDonald's, opened in 1995; Tichon Har’el High School; Yeshivat Sha'arei Mevasseret Zion; Nahal Sorek Street where, in 2003, an archaeological dig unearthed an ancient burial cave dating from the mid-Second Temple period; and the ruins of a medieval structure, Khirbet Beit Mizza, believed by some scholars to be the site of the biblical town of Motzah mentioned in the Book of Joshua (Joshua 18:26) until recent excavations made clear that Motzah of the Hebrew Bible is to be identified with nearby Khirbet Mizzah, today, Tel Motza. 

MOSUL

The Mar Elia Monastery in Mosul, courtesy, Wikipedia

Mosul is a major city in the Assyrian heartland, the Nineveh plains. As such, it is the ancient home of the Assyrian Church of the East, the Chaldean Catholic Church, and the Syriac Orthodox Church. Presently, this heartland is under illegal Arab occupation (and to an extent, colonization) in the north of Arab-occupied Iraq. Located approximately 250 miles north of Baghdad, Mosul stands on the west bank of the Tigris, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank. The metropolitan area has grown to encompass substantial areas on both sides of the river, including Nineveh. The indigenous people of the city are, of course, the Assyrian Christians, descendants of the ancient Assyrians. Alongside, live the Kurds who live mainly in the neighborhood of Nebi Yunus, surrounding the Tomb of Jonah, not far from the supposed Tombs of Daniel and Seth. Both were destroyed by ISIL in 2014. The other non-Arab communities in the city are made up of Armenians, Turkmens, Yazidis, Mandaeans, Circassians, and Shabaks. It also had a sizable Jewish population but they either fled, or were driven out by the Arabs in the 1950s.   

Nineveh was one of the oldest and greatest cities in antiquity. It was settled as early as 6000 BCE and was an integral part of Assyria from as early as the 25th century BCE. Beginning in 2335 BCE, it became part of the Akkadian Empire (2335–2154 BCE) which united all the peoples of Mesopotamia under one rule. During the period of the Old Assyrian Empire (2025–1750), and during the reign of Shamshi-Adad I (1809–1776 BCE), Nineveh was listed as a center of worship of the goddess Ishtar. It remained as such also during the Middle Assyrian Empire (1365–1056 BCE). Under the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–605 BCE) Nineveh grew in size and importance, particularly under the Kings Tukulti-Ninurta II, Ashurnasirpal II, Shalmaneser III, Adad-nirari III, Tiglath-Pileser III, Shalmaneser V and Sargon II. In approximately 700 BCE, King Sennacherib made Nineveh the new capital of Assyria and immense building work was undertaken. Eventually, the city eclipsed the great city of Babylon, as well as Kalhu and Aššur, making it the largest city in the world. A number of scholars believe the true location of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were in fact at Nineveh. The mound of Kuyunjik in Mosul has been described as the site of the palaces of Sennacherib and his successors including Ashurbanipal who established the Library of Ashurbanipal. Many artifacts from Nineveh from this period had been housed at the Mosul Museum until its destruction by ISIL. In 612 BCE, under Sin-shar-ishkun, Nineveh severely declined as a result of a bloody civil war, a siege, and bitter house to house fighting. Sin-shar-ishkun, himself, was killed defending his capital. His successor, Ashur-uballit II, fought his way out of Nineveh and formed a new Assyrian capital at Harran (today in southeastern Turkey). After the crisis period had ended, the remaining inhabitants of Nineveh built a new city nearby, from its ruins. They called it Mepsila and it succeeded Nineveh as the Tigris bridgehead of the road that linked Assyria and Anatolia with the short lived Median Empire and succeeding Achaemenid Empire (546–332 BCE), thus experiencing a significant economic revival. Mepsila became part of the Seleucid Empire after Alexander's conquests in 332 BCE. While little is known of the city from the Hellenistic period, Mepsila likely belonged to the Seleucid satrapy of Syria, the Greek term for Assyria. Soon, it changed hands once again with the rise of the Sasanian Empire in 225 BCE and became a part of the Sasanian province of Asōristān. Christianity was introduced among the Assyrian people, including in Mepsila, by the apostle Saint Thomas as early as the 1st century, although the ancient Mesopotamian religion remained strong until the 4th century. Since then, the building of churches and monasteries proliferated in and around the city which became an episcopal seat of the Assyrian Church of the East in the 6th century. In 595 St. Elijah's Monastery (Dair Mar Elia) was built, becoming the oldest Christian Monastery in present-day Iraq. The ancient Tahira Church (The Immaculate), established in the 7^th century near Bash Tapia, was considered one of the most ancient churches in Mosul. Its exact location has been disputed by modern archaeologists. Some suggest the remnants of the church of the Upper Monastery, and others, the ruined Mar Zena Church. 

In c. 637, the Nineveh Plains, as with the rest of Assyria and Mesopotamia came under the occupation of the Arab Rashidun Caliphate. Under the occupation, Mepsila became the city of Mosul. Its majority population was Kurdish but with a sizable Assyrian presence. During this time, the historic Church of St. Thomas (Mar Touma) was established. In the 10^th century, the Mar Petion Church, named after Petion, a 5^th century martyr, and the Mar Hudeni Church, named after the 6^th century martyr Hudeni, Maphrian of Tikrit, were established. Mar Hudeni served the Tikrit community in Mosul for many centuries. The Church of Shamoun Al-Safa, named after Saint Peter, dates from the 13th century and was inhabited by the nuns of the Sacred Hearts.

In the early 16^th century, Mosul came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. At mid-century, part of the Assyrian people left the Assyrian church and joined the Catholic church and became known as Chaldeans. This was the beginning of the decline, but not a total decline, of the Assyrian church. The Mar Petion Church became Chaldean in the late 17^th century and the Chaldean St. George's Monastery (Mar Gurguis) was built on the ruins of an earlier Assyrian church. In 1743, the Persians invaded Mesopotamia and the Persian leader Tahmaz Nadir Shah damaged the Assyrian Mar Elia monastery. 150 of the resident monks were killed after they refused to convert to Islam. The monastery lay in ruins until the beginning of the 20th century, when some restoration was completed. As the spread of Chaldean Catholicism progressed, the community’s social structure became highly influenced with the arrival in Mosul by the Dominican fathers who were sent by Pope Benedict XVI in 1750.  Five years later, they established a library on the grounds of St. George’s. In 1828, Mosul became the residence of the head of the Chaldean Catholic Church until the transfer to Baghdad in the mid-20th century. Meanwhile, the ancient Al-Tahira Church became Catholic of the western Syrian rite. Beginning in 1873, the Dominican nuns established a number of schools, health clinics, a printing press, an orphanage, and also workshops to teach girls sewing and embroidery. Over 120 Assyrian Sisters belonged to this congregation. In 1893, another Catholic church, the Roman Catholic Church, was built by the Dominican Fathers on Nineveh Street.

Toward the end of World War I in the area in and around Assyria and Kurdistan, and after the Assyrian genocide (which happened at the same time as the Armenian genocide) at the hands of the Ottoman Turks, the British defeated the Ottomans, and in 1918, occupied Mosul, and indeed the whole of Mesopotamia.

In 1918, after a massacre of Assyrians by Kurds near Salmas, resulting in the assassination of the Patriarch Shimun XIX Benyamin, his brother Shimun XX Paulos succeeded him and moved the patriarchal seat to Mosul. By this time, the Arab state of Iraq was created by the British and by 1923, half of Mosul’s population was Kurdish. In 1980, Ignatius Zakka I, a native of Mosul, became Assyrian Patriarch of Antioch and all east for the Syriac Orthodox Church.

After the 1991 uprisings by the Kurds, Mosul did not fall within the Kurdish-ruled area, but was included in the northern no-fly zone imposed and patrolled by the United States and Britain. Although this prevented Saddam's forces from mounting large-scale military operations again in the region, it did not stop the regime from implementing a steady policy of "Arabization" by which the demography of some areas of Nineveh Governorate were gradually changed. Mosul fell to US and Kurdish forces on April 11, 2003, when the Iraqi Army 5th Corps, loyal to Saddam, abandoned the city and eventually surrendered, two days after the fall of Baghdad.

In 2008, the murder of a dozen Assyrians, including the Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul, Paulos Faraj Rahho, threats that others would be murdered unless they converted to Islam, and the destruction of their houses, sparked a rapid exodus of the Assyrian population from the city. Accusations were exchanged between Sunni fundamentalists and some Kurdish groups for being behind this new exodus. But some claims linked it to the imminent provincial elections that took place in January 2009, and the related Assyrian Christians' demands for broader representation in the provincial councils.

Early in 2014, Kurdish intelligence received word that ISIL would attack and occupy Mosul. They, in turn, notified the Americans, British, and new Iraqi government and even offered Iraq military help in the form of the Peshmerga, but was turned down. On June 10, 2014, the Islamic State took over the city. Few Assyrians were left in Mosul following ISIL's takeover. Those that did remain were forced to pay a tax for remaining Christian, and they lived under the constant threat of violence. Churches and monasteries, including the ancient Mar Elia, were vandalized and burned down, their ancient heritage sites dating back to the Iron Age were destroyed, and their homes and possessions seized. They also faced ultimatums to convert to Islam, leave their ancient homelands, or be murdered. Most local female Yazidis were imprisoned and occasionally killed for resistance to being sold as sex slaves. Islamic State either killed or expelled most the males, or forcibly converted some Yazidis and Christians to Islam. In addition, ISIL issued an edict ethnically cleansing the remaining predominantly ethnic Assyrian and Armenian Christian Mosul citizens, after they refused to attend a meeting to discuss their future status. On January 21, 2015, the U.S. began coordinating airstrikes with a Kurdish-launched offensive, to help them begin the planned operation to retake the city. In the countryside around Mosul, Kurdish and Assyrian militia also took up arms to resist ISIL oppression, and successfully repelled ISIL attacks on Kurdish and Assyrian towns and villages. On October 16, 2016, after more than two years of ISIL occupation of Mosul, Iraqi, Kurdish, American and French forces launched a joint offensive to recapture the city. 

MODIIN

ancient tomb in Modiin identified as that of
Matityahu, courtesy Wikipedia

modern Modiin, courtesy, Wikipedia

The city of Modiin is the center of a metropolitan area that also includes the neighborhoods of Maccabim and Re’ut. It is located about midway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and is connected to those two cities via Highway 443. In 2019 the population was 93,277. The modern city, built in the 1990s, was named after the ancient Jewish town of Modi'in, the place of origin of the Maccabees.  

During the time of Joshua, the site of Modiin was allotted to the tribe of Judah on its northwestern border, probably where the tribal borders of Dan and Benjamin meet. By the 2^nd century BCE, the town became the residence of the priestly Hasmonean (later referred to as the “Maccabee”) family and was headed by Matityahu. The First Book of Maccabees described his genealogy as "Mattathias, the son of John, the son of Simeon, a priest of the sons of Joiarib, from Jerusalem; and he dwelt at Modin" (I Macc. ii. 1). He had five sons: Judah (Judas Maccabaeus), Eleazar, Simon, John, and Jonathan. In 168 BCE, the ruler of the Syrian-Greek Seleucid Empire which also ruled over Judea, was Antiochus Epiphanes. He had sent his soldiers under Apelles, who is mentioned by Josephus but not in the Book of Maccabees, to Modiin, in order to set up an altar to the heathen god, and ordered Matityahu, as the most influential citizen, whose example would be followed, to sacrifice in accordance with the king's command. He responded: "Though all the nations that are under the king's dominion obey him, . . . yet will I, and my sons, and my brethren, walk in the covenant of our fathers" (I Macc. ii. 19-20). And when a certain Jew was about to obey the command, Matityahu, who was filled with holy wrath, killed the offender and destroyed the altar, while his sons cut down the king's officer. Thus began the Jewish revolt against Seleucid rule and the Hellenisation of the Jewish population. The revolt succeeded in driving out the Seleucids, and the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem at the end of the revolt is commemorated by the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. In c. 165 BCE, Matityahu died and was buried in Modiin. His children were also buried there and their tombs can still be seen today. After expelling the Seleucids, the Maccabees formed the Hasmonean dynasty, which ruled Judea in the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE.

Simon eventually built a splendid mausoleum at Modiin, which was adorned with seven pyramids and high columns with sculptures of ships that were said to be visible from the sea (i Macc. 13:25–30; Jos., Ant. 13:210–11). In the time of Jonathan, Modiin and the surrounding area was passed into Jewish possession. An important battle was undertaken against the Seleucid Kendebaois from a camp situated close to Modiin. Judas Maccabaeus is mentioned as having marched out of the town in order to fight Seleucid forces sent against him by Antiochus v (ii Macc. 13:14ff.), suggesting that Modiin was unfortified. John and Judah camped close to Modiin before the battle of Kidron (i Macc. 16:4).

Archaeological excavations have revealed remains dating from this period including a late 2^nd/early 1^st century BCE synagogue, in use until 132 CE (Bar Kokhba revolt), and a 1st-century CE mikveh standing next to it. Modiin was the home town of R. Eleazar of Modi'in, a close relative of Bar Kokhba and perhaps identical with Eleazar the high priest, who appears on coins of the Bar Kokhba revolt. R. *Eleazar was put to death in 135 CE on grounds of treason. Another teacher associated with Modi'in was Rabbi Yossi, but details regarding him and his teachings are sparse.

Abandoned shortly afterward, the ensuing centuries were taken up with travelers, pilgrims, and archaeologists, attempting to identify the location of the ancient town as well as of the Tombs of the Maccabees.

In 1944, during World War II while Israel was under a British Mandate, the custom of the annual Hanukkah torch relay, starting from the Tombs of the Maccabees in Modiin, was established by the Maccabi Sports Federation. Originally, a torch, carried by Israeli runners starting from the site of the Tombs, would make its way to Federation headquarters in Tel Aviv. However, since the 1950s and continuing to this day, the torch would first go to Jerusalem to light the national menorah, then to other parts of the country, and even to communities in the Diaspora.

In July 1948, during Israel’s War of Independence, the area west of the Naḥal Modi'im gorge was occupied by Israeli forces while the Arab settlement of al-Midya remained beyond the 1949 armistice line under Arab Jordanian occupation.  

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Herzl Forest of Ben Shemen was gradually enlarged eastward to become the Modi'im Forest, and an observation tower and amphitheater were built there. In 1964, the Modi'im region development project was started, providing for further afforestation and land reclamation; the area's northern section was set aside as an ultimate reserve for the expansion of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, with plans laid out for the construction of a future city to be named Makkabit. In 1965, a Naḥal outpost settlement, Mevo Modi'im, was established less than a mile from the armistice line by a group affiliated with Po'alei Agudat Israel. After the *Six-Day War, these settlers moved southeastward to set up a new village in the Ayalon Valley, at the foot of the Beth-Ḥoron ascent, while the site of Mevo Modi'im, which has poor and rocky soil, was earmarked for a village to be based on industry and a Po'alei Agudat Israel seminary. Forest planting continued after 1967 on both sides of the former armistice line, carried out in the west by Jewish laborers and in the east by Arabs.

In 1985, the construction of the town of Maccabim, which was led by the International Maccabi organization began, and the project of founding nearby Re'ut, led by an association of Israeli army officers, started in 1987. The towns were united into Maccabim-Re'ut in 1990. Meanwhile, the modern-day city of Modiin was planned by the famed Israeli architect Moshe Safdie. The cornerstone was laid in 1993. It was built as a modern planned city with high standards of urban planning. Environmental issues and future growth were taken into consideration from the early design stages. Large greenspaces were incorporated into the city's layout and today comprise 50% of the area within the city limits. The city was opened for residency in 1996. It was later merged with Maccabim-Re’ut to create the unified municipality of Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut. In 2008, it was decided to cap the growth of Modi'in to allow for the development of Lod and Ramla.

In 2007, Modi'in was selected as one of the inaugural cities for the Israel Baseball League. The baseball team was named the Modi'in Miracle, but did not play games in Modi'in as there is no baseball stadium there.

In 2008, the Pioneers of the Israeli Football League (American Football) relocated to Modi'in. The Pioneers played all their home games in Modi'in. In their first year, they won the IFL Championship. After an unsuccessful 2009–10 season, their second in Modi'in, the Pioneers relocated once again to Tel Aviv, where most of the team's players lived.

In 2014, Modi'in was the site of the funeral for the kidnapped and murdered teens Naftali Fraenkel, Gil-Ad Shaer and Elad Yifrah. Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke at the funeral.

The city center is a large traffic circle. On the north side of the circle is the central train station, to the northeast is the Azrieli shopping mall, and to the west and south is the Anaba park which contains a small artificial lake used for recreational boating. The traffic circle straddles a major northeast–southwest artery, HaHashmona'im Blvd., that connects to the southwest with route 431 and to the northeast with route 443 (at Shilat Junction) providing connectivity to Jerusalem (southeast) and Lod (northwest).

Approximately 3 miles west-northwest of the city center is an industrial zone, and to the west (on route 431) is the Yishpro commercial center. The industrial zone is also linked to route 443 via its own interchange, between Shilat Junction and the Maccabim Junction at the eastern side of the Ben Shemen JNF forest. This keeps most of the commercial traffic out of the city proper, so that the two arteries between the city and its industrial zone (Emek HaEla and HaShdera Hamerkazit) carry primarily commuters rather than trucks.

Aside from Maccabim-Re’ut, the following neighborhoods surround Modiin: HaShvatim, Moriah, HaPrachim, HaNachlim, Masuah, “Malibu”, HaKramim, Avnei Chen, HaNevi’im, HaMeginim, and HaTzipporim.

MIZPAH

ruins of ancient Mizpah, courtesy, Pinterest

The Biblical Mizpah is the name of several towns located around the Land of Israel. The location that this posting will concentrate on will be that in the tribal territory of Benjamin, north of Jerusalem as described in Joshua 18:26. On several occasions, this Mizpah served as the seat of assemblies at which the Israelites discussed their affairs. When a Levite traveler's concubine was raped and murdered by the men of nearby Gibeah, a town in Benjamin, the other tribes of Israel met at Mizpah where they decided to attack the men of Benjamin for this grievous sin. At the same time, the decision was made not to permit marriage between Israelite women and Benjaminite men. Later, Mizpah was a major meeting place in the time of Samuel who assembled the people there in order to fight against the Philistines who had stolen the Ark of the Covenant. After the return of the Ark, Samuel gathered all Israel at Mizpah to offer a sacrifice to the Lord and ask Him to forgive their sin. It was also at Mizpah that the people of Israel identified their first king – Saul – who was chosen by lot from all the tribes and families of Israel. During the time of the divided kingdom, King Asa of Judah fortified Mizpah against the attacks of the King of Israel (I Kings xv. 22; II Chron. xvi. 6). Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, established the capital of Judah there after the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem (II Kings xxv. 23; Jer. xl. 6 et seq., xli. 1); he was later assassinated by Ishmael, a surviving member of the House of David (ii Kings 25:22ff.; Jer. 40–41). The prophet Jeremiah settled there after his release from the Babylonian Captivity. Under Nehemiah, Mizpah served as a district capital (Neh. 3:7, 15, 19). Since the time of the Maccabees, it was a place of solemn assembly (I Macc. iii. 46) for the worship of god. In the 1^st century, it was a seat of learning and home to the Tanna Shimon of Mizpah.

According to the 12^th century Spanish rabbi and traveler Benjamin of Tudela, the town was identified with the town of “Nov” and it still contained a Jewish community. Yehoseph Schwarz, who explored the land in the mid 19^th century, found the site occupied by the Arab settlement of Tel al Safiyah. Modern archaeologists, however, have placed the location of ancient Mizpah at the ruins of, what the Arabs refer to as, “Tel en Nasbeh”, about 8 miles north of Jerusalem. Other archaeologists however, have identified one other site - Neby Samwil, a place of pilgrimage for Jews for thousands of years and located almost 600 feet above the plain of Gibeon. 

MISHMAR HAEMEK

courtesy, Wikipedia

Mishmar HaEmek is a kibbutz in northern Israel, located in the southwestern part of the Jezreel Valley, between Highway 66 to its northeast and the foot of the Menashe Heights to its southwest. It falls under the jurisdiction of the Megiddo Regional Council and is one of the few kibbutzim that have not undergone privatization, still following the traditional collectivist and socialist kibbutz model.  Next to the kibbutz is Mishmar HaEmek Forest, planted by the Jewish National Fund and members of the kibbutz. It is a section of Megiddo Park (formerly named "Ramot Menashe park"), listed as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO. Flowing through Mishmar HaEmek is the Nahal Mishmar HaEmek, a tributary of the Kishon River. Some of the waters also come from the Spring of Shulamit. In 2019, it had a population of 1,271. At least six former members of the Knesset hail from Mishmar HaEmek.

In Biblical times, the site of Mishmar HaEmek was allotted to the tribe of Menasheh (on the west side of the Jordan) in the northwestern section of the tribal territory between Megiddo and Yokneam. The present kibbutz sits near the ancient site of Tel Shush which Israeli geographers and archaeologists have identified as the ancient Jewish village of Geva‘ Parashim from the time of the Hasmonean dynasty. Between the Arab conquest in the 7^th century and the 1920s, Bedouin and Turkmen tribes settled in the area, founding the settlement of Abu Shusha.  In the 1870s, much of the Jezreel Valley came under the ownership of the Sursock family, a Greek Christian family in Lebanon. From 1924 to 1926, the land in and around the area of the present kibbutz, including Abu Shusha, was purchased by the Jewish National Fund.

The pioneers of Mishmar HaEmek came to Mandatory Palestine during the Third Aliyah. They were Polish Jews from Galicia and were members of three groups who graduated from the HaShomer HaTzair movement, one from the town of Afula and two from the Jerusalem area. They later joined with another Zionist socialist group from Hadera and on November 3, 1926, the members (numbering 90 after the unification) were given the land next to Abu Shusha. But initially, only 15 men and women went to the site, and they settled in a nearby khan, from where they began preparing for agricultural work. In the next year, two mules were bought and 120 dunams of wheat and barley were sowed. Soon, the pioneers left the khan and began building the new settlement in its present location, making history as the first Jewish settlement in this part of the valley since Biblical times. As a HaShomer HaTzair stronghold, the settlement housed many pioneers of other kibbutzim and instructed them before they established their own kibbutzim.

In November 1928 the kibbutz was renamed "Kibbutz Mishmar HaEmek" as proposed by Menachem Ussishkin, after its members could not agree on a name. On August 26, 1929, during the bloody Arab riots, the kibbutz was attacked. The members, with the aid of Arab policemen, managed to fend off the rioters. British policemen ordered the kibbutz to evacuate and promised to take care of their property, and so the members left the following day. On August 28, Arab rioters burned the barn, uprooted trees, stole corn from the fields and vandalized two gravestones in the cemetery. It was the only time in its history where Mishmar HaEmek was abandoned, and it joined 16 other Jewish communities that were also abandoned during the riots. But unlike the others, it was resettled six days later. 

In 1931, Shomeria School was established as the first regional educational institution of the Kibbutz Artzi movement, an ideological ally of Hashomer HaTzair. It soon became the biggest structure in the region and operated as a boarding school. It put into practice HaShomer HaTzair's socialist ideology, creating an independent "children's society." The pupils saw their parents only on holidays or special visiting days throughout the year. This institution provided education to several other kibbutz communities that were established in the Jezreel Valley as well as youth from the Youth Aliyah. In the mid-30s, the members also constructed a water tower, built a cowshed, planted a vineyard and various fruit trees, and dug wells. Berta Guggenheimer was an activist who planned playgrounds all over the country and with her niece Irma Lindheim, a member of Mishmar HaEmek, set up the kibbutz’s own children's playground. There was also an arrangement to allow Arab children from the nearby villages to visit and play with the kibbutz children.

At the start of 1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine, Mishmar HaEmek came under attack from nearby Arab settlers under the command of Ahmad Attiyah Awad, succeeded by Yusuf Abu Durra after his death. There were repeated arson attacks on grain fields and forests and were described by a member as a "crime greater than murder," as the burning of the wheat fields denied the members their main food source. Around 30,000 trees in the kibbutz's vicinity were destroyed and an enormous amount of property was lost. There were no direct attacks on the kibbutz itself, but almost every night there were stray shots fired in its direction. Many of the kibbutz men had to spend time guarding instead of working the fields. British High Commissioner Arthur Grenfell Wauchope visited the kibbutz and appointed 15 members as armed guards; however, in August 1936, the situation worsened when the attacks became more frequent. The British government sent 60 soldiers to the kibbutz and by October the attacks on the kibbutz ended. But not ambushes. On February 2, 1938 Abraham Goldschleger, a kibbutz member and guide for Ein HaShofet, was ambushed and murdered by the Arab settlers of Al-Kafrayn. Two residents of Ein HaShofet who accompanied him were also killed in the attack. One of the shooters was caught and executed. 

During World War II, the nearby Palmach Cave was chosen by the Palmach upon its establishment in 1941, as a training site for its special undercover units. The cave was also used for meetings between Palmach commanders. In the fall of 1942, Mishmar HaEmek was used as a training camp by the British army. 160 Jewish volunteers, members of Palmach,  were trained by Royal Engineers in sabotage and wireless operations. Several tons of explosives were hidden in caches in case the area came under German occupation. This program was eventually terminated and orders were issued for the collection of all equipment and explosives to be returned to the British.

In 1947, the Jewish National Fund and Worton Hall Studios made a movie entitled The Great Promise (Dim'at Ha'Nehamah Ha'Gedolah), and a number of scenes were filmed in Mishmar HaEmek. By 1947, Pinat HaGola ("Diaspora's Place") was built by the sculptor Zeev Ben Zvi as a memorial site for the children who died in the Holocaust. He built it with the students of the kibbutz. It was the earliest memorial site for the Holocaust in Israel.

On April 4, 1948, during the War of Independence, the kibbutz came under full-scale attack by the Arab Liberation Army (ALA). The leader of the ALA, Fawzi al-Qawuqji, planned to seize Mishmar HaEmek in order to control the route between Jenin and Haifa. The attack began with a barrage from seven artillery pieces supplied by the Arab army of Syria. During the shelling, houses were destroyed, civilians, defenders, and animals were killed and the prominent school building was heavily damaged. A bomb shelter was later built there. The Pinat HaGola was also damaged by a shell, but Ben-Zvi refused to repair it. On April 6, the women and children of the kibbutz were evacuated to other settlements in the Jezreel Valley and a ceasefire began during which the Jewish forces fortified the kibbutz and dug trenches around its perimeter.  

Although the Arab forces had not entered the kibbutz, Qawuqji reported that the kibbutz was captured and the "conquest of Mishmar HaEmek" was falsely celebrated in Arab newspapers, which also reported heavy casualties among the Jewish forces. The ALA sent terms to the Haganah, saying they would lift the siege of the kibbutz, regroup and move toward Haifa if the Jewish forces would not retaliate against the nearby Arab villages in return. The Jewish forces declined the offer and the Arab offensive resumed on April 8. That night, the Jewish forces launched a counter-attack under the command of Yitzhak Sadeh and captured the nearby Arab village of Al-Ghubayya al-Fawqa in a fierce battle. In the next days, troops of the Carmeli Brigade and the Palmach unit captured several other villages near Mishmar HaEmek and nearby Ein HaShofet, and destroyed them all. During the second phase of the war, on December 24, Iraqi planes bombed the kibbutz, hitting the children's house, killing four children and injuring another four.

After the war, in 1950, the kibbutz finished building a new large dining hall and kitchen, whose construction was delayed during the war. That same year, the people of Mishmar HaEmek established a plastics factory called Tama, which in time became a central part of the kibbutz's economy. The factory was created to provide work for the elderly, since at the time Mishmar HaEmek had the highest number of elderly residents among the entire Kibbutz Artzi network. In the 1970s, a 25% stake was sold to Kibbutz Gal’ed.

In May 1950 an adjacent village and ma'abara (immigrant transit camp) called Keren Yesha was established for Yemenite Jews by the Jewish Agency. It was located atop Tel Shush, where the first members of the kibbutz settled in 1926. Eventually, political rivalries affected the relations between the two communities. The Hed Ha-Mizrach newspaper described life in Keren Yesha two months after its establishment, stating that the Yemeni immigrants lived in tents and although the residents claimed to be content, they also said that there was not enough support by the authorities. The newspaper Al HaMishmar, affiliated with the Kibbutz Artzi movement, reported that the kibbutz helped the new community and provided a number of services to the new immigrants. The newspaper reported that the Moshavim Movement, which held rival social and political views, was officially responsible for Keren Yesha, and asked that the kibbutz would cease its aid, telling the residents that they needed to choose between aid from Mishamr HaEmek or the Moshavim Movement.

In July 1951, Keren Yesha protested against negligence by the authorities and blocked the nearby road. The newspaper Davar, affiliated with the Mapai party, reported that the protest was organized by the members of Mishmar HaEmek affiliated with the rival Mapam party and also claimed they have denied water and medical treatment to the immigrants after they decided to support Mapai. This report caused outrage among kibbutz members, who denied the accusations and claimed that the relations between both communities are good and that the kibbutz provides the village with the support that the authorities fail to the deliver. Later, Davar issued an apology, saying it was a false report. In 1953, Keren Yesha was abandoned and the residents moved to nearby Midrakh Oz.

Mishmar HaEmek suffered from the 1983 bank stock crisis. In an attempt to save the kibbutz from bankruptcy, Tama began manufacturing plastic netting used for bundling crops and in the late 1980s the crisis ended. Several successful business moves by Tama in the early 1990s led the kibbutz to an era of economic prosperity and high quality of life. During that period, education in the kibbutz was reformed, the children's societies were abolished, and the pupils were moved to schools outside of the kibbutz. This allowed the kibbutz to extend existing houses and set up new neighborhoods. Prosperity led the kibbutz to increase the salaries of its members, to create personal funds for families, and to institutionalize culture and recreational activities thanks to the weekly labor days, reduced to five.

On April 1 1990, 15,000 people (according to Maariv) participated in a parade from the Menashe forest to Mishmar HaEmek in protest of the objection of Rabbi Elazar Shach to prevent a political coalition between the Haredi parties and the leftist parties which he described as "eaters of hares and swine" (non-Kosher food). Many leaders of the Israeli left and right participated in the parade. In August, some members of the kibbutz and those of Kibbutz Artzi-affiliated kibbutzim, signed a petition calling upon the kibbutz movement to launch a non-violent protest against Israel Defense Forces actions against murderous Palestinians in Judea and Samaria during the First Intifada. The residents of Mishmar HaEmek represented the more Arab-friendly and peace-oriented left-wing of the Israeli Labor Movement. Some of the movement's leaders, such as Mordechai Bentov and Ya'akov Hazan, hailed from the kibbutz.

In 2010 the kibbutz decided, after a series of public meetings, to appoint a team of members to discuss the privatization of electricity, food, mail, barbershop and cosmetics. Other services were to be kept under the responsibility of the kibbutz, including healthcare, education and welfare. The dispute mainly concerned the privatization of the dining room. At the end of the discussions, most privatization initiatives were rejected and only a few minor changes that had no practical effect on the collective lifestyle were accepted.

Various services have developed in the kibbutz; some of them are operated privately by the kibbutz members, such as the "IDEA Information System", which provides software for 70% of the museums in Israel, including Yad Vashem. In 2019 the kibbutz finalized a deal with the kibbutzim of Evron and Sa'ar to buy a quarter of their share of a company called Bermad, estimated to be worth around 450 million NIS. The company manufactures water control products that are provided to over 70 other companies, with annual revenue of half a billion NIS, employing around 700 workers.

Other sites in Mishmar HaEmek include: the Plant Nursery, the Basketball Hall, the Winery, the Mishmar HaEmek Cemetery, and the Mishmar HaEmek Battle Memorial Monument.