Ashkar Winery

thousands of years of winemaking heritage displaced, the fight to exist and return

Ashkar Winery has a complex history that dates back thousands of years to the small village of Iqrit in the Upper G

alilee. The Ashkar family produced wine there for generations until the village was seized and depopulated by the Israeli military in 1948. Despite a Supreme Court ruling allowing former residents to return to their homes, the IDF destroyed Iqrit in 1951.

The descendants of the village maintain an outpost in the church and bury their dead in its cemetery, but attempts to cultivate its lands are uprooted by the Israeli Land Authorities.

Nemi Ashkar, from the second generation of the displaced community of Iqrit village, re-established the winery in Kufur Yasif in 2010.

 He felt a deep connection to the land and believed that salvation was to be found in wholesome work in his beloved homeland.

The winery’s labels feature a painting of Iqrit, and all Ashkar wines are made from grapes grown in the village’s vineyards. Nemi believes that building the winery is another step in his struggle in the fight to return to Iqrit and rebuild his family’s winery.