| Avi (Avraham) Sasson | |
| Native Name: | אבי (אברהם) ששון |
| Native Name Lang: | he |
| Nationality: | Israeli |
| Fields: | Israel Studies, Water Irrigation Technologies, Material Culture, Popular Religion, Building Technologies, Stone-Lime Industries |
| Workplaces: | Ashkelon Academic College |
| Known For: | Survey of Palestinian orchard houses, Historic preservation survey around Rosh HaAyin, Community projects in Majdal 'Asqalan |
Avi (Avraham) Sasson (Hebrew: אבי (אברהם) ששון) is an Israeli academic who serves as endowed chair of the Israel Studies Department at Ashkelon Academic College, Israel.[1] [2]
Sasson specializes in water irrigation technologies, material culture, popular religion, building technologies and the stone-lime industries in the southern Levant.[3] [4] [5] [6]
According to reports in Haaretz and TheMarker, Sasson undertook the survey of Palestinian orchard houses (Arabic: Bayyarat) in Tel Aviv-Jaffa.[7] [8] According to another report by Israeli news site Ynet, in 2007 Sasson initiated a historic preservation survey around Rosh HaAyin, documenting 150 historic sites, including the remains of a World War II British Armed Forces camp.[9] Sasson has participated in community projects to protect Majdal 'Asqalan's architectural heritage, protesting damages to the town's main mosque.[10]
According to later reports by local historian and blogger Yoav Avinion, Sasson participated in the study of Majdal Yaba's stone industries in Mandatory Palestine.[11] Haaretz also mentioned that Sasson worked as a consultant on major urban renewal projects, including in Gush Dan, Gedera and Ashkelon.[12] [13]
In September 2023, Sasson published an edited volume commemorating 70 years to the establishment of the Israeli town of Sderot, near the Gaza Strip, just a few days before Palestinian militants overran Sderot during the opening offensive of the Israel-Hamas War.[14] Soon thereafter, he led Zionist commemoration activities recounting the story of Samson and the Philistines near Samson's hometown of Tsor'a.[15]