Al-Manara, Palestine Explained

Al-Menara
Native Name:المنارة
Native Name Lang:ar
Settlement Type:Village
Etymology:the light-house[1]
Pushpin Map:Mandatory Palestine
Pushpin Mapsize:200
Coordinates:32.7547°N 35.5422°W
Grid Name:Palestine grid
Grid Position:201/240
Subdivision Type:Geopolitical entity
Subdivision Name:Mandatory Palestine
Subdivision Type1:Subdistrict
Subdivision Name1:Tiberias
Established Title1:Date of depopulation
Established Date1:early March, 1948[2]
Established Title2:Repopulated dates
Unit Pref:dunam
Area Total Dunam:4,185
Population As Of:1945
Population Total:490[3] [4]
Blank Name Sec1:Cause(s) of depopulation
Blank Info Sec1:Military assault by Yishuv forces

Al-Manara (ar|المنارة) was a Palestinian Arab village in the Tiberias Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on March 1, 1948, by Jewish troops. It was located 5 km south of Tiberias.

History

Al-Manara contains Khirbat al-Manara and Khirbat Sarjuna. Crusaders referred to al-Manara as Menan.

The site is identified with Kefar Menori, a village mentioned in the Tosefta.[5]

In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine noted at el Menarah: "Ruined Arab houses, all basalt; no cisterns".[6]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Manara had a population of 122; 121 Muslims and 1 Jew,[7] increasing in the 1931 census to 214 Muslims, in 33 houses.[8]

In the 1944/1945 statistics it had total population of 490 Muslims,[3] and together with the people of Nasir ad-Din they had 4,185 dunams of land.[4] Of this, 4,172 dunams of land were used for cereals,[9] while 13 dunams were classified as built-up (urban) area.[10]

1948, aftermath

Al-Manara was depopulated in early March, 1948.[2]

There are no Israeli settlement on village land, the closest is Poria Illit, located to the south of the site.[11] In 1992 the village site was described: "The site has been levelled and is strewn with pieces of black stone. At its northern edge are walls of dark stone, with doum palm trees growing in their midst. At the site, a sign (in Arabic, Hebrew, and English) reads: This is a historical site, please protect it."[11]

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Palmer, 1881, p. 131
  2. Morris, 2004, p. xvii, village #99. Also gives cause of depopulation
  3. Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 12
  4. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 72
  5. Avi-Yonah . Michael . 1976 . Gazetteer of Roman Palestine . Qedem . 5 . 72 . 0333-5844.
  6. Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 413
  7. Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Tiberias, p. 40
  8. Mills, 1932, p. 83
  9. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 123
  10. Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 173
  11. Khalidi, 1992, p. 531

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