Al-Tira, Baysan

See Tira for other sites with similar names.
Al-Tira
Name meaning "The Fort of Abu Amran"[1]
Subdistrict Baysan
Palestine grid 193/228
Population 150[2] (1945)
Date of depopulation April 15, 1948[3]
Cause(s) of depopulation Whispering campaign
Current localities Gazit[4][5]

Al-Tira was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Baysan. It was depopulated by the Israel Defense Forces during the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on April 15, 1948 as part of Operation Gideon under the command of Yosef Weitz. It was located 17.5 km north of Baysan overlooking Wadi al-Bira. However, 'Ayn al-Bayda' was the main source of drinking water for al-Tira inhabitants.

History

It has been suggested that this was Atara of the list of Thothmes III.[6][7]

In 1875, in the late Ottoman era, Victor Guérin climbed a small hill to reach the Al-Tira village. It consisted of about a dozen houses, built of adobe or assorted materials.[8] In 1882, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described it as: "A small village, principally of adobe, on a hill-top, above a deep gorge. The water appears to be brought from the springs in the valley."[7]

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the Mandatory Palestine authorities, Tireh had a population of 130 Muslims,[9] decreasing in the 1931 census to 108, still all Muslims, in 24 houses.[10]

In 1945 the population of Et Tira and Irgun Borokhov was 200; 150 Arabs and 50 Jews, while the total land area was 10,207 dunams, according to an official land and population survey.[2][11] Of this, Arabs used 54 dunums for plantations and irrigable land, 4,326 for cereals,[12] while 29 dunums were classified as built-up (urban) land.[13]

1948, aftermath

The kibbutz Gazit was established on the land of village land in September 1948, 1.5 km southwest of the village site.[4][5]

References

  1. ↑ Palmer, 1881, p. 170
  2. 1 2 Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 7
  3. ↑ Morris, 2004, p. xvii, village #109. Also gives cause of depopulation
  4. 1 2 Morris, 2004, p. xxi, settlement #25.
  5. 1 2 Khalidi, 1992, p. 63.
  6. ↑ Conder, 1876, p. 146
  7. 1 2 Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 87
  8. ↑ Guérin, 1880, p. 139
  9. ↑ Barron, 1923, Table IX, p. 31
  10. ↑ Mills, 1932, p. 81
  11. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 44
  12. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 85
  13. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 135

Bibliography

External links

Coordinates: 32°38′52″N 35°27′26″E / 32.6478°N 35.4572°E / 32.6478; 35.4572

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/12/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.