Al-Menara
المنارة | |
|---|---|
Village | |
| Etymology: the light-house[1] | |
.jpg) 1870s map .jpg) 1940s map.jpg) modern map .jpg) 1940s with modern overlay mapA series of historical maps of the area around Al-Manara, Palestine (click the buttons) | |
  Al-Menara Location within Mandatory Palestine | |
| Coordinates: 32°45′17″N 35°32′32″E / 32.75472°N 35.54222°E | |
| Palestine grid | 201/240 |
| Geopolitical entity | Mandatory Palestine |
| Subdistrict | Tiberias |
| Date of depopulation | early March, 1948[4] |
| Area | |
| • Total | 4,185 dunams (4.185 km2 or 1.616 sq mi) |
| Population (1945) | |
| • Total | 490[2][3] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Military assault by Yishuv forces |
Al-Manara (Arabic: 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.
Al-Manara contains Khirbat al-Manara and Khirbat Sarjuna.[5] The Crusaders referred to al-Manara as Menan.[5]
In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine noted at el Menarah: "Ruined Arab houses, all basalt; no cisterns".[6]
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,[2] and together with the people of Nasir ad-Din they had 4,185 dunams of land.[3] Of this, 4,172 dunams of land were used for cereals,[9] while 13 dunams were classified as built-up (urban) area.[10]
Al-Manara was depopulated in early March, 1948.[4]
There are no Israeli settlement on village land, the closest is Poria Illit, located to the south of the site.[5] 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."[5]
