Tamra (Arabic: طمرة, Hebrew: טַמְרָה or תַמְרָה) is an Arabcity in the North District of Israel located in the Lower Galilee 5 kilometres (3 miles) north of the city of Shefa-Amr and approximately 20 kilometres (12 miles) east of Acre. In 2021 it had a population of 35,405.[1]
History
Tamra is an ancient village on a hill. Old squared stone blocks have been reused in village homes. Cisterns and tombs carved into rock have also been found here.[3]
A church constructed in Tamra during the Byzantine era. It remained active through the Umayyad and Abbasid periods before it was finally abandoned. An inscription using the hijra calendar discovered on the church's floor can be dated to AD 725.[6]
Tamra, was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517, and in the census of 1596 the village was located in the Nahiya of Acca, part of Safad Sanjak. The population was 22 Muslim households. They paid a fixed tax rate of 20% on wheat, barley, fruit trees, cotton, occasional revenues, beehives and winter pastures; a total of 2,929 akçe.[9][10] In 1799 it was named Tomrat on the map of Pierre Jacotin.[11]
In 1859 the British Consul Rogers estimated the population to be 1,200, all Muslims, and the cultivated area 80 feddans,[12] while Victor Guérin found it in 1875 to have 800 inhabitants, all Muslim.[13]
In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Tamra as: "A large village, with a small mosque on the east and well on the north. There is a rock-cut tomb west of the houses. South of the village, in the valley, a fine olive-grove extends as far as er Rueis."[12]
A population list from about 1887 showed that Tamra had about 535 inhabitants, all Muslims.[14]
British Mandate
At the time of the 1922 census of Palestine Tamra had a population of 1,111, all Muslims,[15] increasing in the 1931 census to 1,258, all Muslims, in a total of 282 houses.[16]
In the 1945 statistics, Tamra had 1,830 inhabitants, all Muslims,[17] while the total jurisdiction of the village was 30,559 dunams of land.[17][18] 1,564 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land, 14,434 dunams for cereals,[17][19] while 206 dunams were built-up (urban) land.[17][20]
State of Israel
Tamra was captured by Israeli forces from the Arab Liberation Army and the Syrian Army in 1948 Arab–Israeli War as a part of Operation Dekel. On 20 May 1948 the civilian population had been evacuated on orders from Arab irregular forces. According to Benny Morris it was feared that the village would surrender to the Yishuv.[21] The city grew rapidly in the period of Israel's first years as a nation due to the influx of Palestinian refugees from destroyed nearby villages such as al-Birwa or al-Damun. Large percentages of the city's farming land was expropriated by Israeli authorities and allocated to farming cooperatives and nearby Jewish settlement towns such as Mitzpe Aviv. Tamra achieved local council status in 1956 and was declared a city in 1996.
The city became famous for its large dairy factory named "Rajeb-Tamra", taking a certain portion of the dairy market in Israel, especially in the Arab sector.
According to CBS, in 2001 there were 11,900 males and 11,400 females. The population of the city was spread out, with 48.5% 19 years of age or younger, 18.0% between 20 and 29, 19.7% between 30 and 44, 9.0% from 45 to 59, 1.6% from 60 to 64, and 3.0% 65 years of age or older. The population growth rate in 2001 was 3.3% and 2005 had dropped to 2.5%.[23]
The largest and most influential clan in Tamra is the Diab, which consists of several branches.[24] Other clans include the Hejazi, and the smaller clans of Abd al-Hadi, Abu Na'ama, Abu Rumi, Amar, Arshid, Awwad, Kanaan, Muhsin, Nasser, Natour, Ourabi, Radi, Shama, Shaqir, Sheikh Ali and Yassin.[25] In addition to the aforementioned clans, whose presence in Tamra predates the state of Israel, the city is home to internally displaced Palestinians and their descendants from the nearby villages of al-Damun, Hadatha, Mi'ar and al-Ruways, which were depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.[26]
Income
According to CBS, as of 2000, in the city there were 3,908 salaried workers and 375 are self-employed. The mean monthly wage in 2000 for a salaried worker in the city is ILS 2,887, a real change of −2.2% over the course of 2000. Salaried males have a mean monthly wage of ILS 3,358 (no real change) versus ILS 1,977 for females (a real change of −7.6%). The mean income for the self-employed is 4,763. There are 445 people who receive unemployment benefits and 5,290 people who receive an income guarantee.
Education
According to CBS, there are 13 schools and 5,779 students in the city. They are spread out as 9 elementary schools and 4000 elementary school students, and 3 high schools and 2,324 high school students. 54.6% of 12th grade students were entitled to a matriculation certificate in 2001.
During the late 1990s sociologist As'ad Ghanem set up an NGO in Tamra. It was called Ibn Khaldun and campaigned for more Arab history to be taught in Israeli schools.[27]
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