Info
District: Tiberias
Occupation date: 01/10/1948
Jewish settlements on village/town land before 1948: None
Jewish settlements on village/town land after 1948: None
Background:
al-Mansura 1948
al-Mansura was located to the south of Mount Hazur and was linked to the highway leading to the city of Tiberias, Safad and Nazareth by secondary roads. al-Mansura lay to the west of its neighbouring village, Mughar, and was originally an offshoot of this village.
In 1944-45, al-Mansura and Mughar combined consisted of 2,140 citizens who owned 55,583 dunums of land. In the late nineteenth century, the village was built of stone on the slope of a hill, with the villagers cultivating olive groves to the south. The villagers also built terraces and houses on the slopes in order to best cultivate the soil, and were made of stones, mud and timber.
In the last years of the British mandate, the two villages consisted of 1,250 Druze Muslims, 800 Christians and 90 Sunni Muslims, working mainly with olives and grains. 18,352 dunums of land were used for cereals, with 7,864 for orchards or were irrigated in 1944-45.
Occupation and depopulation
The exact date of the depopulation of the village is unknown. However, Palestinian historian ‘Arif a-’Arif thinks that the fall of the village had a demoralizing effect on Safad, thus indicating that al-Mansura fell before the 10th of May 1948. However, the Israeli historian Benny Morris states that the twin village Mughar only fell in late October 1948 and indicates that the village of al-Mansura may only have fled at this time.
Israeli settlements on village lands
Today, there are four Israeli settlements. Chazon, established in 1969 is west of the village site, Tefachot, established in 1980 is to the south and the last two, Kallanit and Ravid both established in 1981 are to the southeast.
The village today
The site is covered with debris and overgrown with cacti, olive trees and tall grass. Remains of walls are visible, with one door made of stone with an arched door. Another wall is perforated with its interior bars exposed, signs of having been blasted with dynamite.
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Source: al-Khalidi, Walid (ed.). All that remains: the Palestinian villages occupied and depopulated by Israel in 1948. Washington DC: 1992.