Info
District: Tiberias
Population 1948: 100
Occupation date: 12/04/1948
Occupying unit: Golani
Jewish settlements on village/town land before 1948: None
Jewish settlements on village/town land after 1948: Upper Tiberias Neighborhoods
Background:
Nasir al-Din before 1948
Nasir al-Din was located 3km from the city of Tiberias on the crest of a slope that overlooked the lake Tiberias and the city of Tiberias. A number of springs were located east, southeast and south of the village. It was linked to the city of Tiberias by a secondary road linking it to a highway.
The village was named after Nasir al-Din, whose shrine was built north of the village site, and according to legend was killed in battle against the Crusaders and buried on the site. The village also had another shrine on Tall Ma’un 1km to the west for Shaykh al-Qaddumi who was also killed by the Crusaders, according to legend.
In 1944-45, the village consisted of 90 inhabitants, all of whom were Muslim. They based their income on agriculture and livestock breeding, with 4,172 dunums allocated to cereals.
Occupation and depopulation
Nasir al-Din was chosen by the Haganah forces as the village that would fall victim to a show of their strength, in order to intimidate the nearby villages and the city of Tiberias. On the 11th or 12th of April 1948, two platoons of the Golani brigade moved to the village. Israeli historian Benny Morris wrote that some non-combatants were killed and some houses also destroyed in the action. Most of the inhabitants fled to Lubya or Tiberias.
Two Palestinian sources have given a more detailed account of what happened. Nafez Nazzal quotes that eyewitnesses stated that all of the houses were destroyed and some villagers - including women and children - were killed, whilst the rest were expelled. ‘Arif al-’Arif states that ten people were killed and the houses burned down. Furthermore, a British communiqué stated that eight men, one woman and an unspecified number of children were killed in the offense, whilst houses were blown up and torched.
Israeli Settlements on village lands
A section of the city of Tiberias is located on the village site.
The village today
Today, there is no visible sign of the village, instead there have been erected buildings belonging to the city of Tiberias on part of the village land. Some areas are also used for grazing by the Israelis.
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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.
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