Al-Tira (Haifa)

Infobox Former Arab villages in Palestine
name=al-Tira


imgsize=
caption=
arname=الطيرة
meaning=
altSp=Tirat al-Lawz
district=hf
population=5,270
popyear=1945
area=45,262
areakm=
date=16 July 1948
cause=M
curlocl=Tirat Carmel

Al-Tira ( _ar. الطيرة) also called Tirat al-Lawz or "Tira of the almonds" to distinguish it from other al-Tiras) was a Palestinian town located 7 kilometres south of Haifa.cite web|title=Welcome to al-Tira|publisher=Palestine Remembered|accessdate=2007-12-09|url=http://www.palestineremembered.com/Haifa/al-Tira/]

The Crusaders called al-Tira, St. Yohan de Tire. It was made up of five khirbets, including "Khirbat al-Dayr" where lie the ruins of St. Brocardus monastery and a cave complex with vaulted tunnels.Cite web|title=Destroyed Palestinian Villages: al-Tira|author=Rami Nashashibi|publisher=Center for Research and Documentation of Palestinian Society|date=1996|accessdate=2007-12-09|url=http://alcor.concordia.ca/~pal/History/Villages/[e-mail]]

History

In 1596, al-Tira was a village with a population of 286 under the administration of the Ottoman empire to whom it paid taxes on a number of items, including wheat, goats, beehives, and vineyards.

After the heavy conscription imposed by the Ottomans in 1872, there was a decline in the village's prosperity, but it subsequently recovered. By 1945, the 5,240 Muslims and 30 Christians shared two elementary schools, one for boys, the other for girls. Its economy was based on the cultivation of grain, vegetables, and fruit watered with the natural springs of the village. In 1943, al-Tira produced more olives and oil than any other village in the Haifa District. The abundance of almond trees in al-Tira gave rise to the village's nickname, "Tirat al-Lawz" ("Tira of the almonds").

ee also

*List of massacres committed prior to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war
*List of villages depopulated during the Arab-Israeli conflict

References