Al-Mansura () was a Palestinian Arab village in the Tiberias Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on May 10, 1948. It was located 16 kilometres northwest of Tiberias.
History Al-Mansura, like the rest of Palestine, was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517, and in the census of 1596, the village was located in the nahiya of Tabariyya, part of Safad Sanjak. It had a population of 16 households, all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, rice, goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues; the taxes totalled 530 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 190Note that Rhode, 1979, p. 6 writes that the register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied from the Safad-district was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9.
In 1838, el-Mansura was noted as a Druze village in the Esh-Shagur district, located between Safad, Acca and Tiberias.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 3, 2nd appendix, p. 133Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 3, pp. 239-240
In 1875 Victor Guérin found the village to have 200 Druze.Guérin, 1868, p. 458-459, as referred in Conder and Kitchener, 1881, p. 364 In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine described El Mansurah as "A stone-built village, situated on the slope of the hill, containing about 150 Moslems; extensive olive-groves to the south; water from springs and cisterns."Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 364
British Mandate era In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Mughar wa Mansura had a total population of 1377. Of these, 265 were Muslim, 676 Druze and 436 Christians.Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Tiberias, p. 39 All the Christians were Roman Catholic.Barron, 1923, Table XVI, p. 51 In the 1931 census the population of Al-Mansura, together with nearby Maghar, was a total of 1733, in 373 inhabited houses. Of these, 307 were Muslim, 549 Christians, and 877 Druze.Mills, 1932, p. 83
In the 1945 statistics the population of Al-Mansura, together with nearby Maghar, was 2,140; 90 Muslims, 800 Christians and 1,250 others.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 12 They had 55,583 dunams of land according to an official land and population survey. 7,864 dunams were plantations and irrigable land, 18,352 for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 122 while 55 dunams were built-up (urban) land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 172 Post 1948
In 1992, the village site was described: "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." References
Bibliography
External links Welcome To al-Mansura al-Mansura (Tiberias), Zochrot Survey of Western Palestine, Map 6: IAA, SWP Wikimedia commons