Year | Arab | Total |
---|---|---|
1931 | 179 | |
1944/45 | 90 |
Year | Arab | Jewish | Public | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
1944/45 * | 4185 | 1410 | 1202 | 6797 |
Use | Total |
---|---|
5555 (82%) |
The village was located on the crest of a slope that overlooked, and descended toward, Lake Tiberias and the city of Tiberias. A number of springs were found to the east, southeast, and south. A secondary road linked it to a highway in the northwest that led to Tiberias. The village was named after a Nasir al-Din, whose shrine was built north of the village site and who, according to legend, was killed in a battle against the Crusaders and buried on the site. In addition to the shrine for Nasir al-Din, the village had another shrine on Tall Ma'un, 1 km to the west, for one Shaykh al-Qaddumi who also was said to have been killed by Crusaders. The village had no particular plan; however, its houses were generally scattered in a north-south direction. The people of Nasir al-Din were Muslims. They worked mainly in agriculture and livestock breeding. In 1944/45 a total of 4,172 dunums of the land of the villages of al-Manara and Nasir al-Din was allocated to cereals.
Before occupying a city, the Haganah often captured one of the nearby villages to make an example of it, inciting fear among the city's residents and creating an outflow of refugees. This tactic was employed in the capture of Tiberias; Nasir al-Din was the village that was singled out for a show of strength. On 11 or 12 April 1948, two platoons of the Golani Brigade that were based in the Jewish quarter of Tiberias moved on the village. Israeli historian Benny Morris writes that 'Some non-combatants were apparently killed and some houses destroyed. Most of the population fled to Lubiya or to Tiberias, from where British troops evacuated them to Lubiya.'
More explicit accounts of the early April attack are given by two Palestinian sources. Palestinian historian Nafez Nazzal quotes eyewitnesses who state that all of the village's houses were destroyed, some inhabitants (including women and children) were killed, and the rest were expelled. He cites the names of seven villagers killed in the struggle. Palestinian historian 'Arif al-'Arif states that ten people were killed and the houses of the village were burned. An official British communique quoted in the Palestinian daily Filastin states that eight men, one woman, and an unspecified number of children were killed during the onslaught. Filastin confirms that stone houses were blown up and mud houses were burned by the attackers. The arrival of the terrorized refugees undetermined morale in Tiberias. The occupation of the village also effectively isolated Tiberias from the large nearby village of Lubya, thus tightening the noose around the town.
Morris claims that some people remained in the village even after its fall, but that they were made to leave by 23 April. The circumstances of their expulsion are unclear.
There is no visible sign of the former village. Residential buildings that belong to the city of Tiberias have been erected on parts of the village site and land. Portions of the village land have not been developed and are used as grazing areas by Israelis.