PLace

al-Manara

Place
al-Manara — المَنارَة
Known also as: 'Arab al-Manara
District
Galilee
Subdistrict
Tiberias
Average Elevation
225 m
Distance from Tiberias
5 km
Population
Year Arab Total
1931 214
1944/45 490 490
Land Ownership (1944/45) in dunums
Year Arab Jewish Public Total
1944/45 * 4185 1410 1202 6797
Land Use (1944/45) in dunums
Use Arab Jewish Public Total
Non-Cultivable & Built-up (Total) *
Use Arab Jewish Public Total
Non-Cultivable * 1 1054 1055
Built-up ** 13 174 187
13 175 1054 1242 (18%)
Cultivable (Total) **
Use Arab Jewish Public Total
Cereal * 4172 1235 148 5555
4172 1235 148 5555 (82%)
Number of Houses (1931)
33

The village was located on a hilltop overlooking Lake Tiberias in lower eastern Galilee. Northeast of it, a steep slope descended toward the edge of the lake. To the south, there was a moderately sloping plain. AI-Manara's twin village of Nasir aI-Din lay about 3 km to the northwest. A secondary road linked the village to a highway in the northwest that led to Tiberias. The name al-Manara, which means "lighthouse" in Arabic, may have been derived from the name of Kefar Menori, which was located on the same spot during the Roman period. It was known as Menan by the Crusaders. The village site was a small, square area in which houses were crowded closely together. Its residents were Muslims. The village was close to several springs, including a group of hot springs which lay 1.5 km to the northeast, on the shores of Lake Tiberias. The people of al-Manara worked in agriculture and livestock breeding. Their main agricultural products were grain, watermelons, and tobacco. In 1944/45 a total of 4,172 dunums of the land of the two villages was allocated to cereals. The village was an archaeological site that contained the ruins of houses. Archaeological remains were also found at Khirbat al-Manara (200241) and Khirbat Sarjuna (198241).

The village fell in early March 1948, during an attack that preluded the capture of Tiberias. The assault 'precipitated the evacuation' of the village, according to Israeli historian Benny Morris. Eyewitnesses, who related that the village was attacked by Haganah forces on 2 March, provided further details to Palestinian historian Nafez Nazzal. They said that Zionist soldiers chased the villagers out, destroyed some houses, and left leaflets behind warning the inhabitants not to return because the village had been mined. The attack greatly demoralized the residents of Tiberias. It was also the first step in the isolation of the city, cutting it off from the south and increasing its sense of beleaguerment. Tiberias itself was not captured until the following month.

There are no Israeli settlements on village lands. The closest settlement is Poriyya (201236), built in 1949 to the south.

The site has been levelled and is strewn with pieces of black stone. At its northern edge are walls of dark stone, with doum-palm trees growing in their midst. At the Site, a sign (in Arabic, Hebrew, and English) reads, "This is a historical site, please protect it" (see photos).