Al-Tira (Haifa)

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al-Tira
Arabic	الطيرة
Also Spelled	Tirat al-Lawz
District	Haifa
Population	5,270 (1945)
Jurisdiction	45,262 dunums
Date of depopulation	16 July 1948
Cause(s) of depopulation	Military assault by Israeli forces
Current localities	Tirat Carmel

Al-Tira (Arabic: 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.^[1]

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.^[2]

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.^[2]

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").

References

^ "Welcome to al-Tira". Palestine Remembered. Retrieved on 2007-12-09.
^ ^a ^b Rami Nashashibi (1996). "Destroyed Palestinian Villages: al-Tira". Center for Research and Documentation of Palestinian Society. Retrieved on 2007-12-09.