tamra

Tamra is an ancient village on a hill. Old squared stone blocks have been reused in village homes. Cisterns and tombs carved into rock have also been found here.Dauphin, 1998, p. 664

Tamra has been identified with Kefar Tamartha, a Jewish village mentioned in the Talmud as the home of 3rd century amora Rabbi Shila of Kefar Tamarta.{{Cite book |last=Rozenfeld |first=Ben Tsiyon |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/695990313 |title=Torah centers and rabbinic activity in Palestine, 70-400 CE : history and geographic distribution |date=2010 |publisher=Brill |others=Chava Cassel |isbn=978-90-474-4073-4 |location=Leiden |pages=40 |oclc=695990313}}{{Cite book |last=Grootkerk |first=Shlomo |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789047400271 |title=Ancient Sites in Galilee |date=2000-04-27 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-474-0027-1 |page=175|doi=10.1163/9789047400271 }}

On a hill 3 km west of Tamra's historical core lies a ruin called in Arabic Khirbet et-Tira ("ruin of the castle") and in Hebrew Horbat Tirat Tamra ("Tamra castle ruin"), which has been studied by European and Israeli archaeologists since the 19th century. The site is dated through its finds to the Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Medieval periods.{{Cite web |last=Gunnar Lehmann and Martin Peilstocker |date=2012 |title=Map of Ahihud - Horbat Tirat Tamra 1 (Site 59) |url=https://survey.antiquities.org.il/index_Eng.html#/MapSurvey/12/site/2134 |website=The Archaeological Survey of Israel}} The site is bisected by Highway 70 and is covered the modern city's agricultural lands.{{Cite web |last=Rafeh Abu Raya |date=17 April 2024 |title=Horbat Tirat Tamra: Final Report |url=https://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/Report_Detail_Eng.aspx?id=26472 |website=Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel}}

A church constructed in Tamra during the Byzantine era remained active through the Umayyad and Abbasid periods before it was finally abandoned. An inscription using the hijra calendar discovered on the church's floor can be dated to AD 725.{{Cite journal |last1=Di Segni |first1=L. |last2=Tepper |first2=Y. |date=January 2004 |title=A Greek Inscription Dated by the Era of Hegira in an Umayyad Church at Tamra in Eastern Galilee |url=https://www.brepolsonline.net/doi/10.1484/J.LA.2.303601 |journal=Liber Annuus |language=it |volume=54 |pages=343–350 |doi=10.1484/J.LA.2.303601 |issn=0081-8933}}

In the 1253, during the Crusader period, John Aleman, Lord of Caesarea, sold several villages, including Tamra, to the Hospitallers.Delaville Le Roulx, 1883, p. [https://archive.org/stream/lesarchiveslabib00dela#page/184/mode/1up 184]; cited in Clermont-Ganneau, 1888, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/RecueilDarcheologieOrientaletome1/Recueil_d_archologie_orientale-8#page/n332/mode/1up 309] -310; cited in Röhricht, 1893, RRH, p. [https://archive.org/stream/regestaregnihie00rhgoog#page/n325/mode/1up 319], No. 1210 In 1283 it was mentioned as part of the domain of the Crusaders, according to the hudna (temporary truce) between the Crusaders in Acre and the Mamluk sultan Qalawun.al-Qalqashandi version of the hudna, referred in Barag, 1979, p. 204, no. 20

Scholars have suggested that Khirbet et-Tira may be the site of Tatura, a Crusader period settlement belonging to the Templar order. The name of the ruin might be a corruption of the Arabic toponym "Turat Tamra", from the same period. Excavation at the site revealed remains of Crusader structures destroyed by fire in the 13th century.

The village from the Mamluk period seems to have persisted until the late 16th to early 17th centuries CE. Around this time, immigrants belonging to the Zu'abiyah clan settled in what is now known as Tamra, the place where their descendants reside to this day.{{Citation |last=Gal |first=Zvi |title=7 Tamra: A Late Byzantine–Early Islamic Village in the Eastern Lower Galilee |date=2016-01-01 |work=Viewing Ancient Jewish Art and Archaeology |pages=148 |url=https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9789004306592/B9789004306592_008.xml |access-date=2024-02-01 |publisher=Brill |language=en |doi=10.1163/9789004306592_008 |isbn=978-90-04-30659-2}}

Tamra was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517. in the census of 1596 the village was located in the Nahiya of Acca, part of Safad Sanjak. The population was 22 Muslim households. They paid a fixed tax rate of 20% on wheat, barley, fruit trees, cotton, occasional revenues, beehives and winter pastures; a total of 2,929 akçe.Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 192Note that Rhode, 1979, p. [https://www.academia.edu/2026845/The_Administration_and_Population_of_the_Sancak_of_Safed_in_the_Sixteenth_Century 6] writes that the Safad register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9 In 1799 it was named Tomrat on the map of Pierre Jacotin.Karmon, 1960, p. [http://www.jchp.ucla.edu/Bibliography/Karmon,_Y_1960_Jacotin_Map_(IEJ_10).pdf 162]

In 1859 the British Consul Rogers estimated the population to be 1,200, all Muslims, and the cultivated area 80 feddans,Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp01conduoft#page/273/mode/1up 273] while Victor Guérin found it in 1875 to have 800 inhabitants, all Muslim.Guérin, 1880, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr01unkngoog#page/n434/mode/1up 421]-422

In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described Tamra as: "A large village, with a small mosque on the east and well on the north. There is a rock-cut tomb west of the houses. South of the village, in the valley, a fine olive-grove extends as far as er Rueis."

A population list from about 1887 showed that Tamra had about 535 inhabitants, all Muslims.Schumacher, 1888, p. [https://archive.org/stream/quarterlystateme19pale#page/n200/mode/1up 175]

At the time of the 1922 census of Palestine Tamra had a population of 1,111, all Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table XI, Sub-district of Acre, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n39/mode/1up 37] increasing in the 1931 census to 1,258, all Muslims, in a total of 282 houses.Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 103]

In the 1945 statistics, Tamra had 1,830 inhabitants, all Muslims,Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p05.jpg 5] while the total jurisdiction of the village was 30,559 dunams of land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20I/Acre/Page-041.jpg 41] 1,564 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land, 14,434 dunams for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20II/Acre/Page-081.jpg 81] while 206 dunams were built-up (urban) land.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. [http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Acre/Page-131.jpg 131]

Tamra was captured by Israeli forces from the Arab Liberation Army and the Syrian Army in 1948 Arab–Israeli War as a part of Operation Dekel. On 20 May 1948 the civilian population had been evacuated on orders from Arab irregular forces. According to Benny Morris it was feared that the village would surrender to the Yishuv.Morris, 1987, p. 67 The city grew rapidly in the period of Israel's first years as a nation due to the influx of Palestinian refugees from destroyed nearby villages such as al-Birwa or al-Damun. Large percentages of the city's farming land was expropriated by Israeli authorities and allocated to farming cooperatives and nearby Jewish settlement towns such as Mitzpe Aviv. Tamra achieved local council status in 1956 and was declared a city in 1996. In 2020 the Israeli government approved plans to construct 5,270 housing units in the southern quarter. The plan includes public and transport infrastructure.{{Cite news |last=ציאון |first=הילה |date=13 December 2020 |title=בהליך מואץ: אושרו תוכניות ל-7,000 דירות חדשות במגזר הערבי |trans-title=In an accelerated procedure: plans for 7,000 new apartments in the Arab sector were approved |url=https://www.ynet.co.il/economy/article/BJQQ2r73w |work=Ynet}}

The city became famous for its large dairy factory named "Rajeb-Tamra", accounting for a sizeable portion of the dairy market in Israel's Arab sector.

According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), at the end of 2007 the city had a total population of 27,300.{{cite web|url=http://www.cbs.gov.il/population/new_2009/table3.pdf|publisher=Israel Central Bureau of Statistics|title=Table 3 - Population of Localities Numbering Above 1,000 Residents and Other Rural Population|date=2008-06-30|access-date=2008-10-18}} In 2001, the ethnic makeup of the city was almost entirely Arab (99.6% Muslim), with no significant Jewish population. See Population groups in Israel.

According to CBS, in 2001 there were 11,900 males and 11,400 females. The population of the city was spread out, with 48.5% 19 years of age or younger, 18.0% between 20 and 29, 19.7% between 30 and 44, 9.0% from 45 to 59, 1.6% from 60 to 64, and 3.0% 65 years of age or older. The population growth rate in 2001 was 3.3% and 2005 had dropped to 2.5%.{{Cite web | url=http://www.cbs.gov.il/population/new_2007/table3.pdf | title=Population(1) of localities numbering above 1,000 residents and other rural population on 31/12/2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170712005500/http://www.cbs.gov.il/population/new_2007/table3.pdf | archive-date=2017-07-12}}

The largest and most influential clan in Tamra is the Diab, which consists of several branches.Rosenfeld and Al-Haj 1990, p. 92. Other clans include the Hejazi, and the smaller clans of Abd al-Hadi, Abu Na'ama, Abu Rumi, Amar, Arshid, Awwad, Kanaan, Muhsin, Nasser, Natour, Ourabi, Radi, Shama, Shaqir, Sheikh Ali and Yassin.Rosenfeld and Al-Haj 1990, pp. 91–96. In addition to the aforementioned clans, whose presence in Tamra predates the state of Israel, the city is home to internally displaced Palestinians and their descendants from the nearby villages of al-Damun, Hadatha, Mi'ar and al-Ruways, which were depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.Rosenfeld and Al-Haj 1990, p. 93.

According to CBS, there were 3,908 salaried workers and 375 self-employed persons in 2000.

According to CBS, there are 13 schools and 5,779 students in the city. They are spread out as 9 elementary schools and 4000 elementary school students, and 3 high schools and 2,324 high school students. 54.6% of 12th grade students were entitled to a matriculation certificate in 2001.

During the late 1990s sociologist As'ad Ghanem set up an NGO in Tamra. It was called Ibn Khaldun and campaigned for more Arab history to be taught in Israeli schools.Pappe, 2011, p. 219

The current football teams in the city are Maccabi Tamra and F.C. Tzeirei Tamra, both play in Liga Gimel, the fifth tier of Israeli football. Maccabi Tamra and Hapoel Bnei Tamra (which is now defunct), played in the past in Liga Artzit, having been promoted from Liga Alef in 1988 and 2006 respectively.

• Mohammed Awaed (born 1997), football player for Maccabi Haifa
• Yussef Diab (1917–1984), member of the Knesset

• Arab localities in Israel

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• {{cite book

|last1= Hütteroth|first1=W.-D.|author-link1=Wolf-Dieter Hütteroth

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|title= Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=wqULAAAAIAAJ |year= 1977 |series= Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5 |publisher= {{ill|Fränkische Geographische Gesellschaft|de}} |location=Erlangen |isbn= 3-920405-41-2}}

• {{cite journal |author= Karmon, Y. |title= An Analysis of Jacotin's Map of Palestine|url=http://www.jchp.ucla.edu/Bibliography/Karmon,_Y_1960_Jacotin_Map_(IEJ_10).pdf |journal= Israel Exploration Journal |volume= 10 |issue= 3,4 |year= 1960 |pages= 155–173; 244–253}}
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• {{cite book|last=Palmer|first=E.H.|author-link=Edward Henry Palmer|year=1881|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp00conduoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer|publisher=Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund}}
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|last= Schumacher |first= G.| author-link= Gottlieb Schumacher

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{{Refend}}

• [http://tamra.muni.il/ Official website] {{in lang|ar}}
• [http://www.palestineremembered.com/GeoPoints/Tamra_1632/index.html Welcome To Tamra]
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 5: [http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8368 IAA], [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.05.jpg Wikimedia commons]
• Susan Nathan: [https://web.archive.org/web/20061223030630/http://imeu.net/news/article00844.shtml An Israeli Jew in a Muslim town]
• [http://fotw.fivestarflags.com/il-tamra.html#des Municipality of Tamra (Israel)] Flags of the World
• [http://www.peykarandeesh.org/noFarsi/Condition.html The Condition of the Palestinian Minority Exposed By New Book] Reilly Vinall
• [https://books.google.com/books?id=Z7n6gzi1o_IC&dq=tamra+israel&pg=PA157 "Combining Empathy with Problem Solving: The Tamra Model of Facilitation in Israel" by Eileen F. Babbitt and Pamela Pomerance Steiner, with Jabir Asaqla, Chassia Chomsky-Porat, and Shirli Kirschner, Chapter 8 of 'Building Peace: Practical Reflections from the Field']

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