Tamra

For other uses, see Tamra (disambiguation).

Tamra טַמְרָה, תַמְרָה‎‎ طمرة‎
Hebrew transcription(s)
• ISO 259	Ṭámra, Támra
View of Tamra
Tamra
Coordinates:
Grid position	169/250 PAL
District	Northern
Government
• Type	City (from 1996)
Area
• Total	29,259 dunams (29.259 km2 or 11.297 sq mi)
Population (2007)
• Total	27,300
Name meaning	from make a pit for storing corn

Tamra (Arabic: طمرة‎‎, Hebrew: טַמְרָה‎ or תַמְרָה‎) is an Arab city in the North District of Israel located in the Lower Galilee 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north of the city of Shefa-'Amr and approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of Akko (Acre).

History

Archeological excavations have found remains from the Iron Age II, late Persian/early Hellenistic, Roman Empire, and the Byzantine and Umayyad periods.

Several buildings, populated in the Byzantine and early Islamic period have been excavated.

In the 1253, during the Crusader era, John Aleman, Lord of Caesarea, sold several villages, including Tamra, to the Hospitallers. In 1283 it was mentioned as part of the domain of the Crusaders, according to the hudna between the Crusaders in Acre and the Mamluk sultan Qalawun.

Ottoman era

Tamra, 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 Acca of the Liwa of Safad. The population was 22 Muslim households. They paid taxes on wheat, barley, fruit trees, cotton, occasional revenues, beehives and winter pastures. In 1799 it was named Tomrat on the map of Pierre Jacotin.

In 1859 the British Consul Rogers estimated the population to be 1,200, all Muslims, and the cultivated area 80 feddans, while Victor Guérin found it in 1875 to have 800 inhabitants, all Muslim.

In 1881, the Palestine Exploration Fund'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."

British Mandate era

At the time of the 1922 census of Palestine Tamra had a population of 1,111, all Muslims, increasing in the 1931 census to 1,258, still all Muslims, in a total of 282 houses.

By 1945, Tamra had 1,830 inhabitants, all classified as Arabs. The total jurisdiction of the village was 30,559 dunams of land. 1,564 dunams were used for plantations and irrigable land, 14,434 dunams for cereals, while 206 dunams were built-up (urban) land.

1948, and aftermath

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. 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 confiscated 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.

The city became famous for its large dairy factory named "Rajeb-Tamra", taking a certain portion of the diary market in Israel, especially in the Arab sector.

Demographics

According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), at the end of 2007 the city had a total population of 27,300. 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%.[1]

Income

According to CBS, as of 2000, in the city there were 3,908 salaried workers and 375 are self-employed. The mean monthly wage in 2000 for a salaried worker in the city is ILS 2,887, a real change of -2.2% over the course of 2000. Salaried males have a mean monthly wage of ILS 3,358 (no real change) versus ILS 1,977 for females (a real change of -7.6%). The mean income for the self-employed is 4,763. There are 445 people who receive unemployment benefits and 5,290 people who receive an income guarantee.

Education

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.

Sports

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.

See also

• Arab localities in Israel

Bibliography

• (p. 664)

External links

• Welcome To Tamra
• Survey of Western Palestine, Map 5: IAA, Wikimedia commons
• Susan Nathan: An Israeli Jew in a Muslim town
• Municipality of Tamra (Israel) Flags of the World
• The Condition of the Palestinian Minority Exposed By New Book Reilly Vinall
• Map 1946