Al-Samra () was a Palestinian Arab village in the Tiberias Subdistrict. It was depopulated on April 21, 1948, during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine. It was located 10 km southeast of Tiberias.
History The village had a mosque and several khirbas (ruined sites) including Khirbat al-Tawafiq and Khirbat Duwayraban.
Late Ottoman period In the early 19th century, Johann Ludwig Burckhardt noted it as the only village on the eastern shore of Lake Tiberias, and that it had some ancient buildings.Burckhardt, 1822, pp. 278-279, cited in Khalidi, 1992, p. 539
In 1838, Edward Robinson was told that the village, Khurbet es-Sumrah, was on the eastern shore of the lake.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 3, p. 264, cited in Khalidi, 1992, pp. 539-540 The villagers were Muslim.Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol. 3, Appendix 2, p. 131, calling it el-Khirbet es-Saudah
In 1875, Victor Guérin found here large ruins, which he misidentified as Hippos.Guérin, 1880, p. 310-312
A population list from about 1887 showed es Samr (east shore) to have about 180 inhabitants; 20 Druze and 160 Muslims.Schumacher, 1888, p. 186
In 1914, an Ottoman airplane, on its way from Istanbul to Cairo, crashed by the village. Two pilots were killed. There is an Ottoman memorial to the event, about 1,5 km east of the village site. , one of the first pilots of the Ottoman Air Force, was one of the pilots killed.Letter from Kibbutz Ha’On: Fallen Flyers Hadassah Magazine, 17 March 2014
British Mandate period In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, the population of Samra was 157 Muslims,Barron, 1923, Table IX, Sub-district of Tiberias, p. 39 increasing in the 1931 census to 237; 232 Muslims and 5 Baháʼís, in a total of 50 houses.Mills, 1932, p. 84
In the 1945 statistics, Es Samra had a population of 290; 280 Muslims and 10 classified as others, with 6,912 dunams of Arab-owned land. Of this, 30 dunams were used for citrus and bananas, 21 for plantations and irrigable land, 6,828 dunams for cereals,Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 123 while 23 dunams were classified as built-up area.Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 173
1948, aftermath
The village became depopulated on April 21, 1948.Morris, 2004, p. 186 note #179, p. 275Morris, 2004, p. 372, note #180, p. 405Morris, 2004, p. 513, notes #56, 57, p. 539
HaOn was established on village land, north of the village site, in 1949.
In 1992, Walid Khalidi described the village site: "Nothing remains of the village houses. A tourist resort, which consists of a few cabins and small houses, has been established on part of the village site. Other parts of the site are covered with trees. The surrounding land is cultivated by Israelis."
References
Sources
External links Welcome To al-Samra al-Samra, Zochrot