Al-Masara

Al-Masara (Arabic: المعصرة‎, pronounced al-Ma'sara; translation: "the press") is a Palestinian village in the central West Bank, 6.2 km southwest of Bethlehem, part of the Bethlehem Governorate. It is surrounded by a number of smaller Palestinian villages, including Khallet al-Haddad to the east.[2] The population was 803 in the 2007 census by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).[1]

Al-Masara
Local Development Committee
Arabic transcription(s)
 • Arabicالمعصرة
 • LatinAl-Ma'sara (official)
Protest in al-Masara
StateState of Palestine
GovernorateBethlehem
Founded1930
Government
 • TypeLocal Development Committee
 • Head of MunicipalityMahmoud Alaeddin
Area
 • Total973 dunams (1.0 km2 or 0.4 sq mi)
Population
 (2007[1])
 • Total803
 • Density800/km2 (2,100/sq mi)
Name meaning"the press"

History

Its name, which translates as "the press", derives from the Byzantine Empire-era olive press still located in al-Ma'sara.[2] In 1883 the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) noted "heaps of stones and cisterns" at Khurbet Marsia.[3]

The modern town was founded in 1930 by members of the Arab al-Zawahra and at-Ta'mirah tribes.[2]

Modern era

After the Six-Day War in 1967, Al-Masara has been under Israeli occupation.

A seven-member local development committee was established by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to administer the village, most which is located in Area B giving the PNA jurisdiction over al-Ma'sara's civil affairs.[2] The head of the committee is Mahmoud Alaeddin.[4]

There is one mosque, al-Ma'sara Mosque, and a primary and secondary school in the village. Agriculture accounts for 70% of al-Ma'sara's economic activity, while the civil sector makes up 16%. The total land area is 973 dunams, of which 42 dunams are designated built-up. Most of the remainder is arable land, 505 dunams of which are cultivated.[2]

References
  1. 2007 PCBS Census. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p.117.
  2. Al-Ma'sara Village Profile. Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem (ARIJ). 2010.
  3. Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 359
  4. Masara Profile. Jerusalem Media and Communications Center (JMCC). 2007-02-09.

Bibliography
  • Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1883). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. 3. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
  • Palmer, E. H. (1881). 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. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. (p. 400)

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