Nasir al-Din

The village was situated on the summit of a hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee and the city of Tiberias, sloping downward toward both. Several springs surrounded the village from the east, south, and southeast. A secondary road connected Nasir al-Din to a main road running northwest of it, which led to Tiberias.

The village was named in honor of Nasir al-Din, who had a shrine to the north of the village site. According to local tradition, he was killed in battle against the Crusaders and buried at that location. In addition to this shrine, the villagers also revered another shrine belonging to a sheikh named al-Qaddumi, located on Tel Ma‘un, about one kilometer west of the village. It is also said that this sheikh was killed by the Crusaders.

The village had no clearly defined layout, but its houses were generally scattered along a north-south axis. The inhabitants of Nasir al-Din were all Muslims, engaged primarily in agriculture and livestock raising. In 1944–1945, a total of 4,172 dunums of land from the

villages of al-Manara and Nasir al-Din was allocated for cereal cultivation.

Occupation and Ethnic Cleansing of the Village

It was a common tactic of the Haganah to seize villages near key towns before launching attacks on those towns, in order to send a message and instill fear, thereby triggering waves of refugees. This strategy was employed during the conquest of Tiberias, and Nasir al-Din was the village selected for this show of force.

On April 11 or 12, 1948, two platoons from the Golani Brigade, stationed in the Jewish quarter of Tiberias, advanced toward the village. According to Israeli historian Benny Morris, non-combatants were reportedly killed during or after the attack, and some homes were destroyed. Most of the village's inhabitants fled to Lubya or to Tiberias, from where British soldiers later transported them to Lubya.

Further details of the April attack are provided by two Palestinian sources. Historian Nafith Nazzal cites eyewitnesses who state that all the village houses were destroyed, some villagers—including women and children—were killed, and the rest were expelled. He provides the names of seven villagers who died during the assault.

Palestinian historian Arif al-Arif reports that ten people were killed and that the village houses were burned. A British official statement, cited by the Palestine Daily, reported the deaths of eight men, one woman, and an unspecified number of children. The paper confirms that the attackers demolished stone houses and set fire to those made of mud.

The arrival of terrified refugees from the village further undermined morale in Tiberias. The occupation of Nasir al-Din effectively cut off Tiberias from the large village of Lubya. Morris claims that some villagers remained after the initial fall but were forced to leave later in April. The circumstances of their final displacement are unknown.

The Village Today

No traces of the village remain. Residential buildings belonging to the city of Tiberias have been constructed on the village site and parts of its former lands. Some remaining areas are currently used by Israelis as grazing land.

Zionist Settlements on Village Lands

Part of the modern city of Tiberias has been established on the former village site.