District: Haifa
Population in 1948: 1,730
Date of occupation: May 23, 1948
Settlements established on the village lands before 1948: None
Settlement established on the village site after 1948: Dor
Distance from Haifa: 24 km

The village stood on a small hill rising slightly above the surrounding sandy beach. A secondary road connected it to the coastal highway and linked it with Haifa and other urban centers. The village also had a railway station serving the coastal railway line. It was established near the ruins of the famous ancient Canaanite town of Dor. By the late nineteenth century, Tantura was described as a coastal village extending from north to south, with its harbor located immediately north of the village.

Boundaries of Tantura

Tantura was surrounded by the following villages and towns:

• North: Kafr Lam
• West: Mediterranean Sea
• South: Caesarea
• Southeast: Zamarin
• East: al-Fureidis
• Northeast: Ayn Ghazal

Tantura: The Depopulated Village

The Origin of the Name

Tantura was built on the ruins of an ancient Canaanite village known as Dora, whose ruins still stand north of the village today. Throughout the centuries, the village continued to be known as Dora until the wars of Ibrahim Pasha, son of Muhammad Ali Pasha, against the Ottomans in the mid-nineteenth century.

At that time, some Egyptian soldiers chose Dora as a place to settle and work. Most of these soldiers originated from the Egyptian village of Tanta. Over time, the two names—Dora and Tanta—were combined, giving rise to the name Tantura, which has remained in use ever since.

Economic Life in Tantura

The inhabitants of Tantura worked in agriculture, either as landowners or as agricultural laborers who performed weeding, harvesting, and plowing for landowners in exchange for wages.

Approximately 8,325 dunams of Tantura’s land were cultivated. Agriculture focused primarily on seasonal crops rather than fruit trees. Villagers cultivated wheat, sorghum, barley, sesame, chickpeas, beans, peas, cucumbers, potatoes, watermelons, and other crops, alongside fruit trees such as olives, citrus, prickly pear, mulberry, and figs.

Fishing also played an important role in the local economy, with some residents making their living from fishing due to the village’s location on the Mediterranean coast. Livestock raising was also practiced, including sheep, cattle, camels, horses, and poultry.

Land Ownership in Tantura

Land Use in Tantura

Population of Tantura

Education in Tantura

Until the Nakba, the village had two schools. One was a boys’ school, established in approximately 1889, with education extending to the seventh grade. The second was a girls’ school, established in 1938, with instruction extending to the fourth grade.

The village also had traditional kuttab classes, where children learned the basic principles of reading, writing, and arithmetic. This form of education was widespread in cities and villages under Ottoman rule.

Archaeological Sites in Tantura

The village was surrounded by numerous archaeological sites and ruins containing inscriptions dating back to the thirteenth century BCE.

The Occupation of Tantura

At the beginning of May 1948, Tantura was among the last remaining Arab villages along the coastal plain. The 33rd Battalion of the Haganah, specifically the 3rd Battalion of the Alexandroni Brigade, attacked the village, which fell after a brief battle. According to Israeli historian Benny Morris, the village had previously rejected Haganah terms of surrender and chosen to fight.

Morris wrote that it was clear that the commanders of the Alexandroni Brigade wanted the village emptied of its inhabitants and that at least some of its residents were expelled.

Israeli researcher Teddy Katz, in a 1998 academic thesis, reported that the Haganah committed a massacre in the village on the night of May 23, 1948, in which approximately 220 residents were killed.

The Tantura Massacre

Soldiers of the Haganah’s 3rd Battalion attacked Tantura from all four directions and opened fire on the village. During the fighting, a number of its defenders were killed. After their ammunition ran out, the attackers entered the village and ordered the inhabitants to gather on the beach.

The men were separated from the women and children. The women, children, and some elderly people were taken to the neighboring village of al-Fureidis. Meanwhile, boys and men between the ages of 10 and 50 were ordered to sit on the village beach for several hours, from dawn until noon.

An Israeli officer named Shimson Mashvitz then arrived in the village and began selecting groups of Tantura’s men. Some were taken to a prison in the village of Ijilal, where they were reportedly detained for eight months following the massacre.

Others were selected to dig a large pit, while Zionist forces opened fire on the remaining men of the village. The men who had dug the pit were then ordered to bury the bodies of the village’s dead, whose corpses had filled the streets. According to the account, after they finished burying the dead, the Zionist forces opened fire on these men as well, killing them and leaving their bodies over those of the earlier victims.

Zionist Settlements on Tantura’s Lands

In June 1948, Jewish immigrants from the United States and Poland established Kibbutz Nahsholim on the village’s lands, northeast of its former site.

In 1949, Jewish immigrants from Greece established the settlement of Dor east of the village site.

Tantura Today

Only a shrine, a fortress, an old well, and a few houses remain of the village. One of the surviving houses, belonging to the al-Yahya family, was built in 1882, as indicated by an inscription on the building.

Numerous palm trees and prickly-pear cactus plants remain scattered throughout the site, which has been transformed into an Israeli recreational park containing several swimming pools.

Source: Palestinona