Al-Masara
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| Arabic transcription(s) | |
| • Arabic | المعصرة |
| • Latin | Al-Ma'sara (official) |
Protest in al-Masara
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| Coordinates: 31°39′17″N 35°10′48″E / 31.65472°N 35.18000°E / 31.65472; 35.18000 | |
| State | State of Palestine |
| Governorate | Bethlehem |
| Founded | 1930 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Local Development Committee |
| • Head of Municipality | Mahmoud Alaeddin |
| Area | |
| • Total | 973 dunams (1.0 km2 or 0.4 sq mi) |
| Population
(2017)[1]
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| • Total | 1,085 |
| • Density | 1,100/km2 (2,800/sq mi) |
| Name meaning | "the press" |
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 1,085 in the 2017 census by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).[1]
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]
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.[2]
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]
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