| Tabsur (Khirbat 'Azzun) | |
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Tabsur (Khirbat 'Azzun)
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| Arabic | (تبصر(خربة عزون |
| Also Spelled | Tabsar, Khirbet 'Azzun |
| District | Tulkarm |
| Coordinates | |
| Population | |
| Area | 5,328 dunums |
| Date of depopulation | 3 April 1948[1] |
| Cause(s) of depopulation | Fear of being caught up in the fighting |
| Secondary cause | Expulsion by Yishuv forces |
| Current localities | Ra'anana[2] and Batzra[2] |
Tabsur (Arabic: تبصر), also Khirbat 'Azzun (Arabic: خربة عزون), was a Palestinian village located 19 kilometres southwest of Tulkarem. In 1931, the village had 231 houses and an elementary school for boys. It was depopulated before the outbreak of 1948 Arab-Israeli war.[3]
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Tabsur was established prior to the middle of the nineteenth-century on an archaeological site.[4] The village contained archaeological remains, including the foundations of a building, a well, fragments of mosaic pavement, and tombs.[2]
In the late nineteenth century, Tabsur was described as a moderate-sized hamlet with a well to the north.[5] It was later classified as a hamlet by the Palestine Index Gazetteer.[4]
During the British Mandate an elementary school for boys was established in the village. The village also had a few shops. In 1944/45 a total of 1,602 dunums was allocated to cereals, while 24 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards.[2]
The Arabs of Tabsur were ordered to leave by the Haganah on 3 April 1948 as part of its policy of evacuating Arab villages on the coastal plain.[6] The villagers left on 16 April 1948.[6]
Ra'anana was established south of Tabsur in 1921. Now a city, some of its suburbs have expanded into land that once belonged to the village. Batzra, founded in 1946 on village land, lies to the north.[2]
In 1992, the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi wrote: "The village has been completely covered with Israeli citrus orchards, making it difficult to distinguish from the surrounding lands. Citrus and cypress trees grow on the village land."[2]
The estimated number of Palestinian refugees from Tabsur in 1998 was 2,406.[3]