| Al-Masara | |
| Translit Lang1: | Arabic |
| Translit Lang1 Type: | Arabic |
| Translit Lang1 Info: | المعصرة |
| Translit Lang1 Type1: | Latin |
| Translit Lang1 Info1: | Al-Ma'sara (official) |
| Type: | Local Development Committee |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of Al-Masara within Palestine |
| Coordinates: | 31.6547°N 35.18°W |
| Grid Name: | Palestine grid |
| Subdivision Type: | State |
| Subdivision Name: | State of Palestine |
| Subdivision Type1: | Governorate |
| Subdivision Name1: | Bethlehem |
| Established Title: | Founded |
| Established Date: | 1930 |
| Leader Title: | Head of Municipality |
| Leader Name: | Mahmoud Alaeddin |
| Unit Pref: | dunam |
| Area Total Km2: | 1.0 |
| Area Total Dunam: | 973 |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Total: | 1085 |
| Population As Of: | 2017 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Blank Name Sec1: | Name meaning |
| Blank Info Sec1: | "the press" |
Al-Masara (ar|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).
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]
. Edward Henry Palmer. 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)
